La farsa amorosa

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La farsa amorosa
Opera buffa by Riccardo Zandonai
Set design by Pieretto Bianco for Act 1, Scene 1, 1932
LibrettistArturo Rossato
LanguageItalian
Based onPedro Antonio de Alarcón's El sombrero de tres picos
Premiere
22 February 1933 (1933-02-22)

La farsa amorosa is an opera in three acts by Italian composer Riccardo Zandonai.

The opera is on a comic subject, and was an attempt to revitalize the opera buffa tradition which flourished in Italy during the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The story is based on the novel El sombrero de tres picos, (1874) by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón,[1] which was the basis of Manuel de Falla's ballet The Three-Cornered Hat[2] and Hugo Wolf's opera Der Corregidor.[3] The libretto by Zandonai's frequent collaborator Arturo Rossato [it] relocates the action to Lombardy but retains Spanish names. The cast uniquely includes two love-lorn donkeys, Ciccio and Checca.

Performance history[edit]

La farsa amorosa, which turned out to be the composer's last completed opera, premiered on 22 February 1933 at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, conducted by Marcello Govoni [it].

Roles[edit]

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 22 February 1933[4]
Conductor: Riccardo Zandonai
Don Ferrante baritone Carmelo Maugeri
Donna Mercedes mezzo-soprano Sara Ungaro
Frulla tenor Alessio De Paolis
Giacomino tenor Adelio Zagonara
Lucia soprano Mafalda Favero
Orsola mezzo-soprano Agnese Dubbini
Renzo tenor Nino Bertelli
Spingarda bass Salvatore Baccaloni

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mallach, Alan (2007). "Notes". The Autumn of Italian Opera: From Verismo to Modernism, 1890-1915. University Press of New England. p. 434. ISBN 9781555536831.
  2. ^ Bedmar Estrada, Luis Pedro. "El sombrero de tres picos, de Manuel de Falla". Conservatorio Superior de Música "Rafael Orozco" de Córdoba (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  3. ^ "Three-Cornered Hat", Oxford Reference
  4. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "La farsa amorosa, 22 February 1933". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).