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 +RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 11 February 1841Conductor: Emilio AngeliniCarlo, Duke of BurgundybaritoneFilippo ValentiniOliviero, Count of FiennatenorLorenzo SalviArnoldo, commander of the French archers in the service of the DukebassIgnazio MariniAdelia, his daughtersopranoGiuseppina StrepponiComino, the Duke's chamberlaintenorPietro GasperiniOdetta, Adelia's friendmezzo-sopranoClementina BaroniA squire of OlivierobassLuigi Fossi
Synopsis Time: "The past" 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.
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 YearCast:Carlo, Oliviero, Arnoldo, AdeliaConductor,Opera house and orchestraLabelSource of recordings on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk1998Stefano Antonucci,Octavio Arévalo,Boris Martinovic,Mariella DeviaJohn NeschlingTeatro Carlo Felice, Genoa Orchestra and Chorus(Recorded at performances in the Teatro Carlo Felice, January/ February)CD: BMG Ricordi(Agorá)Cat: RFCD 20292006Giulio Mastronataro,David Sotgiu,Andrea Silvestrelli,Michela SburlatiGustav Kuhn and the Haydn Choir(Recorded at concert performances in the Bolzano Auditorium, Bolzano, 11–16 December)CD: RCA Red SealCat: 88697 10813 2
References
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