Which of these two finales works better? - Gaetano Donizetti - Zoraida di Granata - Incatenate il perfido (1824 Finale) (Bruce Ford, Majella Cullagh, Diana Montague, Matthew Hargreaves, Cristina Pastorello & Dominic Natoli) - No. 2. Stretta
BackIt was with his seventh opera, "Zoraida di Granata", premiered in Rome in 1822 that the young Gaetano Donizetti made his decisive breakthrough into the career of a full time composer. Indeed, the three hour opera is strikingly complex coming from someone so young. As usual in the operatic world, the piece had to overcome several obstacles. Misfortune actually began prior to the premiere when the young tenor contracted for the role of Abenamet burst a blood vessel in his throat (singing the second tenor part in a performance of Pacini's opera "Cesare in Egitto", Sbigoli took part in a quintet with first tenor Domenico Donzelli, in the course of which Sbigoli's character was to sing a phrase "closely resembling one sung just previously by Donzelli"; attempting to match Donzelli's powerful voice, Sbigoli overstrained himself and burst a blood vessel in his neck) and died within a few weeks. With no replacement available to sing the high-lying tessitura, Donizetti hastily re-wrote the role for contralto and in doing so he had to omit several items written for the tenor. The work was further revised in 1824 and given at the same theatre; but in the revised version the role of Abenamet was actually intended for contralto, but one whose status, vocal qualities and demands were far greater than the late substitute singer of the first production, meriting two full arias. Thus, we get two works which, though sharing several pieces, are quite different from one another. I do think that it would be interesting to try and judge the different merits of the works by examining their respective finales. The interest for me lies here in which of the two finales is best in describing the turmoils the characters find themselves. This I leave to the people to comment upon themselves, while I will try and describe the pieces themselves and offer my own ideas on the numbers in question. The finales share several important characteristics, including the story that they are representing and the overall structure. The narrative follows Abenamet, a general of the Moors, returning triumphantly after defeating whatever enemy the people is fighting during the opera (it's not really important). He is greeted by an adoring populace, his beloved, Zoraida, and Almuzir, the murderous usurper of the throne of Granada who is thinking of marrying Zoraida himself. The lovers happiness turns to tragedy as Ali, Almuzir's lackey, runs in announcing that Abenamet has committed high treason by leaving the armys flag for the enemy to take. With this the general is dishonored and taken to jail to the delight of Almuzir and the turmoil of Zoraida and the populace. This story is told through the same musical succession: a rejoicing opening chorus set apart by the lovers excited ariosos; a terzettino for the lovers, celebrating their love, and Almuzir, preparing to see his rival being destroyed; a scene, as Ali announces the sad news; a concentrated sextet as everyone reacts to the new development; a tempo di mezzo leading to the final stretta. This one is the revised 1824 finale. Its much more refined that the earlier one, but I find myself missing the charm of the earlier version which is more warm in its' painting of the emotions. Here is a list of the performers: Almuzir - Bruce Ford, Zoraida - Marjella Cullagh, Abenamet - Diana Montague, Ali - Matthew Hargreaves, Ines - Cristina Pastorello, Almanzor - Dominic Natoli. The piece opens with another lively opening chorus, similar to the early version. Zoraida's arioso is more lyrical, better integrated into the proceedings and is integrated into the repeat of the chorus. The following terzettino is less strictly structured that it was earlier. It opens with a lengthy scene as Almuzir greets the returning hero. The terzettino itself is built classically: each protagonist enters separately, while the previous soloists is brought into the background. The succeeding cantabile of shock is the classical suspension over time we are used to chez Donizetti: virtually unaccompanied flowing lines of the soloists are then resolved by the addition of the chorus' doted line; finally, the coda is elaborated significantly by Zoraida's and Abenamet's elaborate lines. The finish is again preceded by ariosos for all three protagonists. The final stretta is surprisingly catchy in melody and is the true highlight of the finale. Enjoy :)!
Category: Music
Uploaded: October 12th, 2008 @ 1:54 pm
Author: LindoroRossini
Length: 05:24
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Tags: belcanto classical coloratura donizetti
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