La figlia del mago (The Sorcerer's Daughter) is a children's opera in two acts by Lorenzo Ferrero set to an Italian-language libretto by Marco Ravasini. It was completed in 1981 and subtitled giocodramma melodioso, a wordplay on melodramma giocoso. The libretto, inspired by Mario Lavagetto's book Quei più modesti romanzi: il libretto nel melodramma di Verdi, is written in an imaginary language which emphasises the element of play. The music is a sequence of closed numbers "which spoof the most common operatic conventions."[1] The aim of the opera is to show children how Italian opera functions. Alongside professional singers, children take mime roles.[2]
The premiere directed by Caterina Mattea and conducted by Jan Latham Koenig took place in Montepulciano, at the Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte on 31 July 1981. The opera had many subsequent new productions: in Florence, at the Teatro Comunale Florence on 23 November 1991, Milan, at La Scala on 11 March 1992, and Naples at Teatro di San Carlo on 7 March 1995; in Rouen, at Opéra de Rouen on 8 November 1992, and Mâcon, at the Scène Nationale on 27 March 1993; in Palm Beach, at Palm Beach Opera on 17 October 1993; in Helsinki, at the Finnish National Theatre on 4 May 1994; in Brighton, at the Brighton Festival on 22 May 1997; in Milan, as a school project of Caravaggio and Carducci High Schools, on 22 May 2000; in Kiel, at the Fischmarkthalle Kiel-Wellingdorf on 30 May 2008.
Roles
Role
Voice type
Premiere cast, July 31, 1981 (Conductor: Jan Latham Koenig)
Dancing mimes, sailors, soldiers, a fantastic horse, an odd bird, a sea monster.
Synopsis
Act 1
On a dark, stormy night a ship makes a desperate attempt to land. Prince Tenor returns from an exotic place with his fiancée, Princess Soprano, and with handsome travel gifts, including two exotic animals. Tenor’s father, King Baritone, utterly rejects the princess because she is both a foreigner and the offspring of a sorcerer. Soprano’s father, King Bass, arrives accompanied by his pet sea monster and tries to persuade his daughter to come back home. As she refuses, he uses his magic powers to make the animals attack Baritone's court. During the ensuing battle, Tenor runs to the defence of his father and manages to save him. In spite of this demonstration of his worth he is still denied permission to marry Soprano.
Act 2
In his bedroom, King Baritone is having a restless night. King Bass' sea monster enters and is about to attack him when, once again, Tenor rushes in and puts the monster to flight. Waking up, King Baritone catches Tenor with the sword in his hand and accuses him of attempted patricide. He condemns Tenor and Soprano to death and throws them into prison. Just as they are about to be executed King Bass bursts in to liberate his daughter, but she seizes his magic wand and casts a spell which forces the two fathers to perform a frantic dance until they beg for mercy and give their consent for the marriage. There is general rejoicing as preparations are made for the wedding ceremony. Everyone, including the two fantastic animals and the sea monster, joins in.
References
Notes
^Girardi, Il teatro musicale italiano oggi, p. 118
figlia, mago, sorcerer, daughter, children, opera, acts, lorenzo, ferrero, italian, language, libretto, marco, ravasini, completed, 1981, subtitled, giocodramma, melodioso, wordplay, melodramma, giocoso, libretto, inspired, mario, lavagetto, book, quei, più, m. La figlia del mago The Sorcerer s Daughter is a children s opera in two acts by Lorenzo Ferrero set to an Italian language libretto by Marco Ravasini It was completed in 1981 and subtitled giocodramma melodioso a wordplay on melodramma giocoso The libretto inspired by Mario Lavagetto s book Quei piu modesti romanzi il libretto nel melodramma di Verdi is written in an imaginary language which emphasises the element of play The music is a sequence of closed numbers which spoof the most common operatic conventions 1 The aim of the opera is to show children how Italian opera functions Alongside professional singers children take mime roles 2 La figlia del magoChildren s opera by Lorenzo FerreroLibrettistMarco RavasiniLanguageimaginary languagePremiere31 July 1981 1981 07 31 Cantiere Internazionale d Arte Montepulciano Contents 1 Performance history 2 Roles 3 Synopsis 4 References 5 External linksPerformance history EditThe premiere directed by Caterina Mattea and conducted by Jan Latham Koenig took place in Montepulciano at the Cantiere Internazionale d Arte on 31 July 1981 The opera had many subsequent new productions in Florence at the Teatro Comunale Florence on 23 November 1991 Milan at La Scala on 11 March 1992 and Naples at Teatro di San Carlo on 7 March 1995 in Rouen at Opera de Rouen on 8 November 1992 and Macon at the Scene Nationale on 27 March 1993 in Palm Beach at Palm Beach Opera on 17 October 1993 in Helsinki at the Finnish National Theatre on 4 May 1994 in Brighton at the Brighton Festival on 22 May 1997 in Milan as a school project of Caravaggio and Carducci High Schools on 22 May 2000 in Kiel at the Fischmarkthalle Kiel Wellingdorf on 30 May 2008 Roles EditRole Voice type Premiere cast July 31 1981 Conductor Jan Latham Koenig Princess Soprano King Bass daughter soprano Lauretta PerassoPrince Tenor King Baritone s son tenor Gianni MastinoKing Baritone baritone Denis KriefKing Bass The Sorcerer bass Roberto ScandiuzziDancing mimes sailors soldiers a fantastic horse an odd bird a sea monster Synopsis EditAct 1On a dark stormy night a ship makes a desperate attempt to land Prince Tenor returns from an exotic place with his fiancee Princess Soprano and with handsome travel gifts including two exotic animals Tenor s father King Baritone utterly rejects the princess because she is both a foreigner and the offspring of a sorcerer Soprano s father King Bass arrives accompanied by his pet sea monster and tries to persuade his daughter to come back home As she refuses he uses his magic powers to make the animals attack Baritone s court During the ensuing battle Tenor runs to the defence of his father and manages to save him In spite of this demonstration of his worth he is still denied permission to marry Soprano Act 2In his bedroom King Baritone is having a restless night King Bass sea monster enters and is about to attack him when once again Tenor rushes in and puts the monster to flight Waking up King Baritone catches Tenor with the sword in his hand and accuses him of attempted patricide He condemns Tenor and Soprano to death and throws them into prison Just as they are about to be executed King Bass bursts in to liberate his daughter but she seizes his magic wand and casts a spell which forces the two fathers to perform a frantic dance until they beg for mercy and give their consent for the marriage There is general rejoicing as preparations are made for the wedding ceremony Everyone including the two fantastic animals and the sea monster joins in References EditNotes Girardi Il teatro musicale italiano oggi p 118 Holden The New Penguin Opera Guide p 274 Sources Bagnoli Giorgio 1993 The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 0 671 87042 4 Fearn Raymond 1998 Italian Opera since 1945 London Routledge ISBN 90 5755 001 6 Girardi Enrico 2000 Il teatro musicale italiano oggi La generazione della post avanguardia Torino De Sono Paravia ISBN 88 395 9129 X Holden Amanda ed 2001 The New Penguin Opera Guide London Penguin Books ISBN 0 14 051475 9 Lanza Andrea 1980 Il secondo novecento Turin EDT Srl ISBN 88 7063 115 X Moliterno Gino ed 2000 Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Italian Culture London and New York Routledge ISBN 0 415 14584 8 Pugliaro Giorgio ed 1992 Opera 92 Annuario dell opera lirica in Italia Turin EDT Srl ISBN 978 88 7063 161 6 Sadie Stanley ed 1992 2002 The New Grove Dictionary of Opera London Macmillan Publishers ISBN 0 19 522186 9External links EditCatalogue entry at Casa Ricordi Title page of sheet music at Casa Ricordi Digital Collection Portal Opera Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title La figlia del mago amp oldid 1104757029, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
