La cambiale di matrimonio
La cambiale di matrimonio (The Bill of Marriage or The Marriage Contract) is a one-act operatic farsa comica by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Gaetano Rossi. The libretto was based on the play by Camillo Federici (1791) and a previous libretto by Giuseppe Checcherini for Carlo Coccia's 1807 opera, Il matrimonio per lettera di cambio. The opera debuted on November 3, 1810, at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice[1]
Composed in a few days when he was 18 years old, La cambiale di matrimonio was Rossini's first professional opera. The overture, written when he was a student at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna, is an important part of the modern concert repertoire.[1] As was to become typical of his later career, the duet "Dunque io son" was later reused, to greater effect, in act 1 of The Barber of Seville.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, November 3, 1810[3] (Conductor: ) |
|---|---|---|
| Tobias Mill, an English merchant | bass | Luigi Raffanelli |
| Fanny, his daughter | soprano | Rosa Morandi |
| Edward Milfort, Fanny's lover | tenor | Tommaso Ricci |
| Slook, a Canadian merchant | bass | Nicola De Grecis |
| Norton, Mills' clerk | bass | Domenico Remolini |
| Clarina, Fanny's chambermaid | mezzo-soprano | Clementina Lanari |
[edit] Synopsis
- Place: London
- 18th Century
Local merchant, Tobias Mill, receives a blank marriage contract from a Canadian businessman, Mr. Slook. Although quite surprised, Mill announces to his servants Norton and Clarina that he intends to accept the contract on behalf of his daughter Fanny. When Fanny and her penniless lover Edward Milfort hear about this, Milfort vows to fight the situation. Slook arrives on the scene and is surprised both by the elaborate reception he receives as well as by Mill’s desire to promptly effect the marriage. Slook addresses Fanny in a duet that soon expands as Milfort joins in to threaten him with bodily harm unless he leaves town immediately.
Slook offers to pull out of the contract, but Mill feels slighted and challenges him to a duel. Slook makes Milfort his heir and signs Fanny over to him and then prepares to leave town. Fanny and Milfort are thankful and Slook lounges around comfortably smoking a pipe. Mill, who does not yet know of the settlement, rages into the scene until all is revealed and ends in celebration.
[edit] English translation
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011) |
La cambiale di matrimonio was translated into English, and updated to Depression era Boston, as The IOU Wedding, by Richard Pearlman, and is frequently performed.
[edit] Recordings
| Year | Cast: Sir Tobia Mill, Fanni, Edoardo, Slook |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label [4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Rolando Panerai, Renata Scotto, Nicola Monti, Renato Capecchi |
Renato Fasano, I Virtuosi di Roma (Recorded by Mercury in the late summer of 1959 at the Teatro Grande, Brescia) |
Audio CD: Italian Opera Rarities Cat: LO 7738 |
| 2006 | Paolo Bordogna, Desirée Rancatore, Saimir Pirgu, Fabio (Maria) Capitanucci |
Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento (Audio and video recordings made at performances at the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, August). |
Audio CD: Dynamic Cat: CDS 529; DVD: Naxos Cat: 2110228 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ a b Osborne, Richard in Grove
- ^ Warrack and West
- ^ Role creators information from AmadeusOnline.net
- ^ Recordings of La cambiale di matrimonio on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
- Sources
- Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-140-29312-4
- Osborne, Richard: "La Cambiale di matrimonio", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Retrieved on March 21, 2008),
- Osborne, Charles, The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1994 ISBN 0931340713
- Warrack, John & West, Ewan "La Cambiale di matrimonio", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera Oxford University Press, 1996 Oxford Reference Online (Retrieved on March 21, 2008),
[edit] External links
- Libretto, Deutsche Rossini Gesellschaft. Accessed 23 March 2008.
