IL TALISMANO - THE TALISMAN LIBRETTO BY ARTHUR MATTHISON MUSIC BY M. W. BALFE 1874 Edited by David Trutt IL TALISMANO OR THE TALISMAN The Original English Libretto by ARTHUR MATTHISON Translated into Italian by GIUSEPPE ZAFFIRA Music by MICHAEL WILLIAM BALFE First performed June 11, 1874 at Drury Lane in London Published 2010 by David Trutt Los Angeles, California USA email:
[email protected] Web Site: www.haddon-hall.com 3 INTRODUCTION The opera IL TALISMANO is a love story set during the Crusade of King Richard of England. The original English libretto was by Arthur Matthison; it was translated into Italian by Giuseppe Zaffira; the music was by Michael William Balfe. The opera was first performed June 11, 1874 at Drury Lane in London. IL TALISMANO was originally written as an English opera in three acts, to the libretto of Arthur Matthison, based upon the chief episode of Sir Walter Scott’s “Talisman.” The talisman proper, however, does not come into the story at all, nor is Saladin introduced except as an obscure Emir Sheerkohf. Mr. Matthison originally intended to call the work The Knight of the Leopard, but the association with Scott’s novel, overrode all other considerations. The first two Acts and Scene I of the third Act take place within a day in 1191, during the wars of the Crusades. Scenes II and III of the third Act take place some months later in 1192, as the English Crusaders prepare to leave for their home land. The librettist, however, had separated these last scenes into a fourth act, and this is how it is displayed here.