Adelia (opera) explained

Adelia, o La figlia dell'arciere (Adelia, or The Archer's Daughter) is an opera in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written partly by Felice Romani (acts 1 and 2) and by (act 3), a part-time poet who had achieved notability the previous year with Otto Nicolai's Il templario. The opera premiered at the Teatro Apollo, Rome on 11 February 1841.

Roles

!Role!Voice type!Premiere cast, 11 February 1841
Conductor: Emilio Angelini

Carlo, Duke of Burgundy	baritone	Filippo Valentini
Oliviero, Count of Fienna	tenor	Lorenzo Salvi
Arnoldo, commander of the French archers in the service of the Duke	bass	Ignazio Marini
Adelia, his daughter	soprano	Giuseppina Strepponi
Comino, the Duke's chamberlain	tenor	Pietro Gasperini
Odetta, Adelia's friend	mezzo-soprano	Clementina Baroni
A squire of Oliviero	bass	Luigi Fossi

Synopsis

Time: "The past"^[1]

Place: Burgundy

The story features the protagonist, Adelia, the daughter of Arnoldo, one of Duke Carlo's bodyguards. The Duke returns from a successful battle to find a fellow nobleman, Count Oliviero, leaving Arnoldo's house which is on Carlo's estate. The chorus then sing rumors that Oliviero has slept with Adelia, taking her virginity. The Duke sentences Oliviero to death for this perceived transgression, but the other characters prevent this. By the end of the opera, all agree to the marriage.^[2]

Notable arias and numbers

Act 1

• Arnoldo: "Siam giunti"
• Adelia: "Fui presaga; ah, tu lo vedi"

Act 2

• Duet: Adelia and Arnoldo: "Ah, no, non posso"
• Duet: Adelia and Oliviero: "Tutto di te sollecito"

Act 3

• Oliviero: "Che fia di me!"
• Adelia: "Ah! mi lasciate"

Recordings

Year	Cast: Carlo, Oliviero, Arnoldo, Adelia	Conductor, Opera house and orchestra	Label[3]
1998	Stefano Antonucci, Octavio Arévalo, Boris Martinovic, Mariella Devia	John Neschling Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa Orchestra and Chorus (Recorded at performances in the Teatro Carlo Felice, January/ February)	CD: BMG Ricordi(Agorá) Cat: RFCD 2029
2006	Giulio Mastronataro, David Sotgiu, Andrea Silvestrelli, Michela Sburlati	Gustav Kuhn and the Haydn Choir (Recorded at concert performances in the Bolzano Auditorium, Bolzano, 11–16 December)	CD: RCA Red Seal Cat: 88697 10813 2

Further reading

• Allitt, John Stewart (1991), Donizetti: in the light of Romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr, Shaftesbury: Element Books (UK); Rockport, Massachusetts: Element (USA)
• Ashbrook, William (1982), Donizetti and His Operas, Cambridge University Press. .
• Ashbrook, William (1998), "Donizetti, Gaetano" in Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, vol. 1. London: Macmillan. .
• Ashbrook, William and Sarah Hibberd (2001), in Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. . pp. 224–247.
• Black, John (1982), Donizetti’s Operas in Naples, 1822–1848. London: The Donizetti Society.
• Loewenberg, Alfred (1970). Annals of Opera, 1597–1940, 2nd edition. Rowman and Littlefield
• Sadie, Stanley, (ed.); John Tyrell (exec. ed.) (2004), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. (hardcover). (eBook).
• Weinstock, Herbert (1963), Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, New York: Pantheon Books.

External links

• • Libretto, opera.stanford.edu

Notes and References

1. Book: Osborne, Charles. Charles Osborne (music writer)

   . Charles Osborne (music writer). 1994. The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. Portland, Oregon. Amadeus Press. 0-931340-71-3. 279.

2. News: Tommasini. Anthony. Anthony Tommasini. Music Review; Neglected Donizetti Opera Makes a Case for Itself. 15 November 1999. The New York Times. 7 January 2023. review of a concert performance at Carnegie Hall by the Opera Orchestra of New York, conducted by Eve Queler.
3. http://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/CLDOADEL.HTM Source of recordings on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk