Luci mie traditrici

Luci mie traditrici (Oh My Betraying Eyes) is an opera in two acts by Salvatore Sciarrino, who also wrote the libretto. It was first performed under the German title Die tödliche Blume (The Deadly Flower) on 19 May 1998 in the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen at the Schwetzingen Festival.

Luci mie traditrici
Opera by Salvatore Sciarrino
The composer in 2016
TranslationOh My Betraying Eyes
Other titleDie tödliche Blume
LanguageItalian
Based onIl tradimento per l'onore
by Giacinto Andrea Cicognini
Premiere
19 May 1998 (1998-05-19) (in German)
Schwetzingen Festival

Composition history

Sciarrino started composing the opera in 1996. He based the libretto on the 1590 murder by the composer Carlo Gesualdo of his wife and her lover, but while working on it he discovered that Alfred Schnittke was also composing an opera (Gesualdo) on the same story. Deleting the references to Gesualdo, Sciarrino turned to a play, Il tradimento per l'onore, by Giacinto Andrea Cicognini, and also used an elegy of Claude Le Jeune, based on a text by Pierre de Ronsard.[1]

Roles
Role Voice type Premiere Cast, 19 May 1998[2]

Conductor: Pascal Rophé)

La Malaspina (Countess Malaspina) soprano Sharon Spinetti
Il Malaspina (Count Malaspina) baritone Paul Armin Edelmann
L'Ospite (The Guest) countertenor Kai Wessel
Un servo della casa (The Servant) tenor Georg Nigl
Voce dietro il sipario (The voice behind the scene) countertenor Kai Wessel

Synopsis
Place: The home of the Count and Countess
Time: Late sixteenth century

Act 1

In the Prologue, a backstage voice sings Le Jeune's chanson. It is morning, and the Count and Countess declare their eternal love. The Servant announces the arrival of the Guest. After a short intermezzo, it is now mid-day. The Countess and the Guest make love. As darkness descends, the Guest leaves and the Countess is alone with the Servant.

Act 2

In the evening, the Count forgives the Countess. Later that night, the Countess opens the curtains of her bed, discovering the dead body of the Guest. The Count stabs the Countess and she collapses on the body of the Guest.

Performance history

Following the Schwetzingen premiere, the opera has been performed at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and in New York with choreography by Trisha Brown (2001),[3] as well as by the Ensemble Risognanze (2003) and at the Salzburg Festival (2008), the Berlin Festival of Contemporary Music (2010), a co-production between the Festival of Contemporary Art in Montepulciano (2010) and Oper Frankfurt (2011) as well as at the Staatsoper Berlin (2016).

Recordings
Year Cast
La Malaspina,
Il Malaspina,
L'Ospite
Un servo		 Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra		 Label
2002Anette Stricker,
Otto Katzameier,
Kai Wessel,
Simon Jaunin		Beat Furrer,
Klangforum Wien		CD: Kairos
Cat: KAI0012222
2003Junko Saito,
Timothy Sharp,
Galina Tchernova,
Ralph Heiligtag		Tito Ceccherini,
ensemble Risognanze		CD: Stradivarius
Cat: STR33645
2010Nina Tarandek,
Christian Miedl,
Roland Schneider,
Simon Bode		Marco Angius,
Ensemble Algoritmo		DVD Video: EuroArts
Cat: 2059038
(2011) CD: Stradivarius
Cat: STR33900
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References
  1. David Patmore: Salvatore Sciarrino: Luci mie traditrici (liner notes in the EuroArts DVD of the opera).
  2. Salvatore Sciarrino (1947) Luci mie traditrici (1996-1998) opéra en deux actes
  3. Trisha Brown Dance Company - Luci mie traditrici (2001)
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