Tancredi

Gioachino Rossini
Operas La cambiale di matrimonio (1810) L'equivoco stravagante (1811) L'inganno felice (1812) Ciro in Babilonia (1812) La scala di seta (1812) Demetrio e Polibio (1812) La pietra del paragone (1812) L'occasione fa il ladro (1812) Il signor Bruschino (1813) Tancredi (1813) L'italiana in Algeri (1813) Aureliano in Palmira (1813) Il turco in Italia (1814) Sigismondo (1814) Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra (1815) Torvaldo e Dorliska (1815) Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) La gazzetta (1816) Otello (1816) La Cenerentola (1817) La gazza ladra (1817) Armida (1817) Adelaide di Borgogna (1817) Mosè in Egitto (1818) Ricciardo e Zoraide (1818) Adina (1818) Ermione (1819) Eduardo e Cristina (1819) La donna del lago (1819) Bianca e Falliero (1819) Maometto II (1820) Matilde di Shabran (1821) Zelmira (1822) Semiramide (1823) Il viaggio a Reims (1825) Le siège de Corinthe (1826) Moïse et Pharaon (1827) Le comte Ory (1828) Guillaume Tell (1829)
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Tancredi is an opera in two acts by composer Gioachino Rossini and librettist Gaetano Rossi, based on Voltaire's play Tancrède (1759). The opera made its first appearance in Venice at the Teatro La Fenice on February 6, 1813, after Il Signor Bruschino premiered in late January, giving the composer less than a month to have completed Tancredi. The overture, borrowed from La pietra del paragone, is a popular example of Rossini’s characteristic style, and is a regular part of the concert and recording repertoire.

Though Rossini first composed his opera with a happy ending in mind, he eventually had the poet Luigi Lechi rework the libretto to emulate the original tragic ending by Voltaire. This opera is considered by Stendhal, Rossini's earliest biographer, to be Rossini's greatest masterpiece. The title role of Tancredi is so vocally demanding that casting the part has traditionally proved to be challenging. It requires a true contralto or a mezzo-soprano with a strong lower register who possesses great vocal agility and endurance. The title role encompasses two lengthy arias and four duets.

Performance history

19th century

Tancredi premiered in 1813 at La Fenice in Venice with Adelaide Malanotte in the title role and it was soon mounted at major opera houses throughout Italy, including the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (1814), the Teatro Apollo in Rome (1814), the Teatro Regio di Torino (1814), La Fenice (1815), the Teatro del Fondo in Naples (1816), and the Teatro San Moisè in Venice (1816). The opera was usually performed with the Venice (happy) ending.

The opera was first performed in England at the King's Theatre in London on 4 May 1820 with Fanny Corri-Paltoni as Amenaide. Its French premiere was given by the Théâtre-Lyrique Italien at the Salle Louvois in Paris on 23 April 1822 with Giuditta Pasta in the title role. It was performed in Portugal for the first time at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos on 18 September 1822 and was given its La Scala premiere on 8 November 1823 with Brigida Lorenzani as Tancredi. The United States premiere occurred on 31 December 1825 at the Park Theatre in New York City using the revised version by Lechi. The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique mounted the work for the first time with Maria Malibran in the title role on 30 March 1829.

20th and 21st century

After a 1833 revival at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Tancredi was not mounted again until almost 120 years later. The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino revived the work on 17 May 1952 with Giulietta Simionato in the title role, Teresa Stich-Randall as Amenaide, Francesco Albanese as Argirio, Mario Petri as Orbazzano, and Tullio Serafin conducting. The work was not seen again for another 25 years, at which time legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne teamed up with the Houston Grand Opera to revive it on 13 October 1977. Ms. Horne, who is now strongly associated with the title role, insisted on the tragic Ferrara ending, citing that it is more consistent with the overall tone of the opera. Indeed, most of the recordings of this opera today use the Ferrara finish with some including the Venice finale as an extra track.

Horne's triumphant performance of Tancredi in Houston soon led to invitations from other opera houses to sing the role, and it is largely through her efforts that the opera enjoyed a surge of revivals during the latter half of the 20th century. She sang the part for performances at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (1977), the San Francisco Opera (1979), the Aix-en-Provence Festival (1981), La Fenice (1981, 1983), and the Lyric Opera of Chicago (1989) among others.

While Tancredi is not one of the more frequently mounted operas, it has now become less of a rarity on the opera stage. Contralto Ewa Podles has recently achieved recognition in the title role, performing it at the Vlaamse Opera (1991), La Scala (1993), the Berlin State Opera (1996), the Canadian Opera Company (2005), the Caramoor International Music Festival (2006), the Teatro Real (2007) and Opera Boston (2009) among others. She has also recorded the role on the Naxos label (1995). Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Vesselina Kasarova has also been praised in the role, singing it at the Salzburg Festival (1992), the Opera Orchestra of New York (1997), and on a 1996 recording with the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Munich Radio Orchestra.

Pier Luigi Pizzi staged a lauded production of Tancredi at the Teatro Rossini in Pesaro in 1999, a production which was later transported to the Rossini Opera Festival in 2004, and then to Rome and Florence (where it was filmed for DVD with Daniela Barcellona in the title role) in 2005. Barcellona is scheduled to sing Tancredi again in a new staging of the opera at the Teatro Regio di Turino in November 2009 after recently reprising the part in February 2009 at the Teatro de la Maestranza. The Theater an der Wien mounted the work for the first time in October 2009 with Vivica Genaux in the title role and René Jacobs conducting and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées plans to present the opera in concert in December 2009 with Nora Gubisch as Tancredi.

Roles

Synopsis

Place: the Sicilian city-state of Syracuse

Time: AD 1005

Background

The city of Syracuse is tethered by conflict and war — there is the Byzantine empire, with which it has an unstable truce, and the Saracen armies headed by Solamir. Not only is Syracuse exhausted by external war, but internal war as well; the soldier Tancredi and his family have been stripped of their estates and inheritances, and he himself has been banished since his youth. Two more noble families — headed by Argirio and Orbazzano — have been warring for years. Argirio and his family — his wife and his daughter, Amenaide — have been residing as guests of the Byzantine court, where Tancredi presides in exile. Also present in the court is Solamir, the Moorish general, who wishes for the lovely Amenaide’s hand in marriage in hopes that he can create a Saracen-Syracusean alliance. However, Amenaide is secretly in love with Tancredi.

The story

As the opera opens, Argirio and Orbazzano have agreed to stop warring and have come to a truce; the Senate has given Orbazzano Tancredi’s confiscated estates, and Argirio must give him Amenaide in marriage. Amenaide, horrified by this unjust decision, secretly sends a letter to Tancredi (which does not bear his name, for fear that the letter might be intercepted), begging him to return. The letter is promptly intercepted by Orbazzano's agent near Solamir's camp, and Amenaide is sentenced to death for treachery (they thought she was sending it to Solamir). Tancredi, who has returned incognito and offered his service to Argirio, challenges Orbazzano to a duel and kills him in defence of Amenaide's honor and life (even though he believes she had betrayed him with the letter). Then he leads the Syracusans into battle with Solamir.

In the Ferrara ending, Tancredi wins the battle but is mortally wounded. He learns that Amenaide did not betray him before he dies. While in the Venice ending, he returns from the battle triumphant after having heard Solamir's dying testimony that Amenaide's letter was really meant for Tancredi.

Recordings

See also

• Breeches role

External links

• Full score of the overture to this opera