the most prolific and successful opera composer in Europe, notwithstanding the fact that he was a contemporary of Mozart. After studies in Naples he moved to St Petersburg as court composer to Catherine the Great, but failed to please his patron. Moving on to Vienna, he took a similar position with Emperor Leopold II, and it was there that his most enduring work, Il Matrimonio Segreto, was premiered. Cimarosa had the added distinction of being sentenced to death for revolutionary tendencies. The sentence was reduced to imprisonment and exile, and he died in Venice, allegedly from poisoning.
(The Secret Marriage)
FORM: Opera in two acts; in Italian
COMPOSER: Domenico Cimarosa (1749–1801)
LIBRETTO: Giovanni Bertati; after Colman and Garrick’s play
FIRST PERFORMANCE: Vienna, 7 February 1792
Principal Characters
Geronimo, a rich merchant
Carolina, Geronimo’s daughter
Elisetta, another daughter
Fidalma, Geronimo’s widowed sister
Paolino, Geronimo’s clerk
Count Robinson
Synopsis of the Plot
Setting: Bologna; 18th century
ACT I Paolino and Carolina have been secretly married and Carolina feels it is now time to break the news to her father, Geronimo, particularly as he has just heard that the aristocratic Count Robinson is on his way to propose to her sister, Elisetta. Geronimo is, of course, delighted to learn of the Count’s imminent arrival and Elisetta effortlessly assumes the airs of a countess, thus provoking a quarrel with her sister. Fidalma tries to make peace between the girls. All this talk of marriage has made her think of her own situation, and she reflects on her secret love for Paolino. Count Robinson arrives, but mistakes first Fidalma, then Carolina, for his future bride; when he is finally introduced to Elisetta, the least attractive of the three, he announces that he would rather have Carolina instead. Elisetta is furious and the act ends in pandemonium.
ACT II Geronimo is confronted by the Count who proposes that, instead of marrying Elisetta, he will take Carolina – for half the originally agreed dowry. Geronimo agrees and tells Paolino, who decides, reluctantly, to tell the truth to Fidalma in the hope that she will help them. Fidalma mistakes his reticent behaviour for the bashfulness of a lover and accepts the proposal of marriage she thinks he is about to make! Paolino is so shocked he faints and Fidalma is trying to revive him when Carolina comes upon them and demands an explanation. Meanwhile, Elisetta and Fidalma have hatched a plot to get Geronimo to send Carolina to a convent; Paolino and Carolina decide that they must run away. They are hiding in Carolina’s room when Elisetta bursts in, claiming Carolina is up to no good with the Count, who then emerges from his own room to ask what the fuss is about. At last Paolino and Carolina admit they are married and are forgiven; the Count agrees to marry Elisetta and harmony is restored.
Music and Background
A sparkling, romantic buffo comedy, Il Matrimonio Segreto straddles the worlds of Mozart (who died just two months before its first performance) and composers-to-come Rossini and Donizetti. The fast-moving patter songs certainly look foward to Italian bel canto writing, as does the needle-sharp clarity of the more lyrical numbers.
Highlights
Geronimo’s wide-ranging Act I aria ‘Udite tutti’ is a piece of evergreen operatic comedy; and the following female voice trio for Carolina, Elisetta and Fidalma, ‘Le faccio un inchino’, sustains the fun. Act II brings Paolino’s lyrical ‘Pria che spunti’ as the lovers resolve to run away.
Recommended Recording
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Arleen Augér, Julia Varady, Julia Hamari, English Chamber Orchestra/Daniel Barenboim. Immaculately characterised performances, directed with great spirit.
(1934–)
Eight Songs for a Mad King (1969)
Taverner(1968)
The Martyrdom of St Magnus(1976)
The Lighthouse (1979)
The Doctor of Myddfai (1996)
Born in Manchester, Peter Maxwell Davies was one of a small circle of composers (including Harrison Birtwistle) who studied there together and collectively reacted against the broad conservatism that prevailed in 1950s British music. Davies established himself as a leading figure of the avant-garde with works which subjected medieval borrowings to highly complex 20th-century processes derived from the twelve-tone systems of Schoenberg and his followers. From the first he was interested in writing for the theatre; and with his own performance group The Fires of London he developed a style of small-scale but hard-hitting music theatre typified by Eight Songs for a Mad King, which is effectively a miniature opera for one voice and accompanying instruments. Davies’ earlier works specialise in extreme emotional states and shock tactics, their subject matter homing in on issues of betrayal and the exposure of hypocrisy. But he has also written many, gentler works for children; and since he made his base the remote Scottish Orkney Islands his music has been influenced by the natural features of a bleakly beautiful landscape. Hugely prolific, his output includes six symphonies and large, programmatic orchestral scores.
FORM: Chamber opera in a Prologue and one act; in English
COMPOSER: Peter Maxwell Davies (1934– )
LIBRETTO: Peter Maxwell Davies
FIRST PERFORMANCE: Edinburgh, 2 September 1980
Principal Characters
The lighthouse keepers/relief officers
Sandy
Blazes