With its famous arias and ensembles, Aida has become one of the most popular operas ever written, and familiarity only brings new details to the listener’s attention. The drama takes place over four acts, and the libretto was prepared by Antonio Ghislanzoni based on a text by French author Camille du Locle. This is the […]
Lohengrin stands as a pivotal work in the career of Richard Wagner. In terms of its structure and approach, it is usually grouped at the end of his early operas; at the same time, it demonstrates many of the ideas and techniques that would achieve full fruition in his later music dramas.The story is set […]
The libretto for Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’ was adapted by Francesco Maria Piave from Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse which was so controversial it had been banned in Paris after one performance. It is still recognised as one of Verdi’s finest scores. The opening of the final act contains two of the most famous pieces […]
Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci was his first opera to be performed. The text, by the composer, is based on one of the cases encountered by Leoncavallo’s father, a police magistrate in Naples. The actual case concerned a middle-aged actor who murdered his unfaithful wife. Leoncavallo sets his sordid subject matter to melodic material of high […]
Italian/English. Translated by Ducloux.
