Aroldo

Template:Verdi operasAroldo is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on and adapted from their earlier collaboration, Stiffelio. The first performance was given in the Teatro Nuovo in Rimini on 16 August 1857. It is one of Verdi's less frequently performed operas.

History

This opera is a revision of Stiffelio (1850) which had provoked the censorship board because of “the immoral and rough” storylines of a Protestant minister deceived by his wife and also because making the characters German did not please an Italian audience. Therefore in 1856, Verdi decided to rewrite the plot, drawing inspiration from two novels, The Betrothed by Walter Scott and Harold by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. The rewriting was done with Verdi's librettist friend, Francesco Maria Piave.

A considerable numbers of changes were made to the first version of the three-act Stiffelio. An additional act was added. After a year of revision, Aroldo was ready to be staged and Verdi choose Bologna as the location for the premiere. But Ricordi, his publisher and friend, suggested that the premiere be staged in Rimini. Later it was presented in Bologna followed by performances in Turin and Naples.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, August 16, 1857 (Conductor: - )
Aroldo,a Saxon Knight	tenor	Emilio Pancani
Mina,his wife	soprano	Marcellina Lotti
Egberto, Mina's father	baritone	Gaetano Ferri
Godvino, an adventurer, guest of Egberto	tenor	Salvatore Poggiali
Briano, a pious hermit	bass	G. B. Cornago
Enrico, Mina's cousin	tenor	Napoleone Senigaglia
Elena, Mina's cousin	mezzo-soprano	Adelaide Panizza
Crusaders, servants, the Knights and their ladies and hunters

Synopsis

Time: Around 1200 A.D.

Place: England and Scotland

External links

• Libretto