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Alessandro Stradella (opera)

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Friedrich von Flotow, the composer of Alessandro Stradella

Alessandro Stradella is a romantic opera (Romantische Oper) in three acts composed by Friedrich von Flotow to a German libretto by "Wilhelm Friedrich" (Friedrich Wilhelm Riese). Set in Venice and the countryside near Rome, it is loosely based on the colourful life of the 17th century Italian composer and singer Alessandro Stradella. It was first performed in its full version on 30 December 1844 at the Stadttheater in Hamburg.[1]

Performance history

Alessandro Stradella began its life as Stradella, a one act comédie en vaudeville which opened in Paris at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on 2 February 1837.[1] Flotow then revised and expanded the work to a full three-act opera which had a successful premiere at the Stadttheater in Hamburg on 30 December 1844. The work proved to be very popular in Germany and in Austria where its successful debut at the Theater am Kärntnertor in 1845 led to a commission from the theatre to compose another opera, Martha, which premiered there in 1847. Alessandro Stradella was performed in an Italian translation by Callisto Bassi in several opera houses in Italy, including the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan. It was also heard in Warsaw at the Teatr Wielki in 1858, in Brussels at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie (in a French translation by Alphonse Royer) in 1859, in Paris at the Théâtre des Italiens (in Italian) in 1863, and in London at the Royal Opera House in 1864. By the time it received its Metropolitan Opera premiere on 4 February 1910 with Leo Slezak as Stradella and Alma Gluck as Leonore, the work had nearly been forgotten.[2] It received six performances at the Met that season, but then returned to relative obscurity, never achieving the more enduring popularity of Martha. The most notable 21st century revival was at Wexford Opera Festival in 2001 as part of the festival's 50th anniversary season. The Wexford production, directed by Thomas de Mallet Burgess and designed by Julian McGowan, set the opera in Flotow's time rather than Stradella's.[3]

Roles

The Hamburg Stadttheater where Alessandro Stradella premiered in 1844
  • Stradella (tenor)
  • Bassi, a wealthy Venetian, (bass)
  • Leonore, Bassi's ward (soprano)
  • Malvolio, a bandit, (bass)
  • Barbarino, a bandit (tenor)
  • Pupils of Stradella, masks, villagers, pilgrims, distinguished citizens, patricians

Notes annd references

  1. ^ a b Cassaglia (2005)
  2. ^ New York Times (5 February 1910)
  3. ^ American Record Guide (March 2002)

Sources

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