Adriana Lecouvreur
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LE BUGUE SAMEDI 12 JANVIER 18H25 LELELELE BUGUE BUGUEBUGUEBUGUE Salle Eugène Le Roy Réservation : Maison de la Presse Le Bugue 05 53 07 22 83 Francesco Cilea ADRIANA LECOUVREUR Rivals to life and on stage, the famous tragedian of the Comédie-Française Adrienne Lecouvreur and the Princess de Bouillon are both in love with the officer Maurice de Saxe. In the backstage of the theater, the jealousy of one will lead to the death of the other, poisoned by a bouquet she thought she received from her lover. The grand trio Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili and Piotr Beczała engage in love jealousies in Sir David McVicar's new production. From the backstage of the famous French theater to sumptuous ball residencies, Parisian life takes possession of the Met's stage. Soprano Anna Netrebko joins the ranks of Renata Tebaldi, Montserrat Caballé, and Renata Scotto, taking on—for the first time at the Met—the title role of the real-life French actress who dazzled 18th-century audiences with her on-and offstage passion. The soprano is joined by tenor Piotr Beczała as Adriana's lover, Maurizio. The principal cast also features mezzo- soprano Anita Rachvelishvili and baritone Ambrogio Maestri. Gianandrea Noseda conducts. Sir David McVicar's staging, which sets the action in a working replica of a Baroque theater, premiered at the Royal Opera House in London, where the Guardian praised the "elegant production, sumptuously designed ... The spectacle guarantees a good night out." Conductor Adriana The Principessa Gianandrea Anna Anita Noseda Netrebko Rachvelishvili soprano Mezzo-soprano Maurizio The abbé Prince de Piotr Carlo Bouillon Beczala Bosi Maurizio Muraro tenor tenor basse DATE : Saturday January 12 2019 Heure : 6.25pm Opera in 4 acts by Francesco Cilea ADRIANA LECOUVREUR World Premiere: Teatro Lirico, Milan, 1902. Adriana Lecouvreur occupies a unique place in the repertory: largely dismissed by experts from its premiere to the present day yet cherished by its fans for the dramatic possibilities provided by the lead roles. The opera is a deft combination of frank emotionalism and flowing lyricism, with pseudo-historical spectacle. Based on a play by Eugène Scribe, the story was inspired by the real-life intrigues of famed actress Adrienne Lecouvreur and the legendary soldier—and lover—Maurice of Saxony. Cilea's operatic retelling quickly became a favorite of charismatic soloists. The title character in particular is a quintessential diva role. Setting Adriana Lecouvreur unfolds in Paris in 1730. The setting reflects a nostalgia for the Rococo era that swept over Europe and the Americas around the turn of the last century when Cilea was composing, evident in other operas (for instance, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut) and in architecture. Music Adriana Lecouvreur's score is based on elegance and skillful weaving of themes rather than symphonic grandeur. A neo-rococo style is evoked, especially in the Act III dance sequences, but the score is usually used to highlight the singers. Lyricism abounds in the solos, especially in the "dolcissima effigy" of the tenor in Act I and in Adriana's Act I, "Io son l'umile ancella", by Adriana of the same Act, whose The theme of the singer "humble servant of the creative genius" made it a kind of soprano hymn. Although the libretto is sometimes confusing, many secondary twists disrupting the main plot, it remains nonetheless that Cilea wrote there a powerful melodrama cleverly combining romance and verism. His very Neapolitan melodic style is tinged with French influence. The orchestration is limpid and the vocal writing very nuanced, from the brilliant levity of the opera buffa to the deepest expression of the drama. Cilea uses recurring motifs that characterize each character, a passionate and youthful cantilena for Maurizio, and, contrary to the dark and rhythmic motif of the princess of Bouillon, the tender, melancholy theme borrowed from Adriana's spirituality. From the air of entry to the end, the arias of the heroine transmit an emotion which always upsets. The adaptation interweaves real life and theater allowing the composer to deploy a brilliant and expressive musical writing to serve a wide range of passionate feelings. The fictionalized life of the famous tragedian allows to exploit the theme of the dual rivalry, love and professionalism, which ends tragically with the death of Adrienne caused by the toxic smell of a poisoned bouquet. Cilea uses recurring patterns that provide a continuity that is characteristic of her orchestral know-how in a work from which stand out beautiful tunes that are easy to isolate from the context and often given in concert where they highlight all the vocal possibilities of the music. 'interpreter. The role of Adrienne who declares from the outset: "my voice is a breath", then "the goal of my art: the truth", calls for a great mastery to reach the emotion beyond a text that has a little aged. The work was a great success from its creation; the famous Caruso sang the role of Maurice. The final version by Cilea is the result of a reprise in Naples in 1930 at the San Carlo Theater. Composer Francesco Cilea 1866-1950 Born in Palmi, near Reggio di Calabria, Cilea quickly showed his aptitude for music. At the age of four, he heard a performance of Norma by Vincenzo Bellini and was deeply affected by it. Sent to study music at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella in Naples, he quickly demonstrated his diligence and early talent by winning a gold medal from the Ministry of Education (Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione).In 1889, for his final exam at the end of his studies, he submitted his opera Gina, with a libretto by Enrico Golisciani, adapted from the old French play Catherine, or La Croix d'Or by Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier of Melésville (1787-1865). This melodramma idilico was performed in the university theater and attracted the attention of the publishers Sonzogno, who organized a second production in Florence in 1892. Sonzogno also commissioned Cilea La Tilda, a three-act verismo opera inspired by Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. With a libretto by Angelo Zanardini, La Tilda succeeded for the first time in April 1892 at Teatro Pagliano in Florence. After several performances in several Italian theaters, she arrived at the Vienna Exhibition on September 24, 1892, alongside other works by Sonzogno's cabinet. The composer has never shown much sympathy for this work, which he reluctantly agreed to set to music to please Sonzogno and avoid spoiling a rare professional opportunity. The loss of the orchestral score has prevented the modern renaissance of this work, whose fresh and catchy melodies can nevertheless be discovered in the transcription for voice and piano. In 1897 (November 27), the Teatro Lirico of Milan inaugurated Cilea's third opera, L'Arlesiana, based on Alphonse Daudet's play, with a libretto by Leopoldo Marenco. Among the cast was the young Enrico Caruso, who successfully performed Lamento di Federico: solita storia del pastore, the romance that was to perpetuate the memory of opera until today. In fact, L'Arlesiana was a failure to which Cilea, convinced of the value of the work, constantly tried to remedy, making drastic and detailed changes throughout his life. In the score we hear today, it is difficult to find a single measure that is totally unchanged from the original.The revised opera had, however, not been successful, except for a brief period in the 1930s, when it enjoyed the political support the composer had established through his personal contacts with Mussolini. Also at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, on November 6, 1902 and again with Enrico Caruso, the composer won an enthusiastic reception for Adriana Lecouvreur, an opera in 4 acts with libretto by Arturo Colautti, which takes place in the 18th century in Paris after a play by Eugene Scribe. Adriana Lecouvreur is Cilea's most internationally known opera house to date. It reveals the spontaneity of a melodic style from the Neapolitan school, associated with a harmonic and tonal nuance inspired by French composers such as Massenet. As an interpreter, there are a number of examples of Cilea's art. On the piano, Cilea accompanied Caruso in the recording of a part of the Non piu nobile duet and made another recording with the baritone De Luca at the same time (November 1902). In 1904, he accompanied tenor Fernando De Lucia in Adriana Lecouvreur's L'anima ho stanca for Gramophone and in the song Lontananza, an effort that critic Michael Henstock (in his biography of De Lucia) declares little inspired by the great performances of From Lucia. Even considering the raw recording techniques of the time, Cilea's piano playing seems square and lifeless. Cilea's last opera, premiered at La Scala in Milan on April 15, 1907, under the direction of Arturo Toscanini, was Gloria's tragedy in 3 acts, accompanied by a libretto by Colautti, based on a Victorian play Sardou. The opera was removed after only two performances; and the failure of this work, even if the composer attempted a later revision, was enough to induce him to abandon the operatic scene. There are, however, indications of later unrealized opera projects, which remain as parts or sketches of librettos, such as Renato Simoni's Il Ritorno dell'amore, Ettore Moschino's Malena and La rosa di Pompei, also from Moschino (dated "Naples, May 20, 1924"). Some sources also refer to an opera from 1909, completed but never played, called Il matrimonio selvaggio, but no copy of it survived and Cilea himself did not mention it in his volumes of memoirs (" Ricordi "). Nevertheless, he continues to compose chamber music and orchestral music.