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)