Stiffelio

"Stiffelio" is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play "Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer" by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois.

Performance history and revisions

The opera was first performed on 16 November, 1850 at the Teatro Grande, Trieste.

The original plot of "Stiffelio" excited vigorous censorship, since it involved a Protestant minister of the church with an adulterous wife, and a final church scene in which he forgives her with words quoted from the New Testament. In fact, there were two reworkings of the opera, the first in 1851 as "Guglielmus Wellingrode" (with the hero a German Prime Minister), and the second, in 1857, as the four-act opera "Aroldo", a more radical alteration with the hero as an English Crusader, and with the final scene entirely replaced by a wholly new fourth act.

"Stiffelio" is believed to have received its first British performance in an English language production at the Collegiate Theatre, London by the University College London Music Society, on 14 February 1973. Although vocal scores were known, no full score existed until the discovery of a copyist's score at Naples Conservatory, and a new performing edition was prepared for Messrs Barenreiter. This edition was the basis of performances at Naples and Cologne, but it cut material (especially from Act I, overture and choruses), and added in sections from "Aroldo" which were not in the original score. For the University College production microfilm of the copyist's score was obtained to restore the composer's intentions as far as possible. Since even the original premiere was partly cut by the censors, therefore this was probably one of the first ever authentic performances of the work. [Programme, February 1973 (University College London).]

Roles

ynopsis

:Place: Stankar's castle by the river Salzbach, Austria":Time: The beginning of the 19th Century

Act 1

"Scene 1: A hall in Count Stankar's castle"

"Scene 2: The same some hours later"

Act 2

"A graveyard near the castle"

Act 3

"Scene 1: A room in Count Stankar's Castle"

"Scene 2: A church"

Stiffelio, a Protestant minister, is the head of a sect and renowned for his goodness, faith and religious speaking. He is married to Lina, daughter of Count Stankar. During a long absence, Rafaello di Leuthold cynically pays court to her and there is an adulterous union. Stankar, hearing of the circumstances, tries to hide the fact from Stiffelio. He also sets out to avenge the dishonour to his family by forcing a violent confrontation with the adulterer. Lina, with all her weakness, loves her husband still, but he, a man of blameless life, is intensely jealous and cannot forgive her. A sense of guilt and terror is developed in the graveyard scene and in the third act. There is a bloody duel, and in the final church scene Stiffelio forgives his repentant wife in front of the assembled congregation.

Noted arias

* "Vidi dovunque gemere" - Stiffelio in Act I, Scene 1
* "A te ascenda, O Dio clemente" - Lina in Act I, Scene 1
* "Ah v'appare in fronte scritto" - Stiffelio in Act I, Scene 1
* "Di qua varcando sul primo albore" - Stiffelio in Act I, Scene 1
* "Ah dagli scanni eternei" - Lina in Act II, Scene 1
* "Perder dunque voi volete" - Lina in Act II, Scene 1
* "Lina pensai che un angelo" - Stankar in Act III, Scene 1
* "O gioia inesprimibile" - Stankar in Act III, Scene 1

elected recordings

Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company; "ASIN" is amazon.com product reference number.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.giuseppeverdi.it/stampabile.asp?IDCategoria=162&IDSezione=581&ID=19905 Libretto from www.giuseppeverdi.it]