The First Three Years of 'Trovatore

Verdi Forum, Dec 1987

By Martin Chusid and Thomas G. Kaufman, Published on 01/01/87

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The First Three Years of 'Trovatore

The First Three Years of ' Trovatore' Thomas G. Kaufman 0 1 0 Florence, La Pergola. Cast: Augusta Albertini , • Emilia Goggi; •carlo Baucarde, Francesco Graziani, Baccelli. Sources: V, NMas, GMM (9 X 53), GMN, 15 & 22 X 53 1 Treviso, T . di Societil. Cast: Augusta Albertini , Giuseppina Bregazzi; •carlo Baucarde, Giovanni Battista Bencich, Giovanni Battista Cornago. Sources: V, Lib, GMM, 22 X 54 Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/vf Part of the Musicology Commons Recommended Citation - Article 3 The First Three Years of 'Trovatore' Martin Chusid and Thomas Kaufman As Pierluigi Petrobelli suggests in the first essay of this issue, studies in the reception and diffusion of Verdi's operas are relatively few and far between. Several have been undertaken by Marcello Conati: 19th century stagings of Stiffelio (Quaderno 3 of the Istituto di Studi Verdiani, Parma, 1968); stagings of Aida from 1871-1881 (Quaderno 4, 1971); "A chronology of the first performances of Rigoletto" (Bollettino 9 of the same Institute, 1982); and "Prime rappresentazioni di Ernani 1844-46" (Bollettino IO, 1987). Roger Parker has traced the stagings of Nabucco during its first two years in his dissertation Studies in Early Verdi (1832-1844 ), (University of London, 1981). A number of scholars, but most importantly AIVS member Tom Kaufman, coauthor of this article, have tracked stagings of Macbeth for JOO years in Verdi's 'Macbeth ': A Sourcebook , a volume prepared by the American Institute and underwritten by grants to that organization (New York, W. W. Norton, 1984), with additions and revisions in Verdi Newsletter No. 13 (1985). And, finally, a listing of 19th century stagings of Aro/do was prepared by M. Chusid with the assistance of Mr. Kaufman and published in Tornando a 'Stiffelio' (Florence, Olschki, 1986) and reprinted with a single addition to the list in Verdi Newsletter 14 (1986). Examining these studies and some additional evidence (the librettos in the Verdi Archive at NYU, a number of journals of the period and many chronicles of opera houses or cities), it would appear that the two most immediately successful of all Verdi's operas were Ernani with 194 stagings in the period 9 March 1844 to 31 December 1846, and ll trovatore with 229 stagings from 19 January 1853 to 18 January 1856. A remarkable feature of many of the earliest stagings of Trovatore is the large number of individual performances in a single season. At the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, for example, during the Carnival­ Lent Season beginning 26 December 1853, there were fully 38 performances directed from the chair of the principal violinist, Angelo Mariani, then still playing the violin while leading the orchestra. The role of Leonora was taken by Fanny Salvini­ Donatelli, the much and apparently undeservedly maligned Violetta at the fiasco of Traviata during its premiere in Venice the preceding March. Trovatore was also chosen to initiate the very next season, Spring (beginning 20 May 1854), when the soprano who created Leonora at Rome, Rosina Penco, sang the part. The Gazzetta musicale di Napoli (GMN) for 3 June 1854 reported a "prodigious success." The following Spring (beginning 24 April 1855) the opera was heard at a new Genovese theater, the Paganini, this time with the Manrico of the Roman premiere, Carlo Baucarde, perform­ ing. His wife, the Englishwoman Augusta Albertini, sang the role of Leonora. Again the GMN (12 May 1855) reported a success, "di tutto furore ." Of interest was an item the preceding Fall in GMN (I I November 1854) that the new theater would be named the Teatro Verdi and the composer would write a new opera for its opening. On 20 January 1855 the same journal corrected the report. Verdi had refused to allow his name to be used and, of course, did not compose for the occasion. At La Scala in Milan the earliest performances, beginning 15 September 1853, were said to have been hampered by poor The First Three Years of Trovaiore singing on the part of the principals. But as the season progressed , the singers improved and the opera kept returning to replace other works that had fared badly. The season ended as it began, with Tro vatore. heard for a total of 23 evenings. The next winter, although Trovatore began four months later ( 17 Januar y 1855) it was heard 24 times . During the Spring the opera was also mounted at Milan's seco nd hou se, th e Teatro Carcano (20 April 1855). Many Venetians first heard Trn vatore in the nearby city of Padua on 25 June 1853 where the opera opened three successive Fiera (Festival or Summer) seaso ns. During th e seco nd of these (beginning 25 June 1854) th e rol e of the Count was taken by Giovanni Guicciardi, th e original Di Luna at Rome . The performances were received with "vero entusiasmo." In Venice itself the opera was first mounted on 26 December 1853, opening night of the Carnival seaso n. Here , too , the opera was heard 23 times during its first sta (...truncated)


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Martin Chusid, Thomas G. Kaufman. The First Three Years of 'Trovatore, Verdi Forum, 1987, Volume 1, Issue 15,