Le comte Ory
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| Operas by Gioachino Rossini |
|---|
La cambiale di matrimonio (1810) |
Le comte Ory is an opera written by Gioacchino Rossini in 1828. Some of the music originates from his opera Il viaggio a Reims written three years earlier for the coronation of Charles X.[1] The work is ostensibly a comic opera in that the story is humorous, even farcical; however it was devised for the Opéra rather than for the Théatre de l'Opéra-Comique; and there are structural inconsistencies with the contemporary opéra comique genre: whereas the latter consists of relatively short lyrical numbers and spoken dialogue, Le comte Ory consists of "highly developed, even massive musical forms"[2] linked by recitative.
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[edit] Performance history
It was first performed on 20 August 1828 at the Paris Opéra. It was given in London at the King's Theatre in Italian on 28 February 1829, and in New Orleans at the Théâtre d'Orléans on 16 December 1830.
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, August 20, 1828 (Conductor: François Antoine Habeneck) |
|---|---|---|
| Count Ory | tenor | Adolphe Nourrit |
| Tutor | baritone | Nicolas Levasseur |
| Isolier | mezzo-soprano | Constance Jawureck |
| Raimbaud | baritone | Henri-Bernard Dabadie |
| Countess of Formoutiers | soprano | Laure Cinti-Damoreau |
| Ragonde | mezzo-soprano | Mori |
| Alice | soprano | |
| 1st Knight | tenor | Alexis Dupont |
| 2nd Knight | baritone | Jean-Étienne-August Eugène Massol |
| 3rd Knight | baritone | Henri-Bernard Dabadie the younger |
| 4th Knight | baritone | Ferdinand Prévôt |
| Chorus of Ory's men, ladies, crusaders, peasants | ||
[edit] Synopsis
The setting is approximately the year 1200. Count Ory is an oversexed youth who neglects his studies to go about with his friends looking for pleasure and excitement. The real men of the community are away at the wars (in fact, a Crusade) so the local aristocratic lady, the Countess of Formoutiers, and all the women of her household are securely locked up in the castle, waiting for the return of their menfolk. Count Ory comes up with the idea that he and his pals should disguise themselves as nuns to gain access to the castle in the hope of seducing the women. They acquire some dirty habits and for a while their plan seems to be working. Then the real men return.
[edit] References
- ^ Osborne, Richard: Rossini's life (p.18) in 'The Cambridge Companion to Rossini', Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00195-1.
- ^ Holden, Amanda with Nicholas Kenyon and Stephen Walsh, The Viking Opera Guide, Viking 1993 ISBN 0-670-81292-7
