Francesco Maria Piave News
Italian librettist
- Kingdom of Italy
- journalist, translator, writer, librettist, playwright, poet, composer, songwriter
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2024-04-23
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2023-10-12 17:51:29
Music: Giuseppe VerdiLibretto: Francesco Maria Piave`ACT I: THE BANDITSpain, 1519. Don Juan of Arago
2022-02-05 15:34:05
Femi Elufowoju jr’s imaginative reinvention of Verdi's Rigoletto features some strong, compelling performances
Verdi: Rigoletto - Sir Willard White, Callum Thorpe, Eric Greene, Roman Arndt, Themba Mvula - Opera North (Photo Clive Barda) Verdi Rigoletto; Eric Greene, Jasmine Habersham, Roman Arndt, dir: Femi Elofowoju jr, cond: Garry Walker; Opera North at the Grand Theatre Leeds Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 4 Feburary 2022 Star rating: 4.5 (★★★★½) Compelling performance bring Femi Elofowoju jr's remarkable contemporary re-invention of Rigoletto to lifeOstensibly, Victor Hugo’s play Le Roi s’amusesatirised the licentious court of King Francis I of France, but at the play’s 1832 premiere in Paris the authorities thought the subject close enough to home to ban it after one performance. Verdi’s opera Rigoletto uses the play as its source material, and he and librettist Francesco Maria Piave had similar problems when Rigoletto was premiered in Milan in 1851. Rigolettoshould disturb and should hold a mirror up to society. But how to do […]
2021-11-30 13:20:05
[…] who are different. Wagemakers’ proposal, which is set in a non-specific space and time in ‘the past’, explores all these axis in their essence and works in depth with the multi-faceted characters: a loving but oppressive father, more preoccupied about her daughter’s virginity than her feelings; a seductive yet cynical and amoral Duca; and a servile and corrupt court that complacently witnesses power misuse. These themes are touched on in the great libretto by Piave (from Hugo’s text) and they are hinted at as well in the subtle nuances of the score. However, traditional productions didn’t highlight the underlying squalor underneath the external splendour whilst Wagemakers’ does – possibly going beyond Verdi’s and Piave’s intentions. It is a possible and pertinent option – if not very faithful, but appropriate for today’s moral stereotypes, at least the superficial and politically correct ones. Musically, the opening night obtained rather positive […]
2021-11-23 14:02:59
[…] tended to be the version of choice, though it is usually performed in Italian. Malcolm EGOR ZHURAVSKII, Macduff DAVID JUNGHOON KIM, ROH Macbeth ; © ROH 2021 Ph. Clive Barda Lady Macbeth ANNA PIROZZI, ROH Chorus, ROH Macbeth ; © ROH 2021 Ph. Clive Barda The story by and large follows that of Shakespeare’s original with any differences resulting from the fact that Verdi, and his librettist Francesco Maria Piave, were writing for a different medium, and responding to their own nineteenth century world. For example, Verdi employs an entire chorus of witches, partly because this form lends itself to opera but also because at the time productions of the play often utilised many, rather than just three, so he was imitating what he saw. Phyllida Lloyd’s 2002 production for the Royal Opera, revived here by Daniel Dooner, faces all of the challenges […]
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