Fra Diavolo, ou L'hôtellerie de Terracine (Fra Diavolo, or The Inn of Terracina) is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer Daniel Auber, from a libretto by Auber's regular collaborator Eugène Scribe. It is loosely based on the life of the Itrani guerrilla leader Michele Pezza, active in southern Italy in the period 1800-1806, who went under the name of Fra Diavolo ("Brother Devil").
The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Ventadour in Paris on 28 January 1830 and an Italian version was prepared by Auber and Scribe for performance in London in 1857. This contained new recitatives and arias, as well as expanding the roles of Fra Diavolo's accomplices.
The opera was Auber's greatest success, one of the most popular works of the 19th century and was in the standard repertory in its original French as well as German and Italian versions. An English translation was also prepared.[1]Hugh Macdonald has characterised this comic opera as "the most successful work of its kind before Offenbach."[2]
Cover design by Peter Hoffer (undated) for the libretto, published by Ricordi
Zerline, daughter of the innkeeper of Terracina, is in love with an impoverished soldier, Lorenzo, but her father wants her to marry the rich old Francesco. Lorenzo is in pursuit of the notorious bandit Fra Diavolo. Diavolo himself arrives at the inn disguised as a marquis and robs two English travellers, Lord and Lady Cockburn. Lorenzo manages to retrieve part of the stolen goods and is rewarded with enough money to marry Zerline. Diavolo is determined to rob the travellers again and enlists the help of his two comical henchmen, Giacomo and Beppo. During the night the three of them sneak into Zerline's room and steal her dowry. Lorenzo appears and mistakes the 'marquis' for a rival in love. The next day Zerline is forced to marry Francesco as she now no longer has her dowry. Diavolo instructs his henchmen to warn him when Lorenzo and his troop of soldiers have left the town so he can safely rob again, but the two are recognised in the crowd by Zerline and Diavolo is tricked into appearing and arrested when the signal is given as arranged. Zerline is free to marry Lorenzo again.
Recordings
Urania URLP-204: Irma Beilke, Marie Louise Schlip, Hans Hopf, Lorenz Fehenberger, Karl Wessly, Arno Schellenberg, Gottlob Frick, Kurt Böhme; Chorus of the Dresden State Opera; Staatskapelle Dresden; Karl Elmendorff, conductor[4]
Expanding and renaming the roles of Beppo and Giacomo, respectively, Laurel and Hardy starred as "Stanlio" and "Ollio" in the 1933 feature film Fra Diavolo (sometimes titled as The Devil's Brother or Bogus Bandits) based on Auber's opera. There is not a great deal of singing in the film. Much of the chorus material is intact, and Diavolo has three numbers; however, Zerline gets to sing only the small bit necessary to the plot (singing when she undresses), Stanlio and Ollio only repeat songs heard by others, and no one else sings.
References
Notes
^"Fra Diavolo. An Opera by Auber" (1871). The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, 14 (335): p. 750.
^ abMacdonald, Hugh, "Record Reviews: French Romantics" (1986). The Musical Times, 127 (1715): p. 34.
Tubeuf, André, Notes accompanying the Soustrot recording
External links
Fra Diavolo : opéra comique en trois actes, 1860 publication, French, digitization by BYU on archive.org
January 07, 2023
diavolo, opera, other, uses, diavolo, diavolo, disambiguation, diavolo, hôtellerie, terracine, diavolo, terracina, opéra, comique, three, acts, french, composer, daniel, auber, from, libretto, auber, regular, collaborator, eugène, scribe, loosely, based, life,. For other uses of Fra Diavolo see Fra Diavolo disambiguation Fra Diavolo ou L hotellerie de Terracine Fra Diavolo or The Inn of Terracina is an opera comique in three acts by the French composer Daniel Auber from a libretto by Auber s regular collaborator Eugene Scribe It is loosely based on the life of the Itrani guerrilla leader Michele Pezza active in southern Italy in the period 1800 1806 who went under the name of Fra Diavolo Brother Devil Fra DiavoloOpera comique by Daniel AuberJohn Sims Reeves in the title roleLibrettistEugene ScribeLanguageFrenchPremiere28 January 1830 1830 01 28 Salle Ventadour ParisThe opera was first performed by the Opera Comique at the Salle Ventadour in Paris on 28 January 1830 and an Italian version was prepared by Auber and Scribe for performance in London in 1857 This contained new recitatives and arias as well as expanding the roles of Fra Diavolo s accomplices The opera was Auber s greatest success one of the most popular works of the 19th century and was in the standard repertory in its original French as well as German and Italian versions An English translation was also prepared 1 Hugh Macdonald has characterised this comic opera as the most successful work of its kind before Offenbach 2 Contents 1 Roles 2 Synopsis 3 Recordings 4 Film 5 References 6 External linksRoles EditRole Voice type Premiere Cast 28 January 1830 3 Conductor Fra Diavolo a bandit tenor Jean Baptiste CholletZerline daughter of Matheo soprano Genevieve Aime Zoe PrevostLord Cockburn an English traveller baritone FereolLady Pamela his wife mezzo soprano Marie Julie Halligner Mme Boulanger Lorenzo an officer of the guards tenor Moreau CintiGiacomo Fra Diavolo s accomplice bass FargueilBeppo Fra Diavolo s accomplice tenor BelnieMatheo an innkeeper bass Francois Louis Henry Henri A Peasant tenorA Soldier tenorFrancesco the richest man in five miles muteJean Jacques Lord Cockburn s servant mute or chorusJohn Matheo s servant mute or chorusSynopsis Edit Cover design by Peter Hoffer undated for the libretto published by Ricordi Zerline daughter of the innkeeper of Terracina is in love with an impoverished soldier Lorenzo but her father wants her to marry the rich old Francesco Lorenzo is in pursuit of the notorious bandit Fra Diavolo Diavolo himself arrives at the inn disguised as a marquis and robs two English travellers Lord and Lady Cockburn Lorenzo manages to retrieve part of the stolen goods and is rewarded with enough money to marry Zerline Diavolo is determined to rob the travellers again and enlists the help of his two comical henchmen Giacomo and Beppo During the night the three of them sneak into Zerline s room and steal her dowry Lorenzo appears and mistakes the marquis for a rival in love The next day Zerline is forced to marry Francesco as she now no longer has her dowry Diavolo instructs his henchmen to warn him when Lorenzo and his troop of soldiers have left the town so he can safely rob again but the two are recognised in the crowd by Zerline and Diavolo is tricked into appearing and arrested when the signal is given as arranged Zerline is free to marry Lorenzo again Recordings EditUrania URLP 204 Irma Beilke Marie Louise Schlip Hans Hopf Lorenz Fehenberger Karl Wessly Arno Schellenberg Gottlob Frick Kurt Bohme Chorus of the Dresden State Opera Staatskapelle Dresden Karl Elmendorff conductor 4 EMI Classics Nicolai Gedda Mady Mesple Jane Berbie Jules Bastin Ensemble Choral Jean Laforge Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot conductor 1984 2 Film EditExpanding and renaming the roles of Beppo and Giacomo respectively Laurel and Hardy starred as Stanlio and Ollio in the 1933 feature film Fra Diavolo sometimes titled as The Devil s Brother or Bogus Bandits based on Auber s opera There is not a great deal of singing in the film Much of the chorus material is intact and Diavolo has three numbers however Zerline gets to sing only the small bit necessary to the plot singing when she undresses Stanlio and Ollio only repeat songs heard by others and no one else sings References EditNotes Fra Diavolo An Opera by Auber 1871 The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular 14 335 p 750 a b Macdonald Hugh Record Reviews French Romantics 1986 The Musical Times 127 1715 p 34 Fra Diavolo 1830 libretto in French Ringer Alexander L Auber Fra Diavolo October 1952 The Musical Quarterly 38 4 pp 642 644 Sources Holden Amanda Ed The New Penguin Opera Guide New York Penguin Putnam 2001 ISBN 0 14 029312 4 Schneider Herbert Fra Diavolo in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ed Stanley Sadie London 1992 ISBN 0 333 73432 7 Tubeuf Andre Notes accompanying the Soustrot recordingExternal links EditFra Diavolo opera comique en trois actes 1860 publication French digitization by BYU on archive org Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fra Diavolo opera amp oldid 1111778693, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
