Le duc d'Albe

"Le duc d'Albe" ("Il duca d'Alba" or "The Duke of Alba") is an opera composed by Gaetano Donizetti in 1839 to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier. It did not receive its first performance until 1882, more than 40 years after Donizetti's death.

Performance history

"Le duc d'Albe" had been originally commissioned for the Paris Opera in 1839, and Donizetti worked on it throughout most of that year. However, he abandoned the project with only the first two acts completed, plus notes for the melodies and bass lines for Acts III and IV. [Rothstein, E., 1992] . The opera remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1848. In 1855, Scribe and Duveyrier's libretto was transferred to Verdi's opera "Les vêpres siciliennes", with the setting changed from the Spanish occupation of Flanders in 1573 to the French occupation of Sicily in 1282.

as Marcello.

in Charleston, South Carolina.

Roles

ynopsis

:Place: Brussels and Antwerp:Time: 1573

Act 1

The Duke of Alba has been sent to Flanders to suppress the rebellion against Spanish rule. Shortly before the action begins, Amelia's father Egmont, a Flemish hero, had been executed by the Duke and she is now determined to assassinate him. The Duke discovers that his long-lost son Marcello, Amelia's lover, is now the leader of the rebellion. The Duke arrests him when he refuses to join the Spanish army.

Act 2

When Marcello is freed from prison, he appeals to the Duke to spare his co-conspirators and Amelia, all of whom have been arrested in Daniele Bauer's tavern. The Duke reveals to Marcello that he is his father. In exchange for his friends' freedom, Marcello kneels before the Duke and acknowledges him as his father.

Act 3

Marcello confesses to Amelia that he is the Duke's son. She asks him to kill the Duke as proof of his love for her. Torn between his father and the woman he loves, Marcello hestitates. Later at the port of Antwerp, Amelia, disguised as a man, takes matters into her own hands and attempts to stab the Duke to death. Marcello throws himself on the Duke to shield him and is unwittingly killed by Amelia.

elected recordings

1951 Fernando Previtali, conductor; Orchestra sinfonica della RAI di Roma; Bongiovanni Historical Opera Collection HOC015-16
*Il duca d'Alba - Giangiacomo Guelfi
*Marcello di Bruges - Amedeo Berdini
*Amelia di Egmont - Caterina Mancini
*Coro della RAI di Roma

1959 Thomas Schippers, conductor; Trieste Philharmonic Orchestra; Opera D'oro OPD1178
*Il duca d'Alba - Louis Quilico
*Marcello di Bruges - Renato Cioni
*Amelia di Egmont - Ivana Tosini
*Coro Del Teatro Lirico "Giuseppe Verdi" di Trieste

2007 Enrique Mazzola, conductor; Orchestra National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon; Universal Music France
*Il duca d'Alba - Franck Ferrari
*Marcello di Bruges - Arturo Chacon Cruz
*Amelia di Egmont - Inva Mula
*Choer de la Radio Lettone

Notes and references

Notes

References
*Buldrini, Y., 2005, "Dossier: Il Duca d'Alba", [http://www.forumopera.com/dossiers/22_alba_sommaire.htm Forum Opéra] , (accessed 25 April 2007)
* [http://www.karadar.com/Librettos/donizetti_duca.html Libretto] , "Il Duca d'Alba", Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier, Italian version by Angelo Zanardini (accessed 24 April 2007)
*Rockwell, J., 'Eve Queler leads Alba', "The New York Times", October 31, 1982
*Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J., "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera", 2nd Edition, 1979, Oxford University Press. p. 144
*Rothstein, E., 'A Donizetti Work Is Resurrected, Sets and All', "The New York Times", May 30, 1992
*"Time Magazine", 'Donizetti Revived', June 22, 1959
*Weatherson, A., Programme Notes: "Il Duca d'Alba", [http://www.festivalradiofrancemontpellier.com/2007/16-ilducadalba.php Festival de Radio France] , Montpellier, 2007. (accessed 24 April 2007)