Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo (Italian pronunciation:23 April 1857 - 9 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.
- Ruggero Leoncavallo Mattinata
- Ruggero Leoncavallo Wikipedia
- Ruggero Leoncavallo Vesti La Giubba
- Ruggero Leoncavallo
- Pavarotti Pagliacci
- Ruggero Leoncavallo Pagliacci
La bohème | |
---|---|
Opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo | |
Librettist | Leoncavallo |
Language | Italian |
Based on | La Vie de Bohème by Henri Murger |
Premiere | 6 May 1897 |
- Italian composer Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919) is remembered almost exclusively for his 1892 one-act opera I Pagliacci. Read Full Biography. Overview ↓ Biography ↓ Discography ↓ Compositions ↓ Credits ↓ Related ↓.
- Leoncavallo: I Medici is an opera by Rugger Leoncavallo and directed by Albero Veronisi who conducts the Fiorentina Maggio Musical Orchestra. One can clearly hear the Wagnerian influence and being a huge fan of Wagner I definitely enjoyed this delightful opera.
- Ruggero (or Ruggiero), Giacomo Maria Giuseppe Emmanuele Raffaele Domenico Vincenzo Francesco Donato Leoncavallo (was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 19 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide in the 2012/13 season.
La bohème is an Italian opera in four acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger. The opera received a successful premiere at the Teatro la Fenice, Venice on 6 May 1897.
Leoncavallo wrote his opera La bohème contemporaneously with Giacomo Puccini's own treatment of the same story. Leoncavallo later revised the work, titling it Mimì Pinson, but despite initial respect, it did not survive. Puccini's version has become a standard in the operatic repertoire, whereas Leoncavallo's opera is rarely performed.[1] Leoncavallo's version did not receive its UK premiere until May 1970.[2]
Allan Atlas has analysed in detail the different treatments of the death of the Mimì character in both Leoncavallo's and Puccini's versions of La bohème, contrasting the historical success of Puccini's opera and the relative failure of Leoncavallo's.[3]
Roles[edit]
Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 6 May 1897 (Conductor: Alessandro Pomè) |
---|---|---|
Schaunard, a musician | baritone[4] | Jacques [Gianni] Isnardon |
Marcello, a painter | tenor[4] | Giovanni Beduschi |
Rodolfo, a poet | baritone[4] | Rodolfo Angelini-Fornari |
Mimì | soprano | Rosina Storchio |
Musetta | mezzo-soprano | Elisa 'Lison' Frandin |
Gaudenzio | tenor | Enrico Giordani |
Loafer | tenor | |
Colline, a philosopher | bass | Lucio Aristi |
Eufemia | mezzo-soprano | Clelia Cappelli |
Barbemuche | bass | Giuseppe Frigiotti |
Durand | tenor | Enrico Giordani |
Students, working girls, townsfolk, shopkeepers, street-vendors, soldiers, waiters, women and children - chorus |
Synopsis[edit]
A scene from La bohème at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris on 10 October 1899
- Place: Paris.
- Time: one year from Christmas, 1837 to Christmas, 1838.
Act 1[edit]
Café Momus
The innkeeper Gaudenzio tries in vain to eject the Bohemians, who never pay and are continually up to no good. During the conversation another piece of horseplay on their part is discovered. They sit down to dine, while Musette gaily sings. (Canzonette: 'Mimì is the name of my sweet blonde.') Naturally when they are asked to pay the bill, they have no money. A comic fight ensues between them and the innkeeper, who has called his servants to assist him. It is ended by Barbemuche, who offers to pay the bill.
Act 2[edit]
The courtyard of Musette's house
From Act II. Sung by Enrico Caruso. | |
Problems playing this file? See media help. |
Musette's lover has left her, refusing any longer to pay her debts. In consequence, her furniture has been confiscated and is carried down to the courtyard. When this has been done, she returns home. She expects guests but cannot entertain them in any other way than by receiving them in the courtyard. Here the Bohemians, who arrive in large numbers, celebrate joyously. The neighbours, awakened from sleep, protest in vain and the scene ends in a general fight between the two factions.
Ruggero Leoncavallo Mattinata
Act 3[edit]
Marcello's garret room
Ruggero Leoncavallo Wikipedia
Musette, who can no longer bear the sufferings of hunger and want, determines to leave Marcello. During the festivities in the courtyard, Mimì has allowed herself to be carried off by Count Paul, but she returns, motivated by love for Rodolfo. Musette begs her to go with her, but she refuses. Angrily, Marcello and Rodolfo force both women to leave the apartment.
Act 4[edit]
Rodolfo's garret room
Mimì returns to Rodolfo, at the brink of death. Musette, who accidentally meets her there, sacrifices her jewels to procure fuel to warm the room for Mimì. As the Christmas chimes are heard, Mimì dies.
Noted arias[edit]
- 'Musette!..Testa adorata' (Marcello)
- 'Io non ho che una povera stanzetta' (Marcello)
- 'Musette svaria sulla bocca viva' (Mimì)
- 'Da quel suon soavemente' (Musette)
- 'Scuoti, o vento fra i sibili' (Rodolfo)
Recordings[edit]
Year | Cast (Schaunard, Marcello, Rodolfo, Mimi, Musette) | Conductor, Chorus and Orchestra | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | Walter Monachesi, Doro Antonioli, Ettore Bastianini, Mafalda Masini, Rosetta Noli | Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Teatro di San Carlo Chorus and Orchestra (Naples) | CD: Myto Cat: 169 |
1964 | Orazio Gualtiero, Antonio Annaloro, Guido Mazzini, Mazza Medici, Nedda Casei | Alberto Zedda, Orchestra Filarmonica de Sanremo, Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna | LP: Cetra Cat: 1269 |
1975 | Jacques Trigeau, Alain Vanzo, Robert Currier-Christesen, Edith Tremblay, Anita Terzian | Nino Bonavolantà, Orchestre Lyrique de l'O.R.T.F., Chorale Lyrique de l'O.R.T.F. | CD: DPV Cat: 30.9010 |
1981 | Alan Titus, Franco Bonisolli, Bernd Weikl, Lucia Popp, Alexandrina Milcheva | Heinz Wallberg, Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus, Munich Symphony Orchestra | CD: Orfeo Cat: 23822 |
1990 | Bruno Praticò, Mario Malagnini, Jonathan Summers, Lucia Mazzaria, Martha Senn | Jan Latham-Koenig, Teatro La Fenice Chorus and Orchestra (Venice) | CD: Nuova Era Cat: 223304 |
2002 | Urban Malmberg, Mikail Davidoff, Vittorio Vitelli, Juanita Lascarro, Katia Lytting | Marco Guidarini, Klangbogen Wien | DVD Premiere Opera Ltd Cat: 6601 |
References[edit]
Notes
- ^Klein, John W. (May 1970). 'The Other 'Bohème''. The Musical Times. Musical Times Publications Ltd. 111 (1527): 497–499. doi:10.2307/956015. JSTOR956015.
- ^Dean, Winton (July 1970). 'Festivals: 'La Bohème''. The Musical Times. 111 (1529): 733. ISSN0027-4666. JSTOR956571.
- ^Atlas, Allan W. (Winter 1996). 'Mimi's Death: Mourning in Puccini and Leoncavallo'. The Journal of Musicology. 14 (1): 52–79. doi:10.1525/jm.1996.14.1.03a00030. ISSN0277-9269. JSTOR763957.
- ^ abcHolden, p. 489
Campfire guitar songbook. Sources
Ruggero Leoncavallo Vesti La Giubba
- Holden, Amanda, ed., The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Puttnam, Inc, 2001
- Melitz, Leo, The Opera Goer's Complete Guide, 1921 version as source for the synopsis
- Operadis Opera Discography, as of 4/30/2014
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=La_bohème_(Leoncavallo)&oldid=1016148645'
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Italian composer and librettist Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857–1919) is best known today for his one-act verismo masterpiece Pagliacci, for which he also wrote the libretto.
Born in Naples to a well-to-do family – his father was a magistrate – he began studying at the conservatory there in 1866. In the late 1870s he wrote both music and libretto for his first opera Chatterton (first performed 1896). Around that time he moved to Egypt, but on the outbreak of the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882 he moved to Marseilles and then to Paris, where he worked as a pianist in café-concerts. He found some success with the symphonic poem La Nuit de mai, and was also commissioned by Ricordi to write a planned trilogy Crepusculum(of which only the first part, I Medici, was completed). After the success of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana he was inspired to write Pagliacci, which was a triumph on its 1892 premiere and led to stagings of Chatterton and I Medici. His La bohème in 1897 was overshadowed by the success of Puccini’s version the previous year. His last major success was Zazà in 1900. Around this time he was increasingly popular in Germany, leading to 1904’s Der Roland von Berlin. He was an early supporter of recording, and that year composed the song Mattinata for Enrico Caruso and the G&T Company. Towards the end of his life he turned increasingly towards operetta, starting with La Jeunesse de Figaro (1906, New York). His later operas included Goffredo Mameli (1916) and the incomplete Edipo re (1920).
Pagliacci was paired with Mascagni’s Cavallaria rusticana soon after its premiere and together they are probably the most enduringly popular operas of the verismomovement.
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