Luci mie traditrici explained

Luci mie traditrici
Genre Header:Opera
Composer:Salvatore Sciarrino
Translated Name:My Traitorous Eyes
Other Name:Die tödliche Blume
Language:Italian
Premiere Date: (in German)
Premiere Location:Schwetzingen Festival

Luci mie traditrici (My Traitorous Eyes) is an opera in two acts by Salvatore Sciarrino, who also wrote the libretto. It was first performed under the German title Die tödliche Blume (The Deadly Flower) on 19 May 1998 in the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen at the Schwetzingen Festival. The title is taken from a line in the opera by the countess. The couple's name 'Malaspina' is of an Italian noble family, but it translates as 'evil thorn'. A performance lasts about 1 1/4 hours.

Composition history

Sciarrino started composing the opera in 1996. He based the libretto on the 1590 murder by the composer Carlo Gesualdo of his wife and her lover, but while working on it he discovered that Alfred Schnittke was also composing an opera (Gesualdo, 1993) on the same story. Deleting the references to Gesualdo, Sciarrino turned to a play, Il tradimento per l'onore, by Giacinto Andrea Cicognini, and also used an elegy of Claude Le Jeune, based on a text by Pierre de Ronsard.[1] Sciarrino dedicated the opera to Marilisa Pollini, Maurizio Pollini's wife.

Roles

!Role!Voice type!Premiere cast, 19 May 1998
Conductor: Pascal Rophé
La Malaspina (Countess Malaspina)sopranoSharon Spinetti
Il Malaspina (Count Malaspina)baritonePaul Armin Edelmann
L'Ospite (The Guest)countertenorKai Wessel
Un servo della casa (The Servant)tenorGeorg Nigl
Voce dietro il sipario (The voice behind the scene)countertenorKai Wessel

Synopsis

Place: The home of the Count and Countess

Time: Late sixteenth century

Act 1
  • In the prologue, a backstage voice sings Le Jeune's French elegy. It is morning, and the count and countess declare their eternal love. The servant announces the arrival of the guest. After a short intermezzo, it is now mid-day. The countess and the guest make love. As darkness descends, the guest leaves and the countess is alone with the servant.
    Act 2
  • In the evening, the count forgives the countess. Later that night, the countess opens the curtains of her bed, discovering the dead body of the guest. The count stabs the countess and she collapses on the body of the guest.

    Performance history

    Following the Schwetzingen premiere, the opera has been performed at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and in New York with choreography by Trisha Brown (2001),[2] as well as by the Ensemble Risognanze (2003) and at the Salzburg Festival (2008), the Berlin Festival of Contemporary Music (2010), a co-production between the Festival of Contemporary Art in Montepulciano (2010) and Oper Frankfurt (2011) as well as at the Berlin State Opera (2016).

    Recordings

    YearCast
    La Malaspina,
    Il Malaspina,
    L'Ospite
    Un servo    		Conductor,
    opera house and orchestra    		Label
    2000 Anette Stricker,
    Otto Katzameier,
    Kai Wessel,
    Simon Jaunin     		CD: Kairos
    Cat: KAI0012222
    2002 Junko Saito,
    Timothy Sharp,
    Galina Tchernova,
    Ralph Heiligtag     		Tito Ceccherini,
    ensemble Risognanze     		CD: Stradivarius
    Cat: STR33645
    2010 Nina Tarandek,
    Christian Miedl,
    Roland Schneider,
    Simon Bode     		Marco Angius,
    Ensemble Algoritmo     		DVD Video: EuroArts
    Cat: 2059038
    (2011) CD: Stradivarius
    Cat: STR33900

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. David Patmore: Salvatore Sciarrino: Luci mie traditrici (liner notes in the 2010 EuroArts DVD of the opera).
    2. http://www.trishabrowncompany.org/?page=view&nr=435 Luci mie traditrici (2001)

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