Variazioni | L'Ulisse errante

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Where Vincenzo Bellini meets the Coldplay | Palazzo Biscari in Sicily

If a great composer such as Vincenzo Bellini was born in Sicily it’s also thanks to another great personality of his time, the Prince of Biscari Ignatiu Paternò Castello.

February

Verdi’s Falstaff | Triumph with a laughter

Verdi’s last opera Falstaff relates to Verdi’s late years when after the enormous success of Otello no one expected him to create yet another opera. A pleasant routine Verdi and Giuseppina had a pleasant life routine at that stage. They used to spend winters in Genoa; the beginning of spring in Milan attending music events; the end of spring and most part of summer in Sant’Agata, where the composer attended business such as the collection of rent payments, purchase of seeds, repairs, new buildings works. Yet his friend, librettist and composer Arrigo Boito noticed how much Verdi missed composing and for that reason started to insist in working together on something new, an opera that could end his career in an even better way than Otello, a “triumph with a laughter”. Triumph with a laughter The idea came out during a conversation between Boito and Verdi. By May 1889 Boito had already sketched the libretto from Shakespeare’s Henry IV (1597) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602). Verdi, who had considered a comic subject before, at that stage was worried for not being able to complete it: “What would happen if I won’t overcome my weakness…If I won’t be able to finish […]

December

Rome, the Domus Aurea | Monteverdi’s Incoronazione di Poppea

The libretto for Monteverdi’s Opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea was mainly drawn from the roman historians Tacitus. Its leading character is Poppea, the beautiful mistress who became wife to the Roman Emperor Nero, one of the most loved and, at the same time, hated emperor of the ancient Rome. Nero after the great fire of Rome, built on the Colle Oppio, the most lavish and vast villa of the ancient Rome, the Domus Aurea.

January

Un Ballo in Maschera | Giuseppe Verdi

A troubled genesis Un Ballo in Maschera is arguably one of most popular opera by Giuseppe Verdi. Yet it had the most troubled genesis. Written for the San Carlo in Naples and never performed there Un Ballo in Maschera was originally composed to be staged in Naples as the last new opera written under the contract between the Teatro San Carlo and Verdi but was never performed there. The major changes imposed by the Bourbon censorship to the composer convinced Verdi to premiere it in Rome instead. Even the Papal censorship in 1859 allowed him more freedom than that of the Bourbons’. Last (missed) opportunity for a Verdi’s “King Lear” Initially, Verdi had suggested to the San Carlo management another subject: King Lear by William Shakespeare, a long-term project that this time seemed to finally have found a right opportunity. But a new problem came up. To stage King Lear 2 or 3 strong soloists were not enough: 5 at least were needed and the San Carlo couldn’t provide them. These circumstances convinced Verdi, after over 15 years, to finally abandon the project of staging a music version of King Lear. Verdi & Shakespeare Verdi was a great admirer of […]

Moving forward from Baroque opera | Zeno, Metastasio, Gluck

The excesses of Baroque opera Baroque opera was a complete excess. Its language, the mix of…

Tag Archives: Variazioni

Where Vincenzo Bellini meets the Coldplay | Palazzo Biscari in Sicily

Verdi’s Falstaff | Triumph with a laughter

Rome, the Domus Aurea | Monteverdi’s Incoronazione di Poppea

Un Ballo in Maschera | Giuseppe Verdi

Moving forward from Baroque opera | Zeno, Metastasio, Gluck

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