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Medea
Opera by Giovanni Pacini
Pacini
Librettist	Benedetto Castiglia
Language	Italian
Based on	Médée by Corneille
Premiere	28 November 1843 (1843-11-28) Teatro Carolino, Palermo

Medea is an opera in three acts composed by Giovanni Pacini to a libretto by Benedetto Castiglia. It premiered on 28 November 1843 at the Teatro Carolino [it] in Palermo, conducted by the composer with Geltrude Bortolotti in the title role. The libretto is based on the plays Medea by Euripides and Médée by Pierre Corneille.

Performance history

Following its premiere on 28 November 1843 at the Teatro Carolino on Palermo, Pacini revised the work for its performance at the Teatro Eretenio [it] in Vicenza in 1845. It was further revised for its first performance at La Fenice in Venice on 9 March 1850. The final and definitive version premiered at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 26 February 1853. For two decades Pacini's Medea enjoyed considerable popularity in Italy, Russia and South America. It then fell into obscurity, eclipsed by Bellini's Norma which has a similar story and Cherubini's Médée.

However, it has had some modern revivals, most notably the 1993 performance at the Teatro Gabriello Chiabrera [it] in Savona conducted by Richard Bonynge with Jolanta Omilian in the title role (a live recording was released on the Agora label), and the 2006 semi-staged production at the ancient theatre of Taormina conducted by Tyrone Paterson with Simona Baldolini in the title role.

Roles

Synopsis

Setting: Corinth in Ancient Greece

The heroic warrior Giasone plans to abandon his wife Medea to marry Glauca the daughter of Creonte, the king of Corinth. In revenge Medea murders their two children and then commits suicide.

Notable arias and duets

• "Odi sola in preda" – duet, Giasone and Medea, act 1
• "Ah dolci nel seno" – Medea in the finale of act 3 (added in the 1845 Vicenza revision)

References

Notes

1. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Medea, 28 November 1843". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
2. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Medea, 9 March 1850". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
3. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Medea, 26 February 1853". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
4. ^ According to the original libretto
5. ^ Pessina (2007)
6. According to Pessina, soprano.

Sources

• Pessina, Marino, "Medea", in Gelli, Piero & Poletti, Filippo (ed.), Dizionario dell'Opera 2008, Milano, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, pp. 828–829, ISBN 978-88-6073-184-5 (in Italian).
• Original libretto: Medea. Tragedia lirica, Palermo, Reale Stamperia, 1845

Further reading

• Balthazar, S. L., Rose, Michael, and Kaufman, T., "Pacini, Giovanni", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 2nd Edition, 2001. ISBN 0-333-60800-3
• Pacini, Giovanni, Le mie memorie artistiche, G. G. Guidi, 1865

External links

• Medea (Pacini): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

v t e Giovanni Pacini
List of operas
Operas	La schiava in Bagdad (1820) Alessandro nelle Indie (1824) L'ultimo giorno di Pompei (1825) Gli arabi nelle Gallie (1827) Il convitato di pietra (1832) Carlo di Borgogna (1835) Saffo (1840) Maria, regina d'Inghilterra (1843) Medea (1843) Malvina di Scozia (1851)
Category

• Opera

• 1843 operas
• Italian-language operas
• Operas
• Operas based on Medea (Euripides play)
• Operas based on plays
• Operas based on works by Pierre Corneille
• Operas by Giovanni Pacini