I pazzi per progetto

I pazzi per progetto
Farsa by Gaetano Donizetti
Donizetti c. 1835
LibrettistDomenico Gilardoni
LanguageItalian
Premiere
6 February 1830 (1830-02-06)
Teatro San Carlo, Naples

I pazzi per progetto (Madmen by Design) is a farsa in one act by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Domenico Gilardoni. The first performance took place at the Teatro di San Carlo on 6 February 1830 and was followed by its second presentation on 7 February at the Teatro del Fondo.[1]

At the 1830 performance in Naples, some great singers of the time such as Boccabadati and Luigi Lablache performed it in a charity event, but despite the exceptional cast, the audience was really very meager. The work, carried by two women surrounded by five heavy voices, was divided into seven numbers linked by dry ("secco") or accompanied recitatives. It revealed the purest farcical style of the composer, containing the characters and forms typical of that style.

It was performed a few more times in Naples and Palermo up until 1845,[1] and then forgotten until 1977.

Performance history

In 1977 a new revision, edited by Maestro Bruno Rigacci of Florence and using the original score which had been preserved at the Conservatorio S. Pietro a Majella in Naples, was presented as part of the Opera Barga Festival. It was a resounding success with the public and the critics.

Roles

  • Darlemont, directore of a mental hospital, uncle of Norina - bass
  • Norina, wife of Blinval - soprano
  • Blinval, colonel - bass-baritone
  • Cristina, a young girl, in love with Blinval - mezzo-soprano
  • Venanzio, stingy old man, guardian of Cristina - bass
  • Eustachio, trumpeter of Blinval's regiment - baritone
  • Frank, servant of Darlemont - bass-baritone

Synopsis

Place: A hospital for the insane in Paris
Time: Early 19th Century

The hospital's director, Darlemont, has a niece, Norina, married to Blinval, a colonel of dragoons. The remoteness of the man from his beloved wife due to military reasons and mutual jealousy are the causes of series of actions when the two meet again. Since the meeting takes place in the hospital which is managed by Norina's uncle, the two alternately pose themselves as crazy to find out the true feelings of each other, causing frantic carousel of deceptions and misunderstandings.

Added to all this is a very babbler and an all-too-sincere servant, (Frank), a deserter trumpeter who pretends to be a doctor (Eustace), a beautiful young girl (Christina), former lover of the colonel, who tries to escape from her old guardian (Venanzio). He in turn tries to make her go mad so that he can take her dowry.

These very well-matched ingredients result in a farce with all its rules. At the well-designed end, peace and moral obligation are restored.

Recordings

Year Cast:
Darlemont, Norina, Blinval, Cristina 		Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra 		Label[2]
1977 Giovanni Fancella,
Anna Baldasserini,
Giovanni Savoiardo,
Vera Pastore 		Amy Kaiser,
Orchestra and Chorus of Opera di Barga,
(Recording of a performance in the Teatro di Differenti, Barga, 8 September) 		Audio CD: Unique Opera Records
Cat: UORC 357
1988 Leonardo Monreale,
Susanna Rigacci,
Graziano Polidori,
Adriana Cicogna 		Bruno Rigacci,
Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini",
(Recorded at performances in the Teatro Rossini, Lugo, December) 		Audio CD: Bongiovanni,
Cat: GB 2070-2
2000 Andrea Porta,
Cinzia Rizzone,
Alessandro Battiato,
Annarita Gemmabella 		Fabrizio Maria Carminati,
Orchestra Sinfonica "Gaetano Donizetti" di Bergamo,
(Recorded at performances in the Piazza Cittadella, Bergamo Alta, 22 & 24 August) 		Audio CD: Music Media,
Cat: CD 2002

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Black 1982, pp. 24—25: Black deals specifically with the error and details performances at both houses in 1830 and 1831.
  2. ^ Recordings on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

Sources

  • Allitt, John Stewart (1991), Donizetti: in the light of Romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr, Shaftesbury: Element Books, Ltd (UK); Rockport, MA: Element, Inc.(USA)
  • Ashbrook, William (1982), Donizetti and His Operas, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23526-X
  • Ashbrook, William (1998), "Donizetti, Gaetano" in Stanley Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. One. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
  • Ashbrook, William and Sarah Hibberd (2001), in Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4. 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
  • Osborne, Charles, (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-71-3
  • Sadie, Stanley, (Ed.); John Tyrell (Exec. Ed.) (2004), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-19-517067-2 (hardcover). ISBN 0-19-517067-9 OCLC 419285866 (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. LCCN 63-13703