| Composer | Luigi Dallapiccola |
|---|---|
| Librettist | Dallapiccola |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | Ulysses |
| Premiere date | September 29, 1968 (in German) |
| Premiere location | Deutsche Oper Berlin |
Ulisse uˈlisse is an opera in a prologue and two acts composed by Luigi Dallapiccola to his own libretto based on the legend of Ulysses. It premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (in German translation by Karl-Heinrich Kreith as Odysseus) on 29 September 1968 conducted by Lorin Maazel with Erik Saedén in the title role.[1] Ulisse was Dallapiccola's only full-length last opera and took eight years to compose. As in his previous one-act operas, Volo di notte and Il prigioniero, his declared theme was "the struggle of man against some force much stronger than he".[2]
Roles
- Ulisse – baritone (Erik Saedén)
- Calypso / Penelope – soprano (Annabelle Bernard)[3]
- Nausicaa – soprano (Catherine Gayer)
- Re Alcinoo – bass (Victor von Halem)
- Demodoco – tenor (Helmuth Melchert)
- Circe – mezzo-soprano (Jean Madeira)
- La madre di Anticlea (mother of Anticlea) – soprano (Hildegard Hillebrecht)
- Tiresia – tenor (Helmuth Melchert)
- Pisandro (a suitor) – baritone (José van Dam)
- Antinoo – baritone (Ernst Krukowski)
- Eurimaco – tenor (Karl Ernst Mercker)
- Melanto – mezzo-soprano (Jean Madeira)
- Eumeo – tenor (Loren Driscoll)
- Telemaco – contralto (Barbara Scherler)
- Ancella 1 (handmaid 1) – soprano (Gitta Mikes)
- Ancella 2 (handmaid 2) – contralto (Helga Wisniewaska)
References
- ^
- ^ Warrack, John and West, Ewan, "Dallapiccola, Luigi", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 1996.
- ^ Shirley, Wayne, "Luigi Dallapiccola's Sketch for Ulisse", The Moldenhauer Archives, Library of Congress
Further reading
- v.b. (2007). "Ulisse". Dizionario dell'Opera (in Italian). Baldini Castoldi Dalai. ISBN 88-6073-184-4. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
External links
- "Libretto", flaminioonline.it
- "CD booklet", Stradivarius STR 10063 (Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lorin Maazel, 1968), Naxos Music Library
- Prologue and first act on YouTube, Orchestre philharmonique et chœr de Radio France, Ernest Bour, 6 May 1975; Second act and epilogue on YouTube