Nitocri

Nitocri is an opera (melodramma serio) in two acts composed by Saverio Mercadante to libretto by Apostolo Zeno adapted by Lodovico Piossasco Feys. The libretto is fictionalised account of the Egyptian queen Nitocris. The opera premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on 26 December 1824.

Background and performance history

According to Francesco Florimo, the opera was "well received" at its premiere. A second revised version was performed at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan on 3 October 1830 with newly designed sets by Alessandro Sanquirico.[1][2]

Although the opera fell into oblivion, Mirteo's aria "Se m'abbandoni", sung at the premiere by Brigida Lorenzani en travesti, became a popular concert piece for contraltos and mezzo-sopranos and was sometimes interpolated into other operas, notably by Maria Malibran in the final scene of Zingarelli's Giulietta e Romeo

Roles
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 26 December 1824[1]
(Conductor: Giovanni Battista Polledro)
Nitocri (Nitocris), Queen of Egypt, in love with Mirteo soprano Caterina Canzi
Mirteo, an Egyptian general, in love with Emirena contralto Brigida Lorenzani
Emirena, Nitocri's sister soprano Carolina Franchini
Feraspe, prince descended from the ancient kings of Egypt, in love with Nitocri tenor Nicola Tacchinardi
Micerino, an Egyptian general, Mirteo's friend, in love with Emirena bass Luciano Bianchi
Idaspe, Nitocri's confidante tenor Lorenzo Lombardi
Ramiro, Feraspe's confidante soprano Vittoria Smitt
Royal guards, Nitocri's handmaidens, government officials, Egyptian and Theban soldiers, Egyptian people

Recordings

There are no complete recordings of the opera. However, the overture was recorded by the Orchestra Sinfonica Moldova for Mercadante: Sinfonie da Opere (Bongiovanni GB2144), and Mirteo's aria "Se m'abbandoni" sung by Della Jones appears on A Hundred Years of Italian Opera 1820-1830 (Opera Rara ORCH104)

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References
  1. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). Nitocri. Almanacco Amadeus. Retrieved 9 March 2016 (in Italian)
  2. Florimo, Francesco (1869). Cenno storico sulla scuola musicale di Napoli, Vol. 1, p. 644. Tipografia di Lorenzo Rocco
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