The ROF presents La gazzetta

9 August 2022
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The second offering on the programme of the 43rd edition of the Rossini Opera Festival is La gazzetta, the first performance of which will be on Wednesday 10th August at the Teatro Rossini.  The opera will be conducted by Carlo Rizzi, with the Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini and the Chorus of the Teatro della Fortuna.  The production was devised by Marco Carniti, with scenery by Manuela Gasperoni, costumes by Maria Filippi and lighting by Fabio Rossi.  The production was warmly received at the ROF 2015.  The cast of singers consists of Carlo Lepore, Maria Grazia Schiavo, Pietro Adaini, Giorgio Caoduro, Martiniana Antonie, Alejandro Baliñas, Andrea Niño and Pablo Gálvez.  There will be repeat performances on the 13th, 15th and 18th August.

La gazzetta, a dramma per musica in two acts to a libretto by Giuseppe Palomba, was first produced at the Teatro de’ Fiorentini, Naples, on the 26th September 1816. The autograph score is in the library of the Conservatorio, Naples, while the autograph score of the Quintetto was recently discovered at the Conservatorio, Palermo.

The story is based on a play by Carlo Goldoni written in 1763 during his stay in Paris, entitled Il matrimonio per concorso [Marriage by competition].  After various adventures, two Italian merchants (Pandolfo and Anselmo), who were hoping to marry off their daughters (Lisetta and Doralice) advantageously, end up by having to accept marriage for love. Right from the start Il matrimonio per concorso captured the attention of the musical theatre and numerous operas were composed on the story; in particular, Giuseppe Mosca’s  opera Avviso al pubblico (libretto by Gaetano Rossi, Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1814) may have influenced La gazzetta and it could have been Rossini himself who suggested this subject to the Neapolitan librettist Giuseppe Palomba.