Il curioso indiscreto

Il curioso indiscreto ("The Imprudent Curious Man"), is an opera (dramma giocoso) in three acts composed by Pasquale Anfossi. The libretto is based on an episode from the 17th-century Spanish novel Don Quixote. The librettist is not known for sure but is thought to be either Giovanni Bertati or Giuseppe Petrosellini. The opera premiered at the Teatro delle Dame in Rome during the Carnival season of 1777.

Il curioso indiscreto
Opera by Pasquale Anfossi
Cover of a manuscript score for Act 1, c. 1790
LibrettistGiovanni Bertati or Giuseppe Petrosellini
Premiere
1777 (1777)
Teatro delle Dame, Rome

Background and performance history

The libretto is based on Chapters XXXIII and XXXIV of Don Quixote in which a curate staying in the same inn as Don Quixote reads aloud one of the innkeeper's favourite stories, "Ill-Advised Curiosity". It is unclear who Anfossi's librettist was. In his 1970 book Das alte Burgtheater als Opernbühne, Otto Michtner lists Giovanni Bertati as the libretttist. However, the 2000 edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians notes that could have been either Bertati or Giuseppe Petrosellini.[1] The premiere of Il curioso indiscreto took place during the Carnival season of 1777 at Rome's Teatro delle Dame, where Anfossi's La vera costanza had premiered the previous year. Since women were not allowed to perform on stage in the Papal States at that time, the opera premiered with an all-male cast. The stage design was by Gabriele Montarenzi with costumes by Carlo Brogi and Vincenzo D'Amora. The performance included two untitled ballets choreographed by Giacomo Romolo.[2]

The opera proved very popular and was subsequently performed in many Italian and European cities, including Vienna in 1783. For the Vienna performance, Mozart added two of his own arias, "Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio! (K. 418) and "No, no che non sei capace" (K. 419) at the request of Aloysia Weber who was singing the lead soprano role of Clorinda.[3][4] Il curioso indiscreto was revived in 1984 with a performance at the Mozarteum in Salzburg which included the two Mozart arias.[1]

Roles
Role Voice type[5] Premiere cast, Carnival 1777[2]
Clorinda, betrothed to Marchese Calandrano soprano castrato travesti Tommaso Galeazzi
Marchese Calandrano, a curious man bass Agostino Liparini
Emilia, Marchese Calandrano's niece soprano castrato travesti Gaetano Quistapace
Contino Ripaverde, in love first with Emilia, then with Clorinda tenor Vincenzo Calvesi
Prospero, Clorinda's maggiordomo bass Luigi Tasca
Aurelio, Marchese Calandrano's friend tenor Pietro Natali
Serpina. Clorinda's maid soprano castrato travesti Lorenzo Neroni

Synopsis

Marchese Calandrano is afflicted with insatiable curiosity. He is betrothed to the beautiful Clorinda but wonders what she would do if another man paid court to her. He enlists the young Count Ripaverde, who is in love with Calandrano's niece Emilia, to test Clorinda's fidelity. This proves to be Calandrino's downfall, as Ripaverde and Clorinda fall in love. Calandrino's friend, Aurelio consoles Emilia and they too fall in love, as do Serpina (Clorinda's maid) and Prospero, (Clorinda's maggiordomo). The opera ends with the three couples celebrating their new-found happiness together and Calandrano left without a fiancée.

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See also

References
  1. Angermüller, Rudolph (2002). "Pasquale Anfossis Il Curioso Indiscreto in Rovereto (1778)" Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine. Atti della L'Accademia Roveretana degli Agiati, Serie VIII, volume II, A, pp. 119–145 (in German)
  2. Libretti d'opera. Notes to libretto 390: Il curioso indiscreto. Università degli Studi di Padova. Retrieved 27 December 2014 (in Italian).
  3. Loewenberg, Alfred (1978). Annals of Opera 1597-1940 3rd Edition, column 355. John Calder.
  4. Anonymous (1961). "Anfossi, Pasquale". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol. 3. Treccani. Online version retrieved 27 December 2014 (in Italian).
  5. Gelli, Piero and Poletti, Filippo (eds.) (1996). "Curioso indiscreto, Il". Dizionario dell'opera. Baldini & Castoldi. ISBN 8880891774 (in Italian)
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