La bella dormente nel bosco

La bella dormente nel bosco (The sleeping beauty in the woods) is an opera in three acts by Ottorino Respighi to a libretto by Gian Bistolfi based on Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty".

La bella dormente nel bosco
Opera by Ottorino Respighi
Respighi in 1912
LibrettistGian Bistolfi
LanguageItalian
Based onSleeping Beauty
by Charles Perrault
Premiere
13 April 1922 (1922-04-13)
Teatro Odescalchi, Rome

The first version of this opera, with the title La bella addormentata nel bosco, premiered in the Teatro Odescalchi in Rome on 13 April 1922. It was a version written for the Italian marionettist Vittorio Podrecca, who was director of a marionette company called Teatro dei Piccoli (Theater for Children). The play was interpreted by marionettes, but it was accompanied by orchestra and singers. The cast of the première included the soprano Cisse Vaughan and the mezzo-soprano Evelina Levi.[1] The performance was a success, with "many curtain calls for the composer", and was judged as an "art jewel".[2]

A revised version was performed at the Teatro di Torino, Turin, on 9 April 1934, as La bella dormente nel bosco. The cast included Graziella Gazzera Valle (Princess), Magda Piccarolo (Blue Fairy, Nightingale), Angelina Rossetti (Spindle, Duchess, Cat), Maria Benedetti (Queen, Cuckoo, Old lady), Vincenzo Capponi (Prince, Jester) and Egisto Busacchi (King, Woodcutter, Ambassador).[3]

A further posthumous version, revised by Gian Luca Tocchi and by the widow of the composer, Elsa Respighi, was performed in the Teatro Rossini in Turin on 13 June 1967.

Roles
Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type
The blue fairysoprano
The kingbaritone
The queencontralto
The princesssoprano
The princetenor
The green fairyspeaking role
The cuckoomezzo-soprano
The ambassadorbaritone
The jestertenor
The little old ladymezzo-soprano
The spindlemezzo-soprano
The frogmezzo-soprano
The catcontralto
A woodcutterbaritone
The duchesssoprano
The nightingalesoprano
Four doctorstenor, bass, bass, bass
Frog, fairies, courtiers, stars, mourners, spiders, woodcutters. Echoing voices. Chorus

Instrumentation

La bella addormentata nel bosco (version 1922) is scored for the following instruments:[4]

flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, triangle, drum, cymbals, bell, handbells, celesta, harpsichord, strings.

La bella dormente nel bosco (version 1934) is instead scored for the following instruments:

flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, piano, drum kit, strings.

Recordings
1994: Adriano, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Slovak Philharmonic Chorus, CD Marco Polo Cat. 8.223742[5]

King/Woodcutter: Richard Haan
Queen/Duchess: Denisa Slepkovská
Princess: Janas Valásková
Prince: Guillermo Dominguez
Blue fairy/Nightingale: Adriana Kohutkova

Old lady/Green fairy: Ivana Czaková
Cuckoo/Cat: Dagmar Pecková
Frog/Spindle: Henrietta Lednárová
Jester: Igor Pasek
Ambassador: Ján Durco

References
  1. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."La bella addormentata nel bosco, 13 April 1922". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  2. "Il successo della Bella addormentata di G. Bistolfi e Respighi a Roma". La Stampa (in Italian). Turin. 13 April 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."La bella dormiente nel bosco, 9 April 1934". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  4. "Ottorino Respighi. Catalogo delle composizioni suddiviso per generi musicali: Opere liriche". l'Orchestra Virtuale del Flaminio (in Italian). Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  5. "Ottorino Respighi – La bella dormente nel bosco – Adriano (1994)". operaclass. Retrieved 2 January 2015.

Further reading
  • Bernardoni, Virgilio (1996). "La bella addormentata nel bosco". In Gelli, Piero (ed.). Dizionario dell'opera (in Italian). Milan: Baldini & Castoldi. ISBN 88-8089-177-4.
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