Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero: EMS 6 March

[doversoul1]

Francesca Caccini's La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola di Alcina was the first opera by a woman. In the week of International Women's Day, Lucie Skeaping introduces highlights of a performance recorded live at last year's Brighton Early Music Festival, and is joined in the studio by musical director Deborah Roberts.

The Liberation Singers
The BREMF Renaissance Players
Deborah Roberts (musical director)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072hs53

[french frank]

There really are signs that they're delving a bit deeper to find new composers and works for this year's IWD (if not across quite the entire chronological spectrum - as some have pointed out).

[french frank]

Btw, Grove says La liberazione was the first Italian opera to be performed outside Italy - in Warsaw in 1682. That surprised me.

[doversoul1]

If you’d like a compare and contrast

Through the Night: Tuesday 8th
5:37 AM
Caccini, Francesca [1587-1640]
Excerpts from Act One of La Liberazione di Ruggiero
Suzie Le Blanc (Alcina, soprano), Barbara Borden (Sirena, soprano), Dorothee Mields (Il Pastore, soprano), Christian Hilz (Ruggiero, baritone), Tragicomedia, Stephen Stubbs (director)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072hxtm

Useful reference including a translation of the libretto.

http://www.primalamusica.com/contents/en-uk/Ruggiero%20Translation.pdf

Why is Monteverdi’s (correction) Orfeo always referred to as the first opera?

[jean]

Btw, Grove says La liberazione was the first Italian opera to be performed outside Italy - in Warsaw in 1682. That surprised me.

That it ws the first, or that it was in Warsaw?

On the first point, it's easy to forget that the women composers we've been at pains to rediscover were actually quite celebrated in their own time.

On the second, it's easy to forget how cosmopolitan Poland was, before it was swallowed u pand disappeared entirely for a century or so!.

[french frank]

That it ws the first, or that it was in Warsaw?

First Italian opera Punkt - is what Grove said. I just added the place and date for interest.

Caccini was certainly celebrated and multi-talented.

[Richard Barrett]

First Italian opera Punkt

Cavalli's Ercole amante was performed in Paris in 1662 so I don't know where Grove got that idea from.

[Nevilevelis]

Why is Monteverdi’s Poppea always referred to as the first opera?

Is it? By whom?

Jacopo Peri's Dafne was the first opera, but since it is lost, the honor goes to Peri and Caccini's joint effort, Euridice, an excellent new edition of which was used for the Woodend Winter Arts Festival performance in 2014. (Woodend is in Victoria, Australia.) I listened to a replay of that performance and thought it was very good indeed, especially the apparent standard of the edition.

http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Event/383826,euridice-jacobo-peri-s-17th-century-opera.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foPog-yZPr4

John O'Donnell's edition is not published, sadly, although, as he mentions in the VT above, the original material is readily available. The only other modern edition I have seen is on imslp and it quite appalling. I'm frankly surprised it hasn't been done at The Globe, but the dearth of decent scholarship (any!) for this work is scanty. There is a recording of it You Tube of some European group - it's pretty poor.

Then came Monteverdi's Orfeo!

[french frank]

Cavalli's Ercole amante was performed in Paris in 1662 so I don't know where Grove got that idea from.

Well, as I said - it surprised me!

Add: I am still using my hard copy 1980 edition of Grove, as our library has discontinued its subscription: this point may since have been amended.

[doversoul1]

Is it? By whom?

Jacopo Peri's Dafne was the first opera, but since it is lost, the honor goes to Peri and Caccini's joint effort, Euridice, an excellent new edition of which was used for the Woodend Winter Arts Festival performance in 2014. (Woodend is in Victoria, Australia.) I listened to a replay of that performance and thought it was very good indeed, especially the apparent standard of the edition.

http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Event/383826,euridice-jacobo-peri-s-17th-century-opera.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foPog-yZPr4

John O'Donnell's edition is not published, sadly, although, as he mentions in the VT above, the original material is readily available. The only other modern edition I have seen is on imslp and it quite appalling. I'm frankly surprised it hasn't been done at The Globe, but the dearth of decent scholarship (any!) for this work is scanty. There is a recording of it You Tube of some European group - it's pretty poor.

Then came Monteverdi's Orfeo!

Apologies. Too much hedge cutting. My brain wasn’t working. I meant Orfeo. Duly corrected.
By whom? Well, Antonio Pappano said that in his opera programme on BBC4 some years ago, and doesn’t it often come with the tug?

Many thanks for the information on Euridice, especially the youtube link.

Euridice: is this the recording you heard?

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Naive/OP30552

Incidentally, this Dafne by Marco da Gagliano is pretty early (First performance: 1608)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLBkIJsCbe4

As for the broadcast;
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought singing and instrumental playing were both excellent. I hope Radio 3 will broadcast it in full one day. Here are a couple of visual aids.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/nov/09/la-liberazione-di-ruggiero-review-francesca-caccini

A few seconds from approx. 1.40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMJQOiuat84

[Nevilevelis]

By whom? Well, Antonio Pappano said that on his opera programme on BBC4 some years ago, and doesn’t it often come with the tug?

Yes, I recall him saying that! I winced when I heard it. I suppose he means the first great opera (with arias; the Peri is mostly recit.) by a great composer...

I shall have a word with him tomorrow! On second thoughts, perhaps not!

Thanks for the links to the Caccini. Peri's work is actually a separate entity, I think, but for many years quite a bit of Caccini was interpolated, hence the notion that it was a joint effort. Looking at the original editions on imslp, they do appear to be separate works. Oh, for the time to investigate! http://javanese.imslp.info/files/img...i_Euridice.pdf

Cheers,

NVV

[subcontrabass]

Btw, Grove says La liberazione was the first Italian opera to be performed outside Italy - in Warsaw in 1682. That surprised me.

Current Grove (online) includes this sentence: "Only one opera by Caccini survives, La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, first performed in Florence for the visit of Prince Władisław of Poland during Carnival 1625. (A performance in Warsaw in 1628 has been incorrectly considered the first known operatic production outside Italy.) "

[french frank]

Current Grove (online) includes this sentence: "Only one opera by Caccini survives, La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, first performed in Florence for the visit of Prince Władisław of Poland during Carnival 1625. (A performance in Warsaw in 1628 has been incorrectly considered the first known operatic production outside Italy.) "

That's more like it - though it sent me scurrying back to my Grove to check whether I'd been suffering from a form of numerical metathesis. Not me, but someone (in fairness, it did specify the first Italian opera), so presumably a typo: