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Template:Donizetti operasLe duc d'Albe (Il duca d'Alba or The Duke of Alba) is an opera composed by Gaetano Donizetti in 1839 to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier. It did not receive its first performance until 1882, more than 40 years after Donizetti's death.

Performance History

Le duc d'Albe had been originally commissioned for the Paris Opera in 1839, and Donizetti worked on it thoughout most of that year. However, he abandoned the project with only the first two acts completed, plus notes for the melodies and bass lines for Acts III and IV. . The opera remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1848. In 1855, Scribe and Duveyrier's libretto was transferred to Verdi's Les vêpres siciliennes, with the setting changed from the Spanish occupation of Flanders in 1573 to the French occupation of Sicily in 1282.

In 1881 Matteo Salvi, a former pupil of Donizetti's, completed the opera from Donizetti's notes with the help of several other composers, including Amilcare Ponchielli. Angelo Zanardini translated Scribe's libretto from the original French into Italian, and the original names of the two lovers, 'Henri' and 'Hélène', which by that time had been used in Les vêpres siciliennes were changed to 'Marcello' and 'Amelia'. When Donizetti abandoned the opera, he re-cycled the famous tenor aria, 'Ange si pur' (or 'Spirto gentil' in the Italian version) for his 1840 opera La favorite. For the premiere, Salvi composed a replacement aria, 'Angelo casto e bel'. He also added recitatives and combined Acts III and IV into a single final act. The opera received its first performance in 1882 at the Teatro Apollo in Rome as Il Duca d'Alba (the title used in all its subsequent performances) with Leone Giraldoni in the title role, Abigaille Bruschi Chiatti as Amelia di Egmont, and Julián Gayarre as Marcello.

The opera has only been rarely performed since that time. However, there was major revival at the 1959 Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, when the conductor Thomas Schippers, reworked the score, removing most of Salvi's additions and reconstructing the final acts himself from Donizetti's notes. Schippers also returned 'Spirto Gentil' to its original place in the opera. The Spoleto production was directed by Luchino Visconti who used restored sets from the 1882 premiere.. The same Schippers version with the Visconti production was revived for the opera's North American premiere at the 1992 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.

Principle Roles

• Il duca d’Alba, Governor of Flanders for King Philip II of Spain, (Baritone)
• Amelia di Egmont (Soprano)
• Marcello di Bruges, a Flemish patriot and Amelia's lover (Tenor)
• Sandoval, Captain of the Spanish troops (Baritone)
• Carlos, a Spanish officer (Tenor)
• Daniele Brauer, a Flemish patriot (Bass)
• Il taverniere, a beer seller (Tenor)

Brief Synopsis

The opera is set in Brussels and Antwerp in 1573.

Act I

The Duke of Alba has been sent to Flanders to quash the rebellion against Spanish rule. Shortly before the action begins, Amelia's father Egmont, a Flemish hero, had been executed by the Duke and she is now determined to assassinate him. The Duke discovers that his long-lost son Marcello, Amelia's lover, is now the leader of the rebellion. The Duke arrests him when he refuses to join the Spanish army.

Act II

When Marcello is freed from prison, he appeals to the Duke to spare his co-conspirators and Amelia, all of whom have been arrested in Daniele Bauer's tavern. The Duke reveals to Marcello that he is his father. In exchange for his friends' freedom, Marcello kneels before the Duke and acknowledges him as his father.

Act III

Marcello confesses to Amelia that he is the Duke's son. She asks him to kill the Duke as proof of his love for her. Torn between his father and the woman he loves, Marcello hestitates. Later at the port of Antwerp, Amelia, disguised as a man, takes matters into her own hands and attempts to stab the Duke to death. Marcello throws himself on the Duke to shield him and is unwittingly killed by Amelia.

Notable Recordings

1951 Fernando Previtali, conductor; Orchestra sinfonica della RAI di Roma; Bongiovanni Historical Opera Collection HOC015-16

• Il duca d'Alba - Giangiacomo Guelfi
• Marcello di Bruges - Amedeo Berdini
• Amelia di Egmont - Caterina Mancini
• Coro della RAI di Roma

1959 Thomas Schippers, conductor; Trieste Philharmonic Orchestra; Opera D'oro OPD1178

• Il duca d'Alba - Louis Quilico
• Marcello di Bruges - Renato Cioni
• Amelia di Egmont - Ivana Tosini
• Coro Del Teatro Lirico "Giuseppe Verdi" di Trieste

References

Footnotes

1. Rothstein, E., 1992
2. Rockwell, J., 1982
3. Buldrini, Y., 2005
4. Time Magazine, June 22, 1959

Bibliography

• Buldrini, Y., 2005, Dossier: Il Duca d'Alba, Forum Opéra, (accessed 25 April 2007)
• Libretto, Il Duca d'Alba, Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier, Italian version by Angelo Zanardini (accessed 24 April 2007)
• Rockwell, J., 'Eve Queler leads Alba', The New York Times, October 31, 1982
• Rosenthal, H. and Warrack, J., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 2nd Edition, 1979, Oxford University Press. p. 144
• Rothstein, E., 'A Donizetti Work Is Resurrected, Sets and All', The New York Times, May 30, 1992
• Time Magazine, 'Donizetti Revived', June 22, 1959
• Weatherson, A., Programme Notes: Il Duca d'Alba, Festival de Radio France, Montpellier, 2007. (accessed 24 April 2007)

• Operas by Gaetano Donizetti
• Italian-language operas