''Ritratto'' is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in six scenes with music by

Willem Jeths Willem Jeths (born 31 August 1959) is a Dutch classical composer. Early life Jeths was born in Amersfoort. He started his musical career as a child with piano and music theory lessons in the Music School of Amersfoort with Paul Seeling. He orig ...

and a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Frank Siera. The 2020 productions were conducted by Geoffrey Paterson and directed by Marcel Sijm, with costumes by

Jan Taminiau Jan Taminiau (born 14 September 1975) is a Dutch clothes designer who launched his own fashion label bearing his name (written as one word) in 2003. He designed a dress worn by Princess Maxima during the opening of the Mode Biennale exhibition ...

. The

Dutch National Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

commissioned the work. The opera was scheduled to premiere at the Opera Forward Festival in Amsterdam on March 21, 2020, but the premiere was cancelled because of lockdown measures in the Netherlands, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands The COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus reached the Netherlands on 27 February 2020, when its first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Tilburg. It involved a 56-year-old Dutchman ...

Plot

The opera describes the life story of an Italian high society icon at the time of the beginning of the First World War. The flamboyant wealthy heiress

Luisa Casati Luisa, Marchesa Casati Stampa di Soncino (born Luisa Adele Rosa Maria Amman; 23 January 1881 – 1 June 1957), was an Italian heiress, socialite, and patroness of the arts in early 20th-century Europe. Early life Luisa Adele Rosa Maria Amman wa ...

stages herself as a living work of art and surrounds herself with leading artists of her time. When war breaks out, most of her friends, including her lover Gabriele D'Annunzio, become enthusiastic about the war. She distances herself from it in order to continue dedicating her life to art and ultimately sacrifices herself to her ideal.

Roles

Orchestration

The orchestral score of the opera includes the following instruments: *

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

in B, A and E *

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

Horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

in F *

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

(two players):

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

crotales Crotales (, ), sometimes called antique cymbals, are percussion instruments consisting of small, tuned bronze or brass disks. Each is about in diameter with a flat top surface and a nipple on the base. They are commonly played by being struck ...

(2 octaves), water gongs, Thai gongs, boobams,

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

s, large

tamtam The tamtam, sometimes spelled tam-tam, is a type of Gong#Chau gong (tam-tam), gong. TamTam, Tam-Tam, tamtam, or tam-tam may also refer to: * Tam-Tam (album), ''Tam-Tam'' (album), a 1983 album by Amanda Lear * Tam Tam (Samurai Shodown), Tam Tam (' ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

, woodblock, Lion's roar, rattle, wooden box (with mallet),

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

flexatone The flexatone or fleximetal is a modern percussion instrument (an indirectly struck idiophone) consisting of a small flexible metal sheet suspended in a wire frame ending in a handle. Used in classic cartoons for its glissando effect, its so ...

(high),

snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

(with cymbal) *

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

: at least five first

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

s, five second violins, four

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

s, four

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

ss, two

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

es * Electronic sound effect in scene 2

Recording

An audio recording of the March 12, 2020 dress rehearsal was released on Challenge Records on October 2, 2020.

References

{{authority control 2020 operas English-language operas Operas based on real people Operas Operas set in the 20th century Cultural depictions of Gabriele D'Annunzio