L'assedio di Calais (The siege of Calais) is an 1836 melodramma lirico, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti, his 49th opera. Salvatore Cammarano wrote the Italian libretto, which has been described as "...a remarkable libretto, the closest Cammarano ever got to real poetry, particularly in his description of the embattled city and the heartfelt pride of its citizens".Black 1984, p. 35 It was based on Luigi Marchionni's play L'assedio di Calais (also called Edoardo III), which had been presented in Naples around 1825, and secondarily on Luigi Henry's ballet L'assedio di Calais, which had been performed in Naples in 1828 and revived in 1835.
Both of these were probably derived from the French play Eustache de St Pierre, ou Le siège de Calais by Hubert (pen name of Philippe-Jacques Laroche), which had been given in Paris in 1822 and was in turn taken from the 1765 play Le siège de Calais by Pierre-Laurent Buirette de Belloy.Ashbrook 1982 p. 563; Ashbrook 1992 p. 230; Ashbrook & Hibberd 2001, p. 238. The historical basis was Edward III's siege of Calais in 1346, toward the beginning of the Hundred Years' War.
The opera was premiered on 19 November 1836 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. It was dedicated to the Queen Mother, Maria Isabella. It was the thirteenth of the composer's operas to be given its premiere in that house and it immediately followed the previous year's successful Lucia di Lammermoor there. L'assedio received sixteen performances that season, and, since the opera "met the requirements for a royal occasion, with its happy ending, and had an additional bonus in its glorification of the part played by the English queen, Donizetti duly received the King's congratulations".Black 1982, p. 37
By 1840 it had disappeared from the world's stages and it did not re-appear until 1990 at the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo.
Composition history Interest in composing for the Paris Opera
Following Donizetti's visit to Paris in March 1835 (for his Marino Faliero at the Théâtre-Italien), it is clear that he wished to return to that city and to write an opera for presentation at the Paris Opéra, "the most prestigious theatre in the world".Ashbrook 1989, pp. 10–11
Also, given that there was an established tradition of works which demonstrated French solidity and resistance in the face of overwhelming odds, all of the plays and the ballet noted above as being used as libretto sources (and which were incorporated into or consulted by Cammarano for the preparation of the libretto) reinforced that tradition in Donizetti's mind.Ashbrook 1989, pp. 12–13 Therefore, as the preparations for this opera evolved over the unusually long period of five months, it has been noted that everything stresses the importance to the composer of his long-term plan for achieving his ultimate goal: having an opera accepted and produced by the Paris Opéra.Ashbrook 1992 p. 230 Thus, L'assedio became Donizetti's first experiment in the style of French grand opera.
Conventions of grand opera
As part of that tradition, L'assedio included a ballet divertissement, a key ingredient of French opera of the period. The idea for this may have arisen in Donizetti's mind from a revival of Luigi Henry's ballet at the San Carlo in 1835, right at the time that Lucia di Lammermoor was given its premiere,Ashbrook and Hibberd 2001, p. 238 but including this dance form was unusual in Italy, where a ballet was normally performed only as a separate work alongside an opera on a double bill.
In line with another French tradition was the composer's rejection of the Italian concept of the prime role of the "prima donna": firstly his having "no particular feeling of obligation to give the heroine an entrance aria" and, secondly, accepting that her role was of significance at all; the opera's plot "makes female roles secondary in importance".Ashbrook 1982, pp. 252–253
Another of the French traditions, as developed from the dominant force in French dramatic literature and personified by Eugene Scribe's concept of the "well-made play" (which may be seen in many of the opera libretti he wrote), concerns the notion of a "coup de theatre" whereby some extraordinary action occurs to turn the evolution of the story totally on its head. This is certainly the case with L'assedio.
As it turned out, Donizetti had to wait four more years for one of his operas to be staged in Paris.Donizetti in Paris: In spite of all his efforts with trying to get L'assedio put on in Paris, the first opera which was performed there was Les martyrs, which premiered on 10 April 1840 at the Opéra's Salle Le Peletier. Les martyrs (See Osborne 1994 p. 268) was a reworking in French in "grand opera" style of his as then-unperformed Italian opera Poliuto.
Composing for particular singers
But, in direct contradiction to the French tradition, Donizetti found himself having to employ the "old-fashioned Italian convention of the musico", the female singer trouser role which musicologist William Ashbrook states was defined by the composer to mean "a male-hero role intended to be sung by a female contralto".Ashbrook 1989 "The Music of L'assedio di Calais": Note in the booklet for the Opera Rara recording, pp. 21–29 When contacts with a favourite tenor with local audiences in Naples, Giovanni Basadonna, were fruitless and when the composer did not consider any of three available primo tenors good enough for the part("almost useless", he calls them), he created a trouser role in the Rossinian tradition of Tancredi (from the opera Tancredi) or Arsace (in Semiramide). Therefore, the leading male role of Aurelio in L'assedio, while written for a contralto, is most often performed by a mezzo-soprano.
Performance history Premiere and first revival The opera was enthusiastically received at its official opening on 22 November,Letter of 22 November 1836 to Riccordi, in Ashbrook 1989, p. 28 the run of performances were poorly attended due to a cholera epidemic affecting the city, as well as many parts of Northern and Southern Italy.
Though Donizetti called it "my most carefully worked out score", he wrote that "the third act is the least successful....Who knows, I might retouch it?" In another letter to "Dolci di Bergamo" on the same day he wrote: "The third act...seems to me to produce less effect because the dances slow down the action, and perhaps I will cut them to make the opera more effective..."Donizetti, letter to "Dolci di Bergamo", 22 November 1836, in Ashbrook 1989, p. 15
Generally regarded as the weakest, act 3 contains four "engagingly noisy" dances during a scene celebrating the Queen's arrival.Osborne 1994, p. 255. Two of these were by Antonio Vaccari, and, according to Charles Osborne, the two by Donizetti are "instantly forgettable".Osborne 1994, pp. 255–256.
By the end of its initial run in 1836, there had been 15 performances, all of which "invariably included act 3".Black 1988, pp. 30–41 But it appears that, for the July 1837 performances, changes had been made because the Naples Superintendent of Theatres complained of unauthorized alterations. Donizetti had tried to strengthen act 3 by removing the ballet and the choral finale and adding a more traditional aria-finale rondo for Eleonora instead: Questo pianto che sul ciglio, E l'eccesso del contento / "These tears on my lashes, Are tears of overwhelming joy". (This rondo is included in the Opera Rara recording.) But in spite of this change, Donizetti was unsatisfied with the result, but it appears that he made no other revisions before leaving Naples.
The revival on 6 July included only acts 1 and 2. A performance on 8 July 1837 replaced act 3 with another composer's ballet.Ashbrook 1989, p. 17 After three more performances in 1838 and none in 1839, a final performance on 4 February 1840 is thought to have included only the first two acts. After a total of thirty-eight performances in Naples,Osborne 1994, p. 25 L'assedio "dropped out of sight". It was only one of a few of Donizetti's "mature operas which appear never to have been performed elsewhere after their first runs".Weinstock 1963, p. 123
Donizetti aims for Paris In an attempt to have the work staged at the Paris Opéra, Donizetti wrote a letter on 21 May 1837Ashbrook 1989, in footnotes p. 28, 29 to that company's new star tenor Gilbert Duprez who had recently returned to Paris after eight years in Italy and who had starred in Lucia di Lammermoor two years earlier. Donizetti wrote that he had written the opera "in accordance with French taste", his offer was ignored and L'assedio was not performed in Paris.Weinstock 1963, p. 352
Modern revivals The opera was recorded in London by Opera Rara in 1988 in its three-act version. The first modern stage revival was presented by the Donizetti Festival at the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo in September 1990. At the Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland in October 1991 the three-act version was also given.Wexford Festival programme L'assedio was given its London stage premiere by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on 3 March 1992 and the first performance in Scotland was given in Glasgow by RSAMD (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) at the New Athenaeum Theatre on 27 June 1998.Opera Scotland record of performance on operascotland.org Retrieved 29 January 2013
The English Touring OperaEnglish Touring Opera's schedule of performances on its website at englishtouringopera.org.uk Retrieved 19 January 2013 gave a series of performances across England and into Scotland between March and May 2013, which would appear to be the opera's UK professional premiere.Rupert Christiansen, "The Siege of Calais, English Touring Opera, review", The Telegraph (London), 11 Mar 2013William Hartston, "Opera review: The Siege of Calais, English Touring Opera in Express (London), 20 March 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2013
ETO presented the opera in a two-act version by incorporating some of act 3 into acts 1 and 2, for which there is 19th-century precedent. The production's director, James Conway explained:
Some of Cammarano's text was censored, and neutralised. The queen is a triffling role, and Edoardo's conversion is not credible. Much of the music is not the same unwavering standard of the first two acts. In Donizetti's lifetime the opera was often given without a third act, and there is evidence that a revised version, without ballet music and without the English queen, was performed at Naples to the librettist's chagrin.James Conway (March 2013), "Director's Note" in the programme published by ETO.
The opera was given its first US professional staging at the Glimmerglass Festival in 2017 and the complete three act version was seen in a production by Odyssey Opera, Boston, the same year.
Roles
RoleVoice typePremiere Cast, 19 November 1836(Conductor: - )Eustachio de Saint-Pierre, Mayor of CalaisbaritonePaul BarroilhetAurelio, his sonmezzo-soprano,pants roleAlmareinda ManzocchiEleonora, Aurelio's wifesopranoCaterina Barilli-Patti,mother of Adelina PattiGiovanni d'Aire, burghertenorFerdinando CiminoGiacomo de Wisants, burghertenorFreniPietro de Wisants, burgherbaritoneGiovanni RevaldenArmando, burgherbassGiuseppe BenedettiEduardo III, King of EnglandbaritoneLuigi LablacheIsabella, Queen of EnglandThe real Isabella was Edward III's mother; his wife was Philippa of HainaultsopranoEdmundo, English generaltenorNicola TucciAn English spy / Un IncognitobassPietro Gianni
Synopsis (Source: the action described is taken from the events portrayed in the Opera Rara recording from 1988. Variations are noted in indented brackets.)
Time: 1347 Place: Calais, France.
Act 1 Scene 1: Outside the walls of Calais at night