Otto mesi in due ore

The original story comes from the 1806 novel, Elisabeth, ou Les exilés de Sibérie (Elisabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia), written by Sophie Ristaud Cottin. Luigi Marchionni's subsequent play, La figlia dell’esiliato, ossia Otto mesi in due ore (The Daughter of the Exile, or Eight Months in Two Hours), first performed in Italy in 1820, was the more immediate basis for Gilardoni's libretto.

The opera has two later, substantially re-worked versions, Élisabeth ou la fille de l'exilé (Elisabeth, or the daughter of the exile), and Elisabetta, both of which received their first performances some 150 years after Donizetti's death.

Performance History

Between 1838 and 1840 Donizetti substantially re-worked the opera again, adding new music, for a longer version, Élisabeth ou la fille de l'exilé which was intended for performance in Paris. The new French libretto was written by Adolphe de Leuven and Léon-Lévy Runswick. The American musicologist Will Crutchfield has suggested that by this point, it had now a become virtually a separate opera to Otto mesi in due ore, although clearly retaining many elements of the original. However, the new work was never staged in Donizetti's lifetime. Donizetti subsequently offered its Italian version, Elisabetta, to Her Majesty's Theatre in London. This version was likewise never performed in his lifetime.

The long forgotten score for Elisabetta was later found in the basement of London's Royal Opera House. Acts I and III were found by Will Crutchfield in 1984, and Act II by Richard Bonynge in 1988. It received its first performance, with the score edited by Will Crutchfield and Roger Parker, at the Royal Festival Hall in London on December 16, 1997. Carlo Rizzi conducted the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus in a concert performance with Andrea Rost singing the role of Elisabetta, and the young Juan Diego Flórez as Count Potoski.

The Italian composer Uranio Fontana, who claimed to have been a pupil of Donizetti, attempted to resurrect the French version after Donizetti's death. However according to Will Crutchfield, Fontana did not have access to Donizetti's revised score, which by this time had ended up in London. Instead, he tried to set the original score of Otto mesi to the longer De Leuven and Brunswick libretto and composed the missing music (over half the opera) himself. The Fontana version premiered at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris in 1853.

The first performance of the 1840 French version, Élisabeth ou la fille de l'exilé, using only Donizetti's music took place at the Caramoor International Music Festival on July 17, 2003. Will Crutchfield conducted the Orchestra of St. Luke's in a semi-staged production. Irini Tsirakidis sang the role of Élisabeth, and Yeghishe Manucharyan was Count Potoski. To prepare the Caramoor performing edition, Crutchfield worked with the French manuscript, using the orchestration from the London version, and the original score of Otto mesi in due ore to construct the final aria. The recitatives from Elisabetta were adapted to spoken dialogue as the French version was intended to be an opéra comique.

Roles

Synopsis

Act 1

Having been wrongly exiled, Count Stanislao Potoski, his wife, Countess Fedora, and their daughter, Elisabetta, are living in a ramshackle dwelling attached to an abbey. Elisabetta vows to undertake an arduous journey on foot to Moscow to seek a pardon from the Tsar.

Act 2

Elisabetta is befriended by Tartar hordes, who had initially threatened her but were won over by her innocence and virtue. She also meets Ivano, the man responsible for her parents' exile, who is now working as a ferryman at the river. When the river floods, Elisabetta saves herself by making a raft from the wooden tomb of Ivano's dead daughter.

Act 3

The Grand Marshal, who is also partly responsible for the Potoski family's exile, tries to cause trouble for Elisabetta. Nevertheless, she manages to reach the Tsar, who in the meantime has received a letter from his messenger Michele (a friend of Elisabetta and the son of her nurse) explaining the injustice of their exile. The Tsar pardons the whole family who are then reunited in Moscow.

Recordings

Notes

References

Category:Operas by Gaetano Donizetti Category:Italian-language operas Category:Operas Category:1827 operas