Matilde di Shabran

Matilde di Shabran (1821), ossia Bellezza, e cuor di ferro (Matilde of Shabran, or Beauty with a Heart of Iron), is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti after François-Benoît Hoffman’s libretto for Méhul’s Euphrosine (1790, Paris) and J. M. Boutet de Monvel's play Mathilde. The opera was first performed in Rome at the Teatro Apollo, 24 February 1821^[1] conducted by the violinist Niccolo Paganini.^[2] It received its first modern performances in a revised version of the score at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in 1996.^[3] The opera was subsequently revived in 2004 at the Rossini Festival, and in 2008 at the Royal Opera, London. Juan Diego Flórez sang the role of Corradino in all three productions

[edit] Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, February 24, 1821 (Conductor: Niccolo Paganini )
Corradino, Cuor di ferro	tenor	Giuseppe Fusconi
Matilde di Shabran	soprano	Caterina Liparini
Raimondo Lopez, father of Edoardo	bass	Carlo Moncada
Edoardo	contralto	Annetta Parlamagni
Aliprando, physician	baritone	Giuseppe Fioravanti
Isidoro, poet	bass	Antonio Parlamagni
Contessa d'Arco	mezzo-soprano	Luigia Cruciati
Ginardo, keeper of the tower	bass	Antonio Ambrosi
Egoldo, leader of the peasants	tenor	Gaetano Rambaldi
Rodrigo, leader of the guards	tenor	Gaetano Rambaldi
Udolfo, jailer	silent
Male chorus of guards and peasants. Female chorus of peasants sometimes used in Act II

The action takes place in and around Corradino's castle, in Spain.

Matilde di Shabran - Annick Massis, Juan Diego Florez, Bruno Taddia, Hadar Halevy, Marco Vinco, Bruno de Simone, Chiara Chialli, Carlo Lepore, Gregory Bonfatti, Prague Chamber Choir, Orchestra Sinfónica de Galicia / Riccardo Frizza. Recorded live at the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro Italy, August 2004. DECCA 475 7688