Torquato Tasso (opera)

Torquato Tasso is a melodramma semiserio, or 'semi-serious' opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti and based on the life of the great poet Torquato Tasso. The Italian libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, who used a number of sources for his text, including works by Giovanni Rosini, Goethe, Goldoni, and Lord Byron as well as Tasso's actual poetry. It premiered on 9 September 1833 at the Teatro Valle, Rome.

Torquato Tasso
Opera by Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti c. 1835
LibrettistJacopo Ferretti
LanguageItalian
Based onLife of Torquato Tasso
Premiere
9 September 1833 (1833-09-09)
Teatro Valle, Rome

The work has been criticized for "its odd deployment of vocal types" [1] characteristic of the semiseria genre.

Roles
Role Voice type Premiere Cast, 9 September 1833
(Conductor: - )
Eleonora, Duke Alfonso's sister soprano Adelina Spech-Salvi
Eleonora, Countess of Scandiano mezzo-soprano Angiolina Carocci
Torquato Tasso baritone Giorgio Ronconi
Roberto Geraldini, the duke's secretary tenor Antonio Poggi
Don Gherardo bass Ferdinando Lauretti
Ambrogio, Torquato's servant tenor Luigi Garofalo
Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara bass Antonio Rinaldi
Pages, knights

Synopsis
Time: 16th century
Place: Ferrara, Northern Italy[2]

Recordings
Year Cast
(Torquato Tasso, Eleanore d'Este, Roberto, Don Gherhardo)		 Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra		 Label[3]
1974 Christian du Plessis,
Janet Price,
Bruce Brewer,
Andrea Snarski		 Kenneth Montgomery,
Opera Rara Orchestra and Chorus
(Recording of a performance in the Collegiate Theatre, London as part of the Camden Festival on 27 February and 1 and 2 March)		 Audio CD: Celestial Audio
Cat: CA 247
1985 Simone Alaimo,
Luciana Serra,
Ernesto Palacio,
Roberto Coviello		 Massimo De Bernart
Orchestra and chorus of Teatro Comunale, Genova		 Audio CD: Bongiovanni
Cat: GB 2028/0-2

References

Notes

  1. Ashbrook 1998, p. 762
  2. Osborne, p. 220
  3. Source for recording information: operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

Cited sources

  • Ashbrook, William (1998), "Torquato Tasso, in Stanley Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. One. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
  • Osborne, Charles, (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-71-3

Other sources

  • Allitt, John Stewart (1991), Donizetti: in the light of Romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr, Shaftesbury: Element Books, Ltd (UK); Rockport, MA: Element, Inc.(USA)
  • Ashbrook, William (1982), Donizetti and His Operas, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23526-X
  • Ashbrook, William and Sarah Hibberd (2001), in Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4. pp. 224 – 247.
  • Black, John (1982), Donizetti’s Operas in Naples, 1822—1848. London: The Donizetti Society.
  • Loewenberg, Alfred (1970). Annals of Opera, 1597-1940, 2nd edition. Rowman and Littlefield
  • Sadie, Stanley, (Ed.); John Tyrell (Exec. Ed.) (2004), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-19-517067-2 (hardcover). ISBN 0-19-517067-9 OCLC 419285866 (eBook).
  • Weinstock, Herbert (1963), Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, New York: Pantheon Books. LCCN 63-13703
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