Torvaldo e Dorliska

Opera by Gioachino Rossini

Torvaldo e Dorliska

Opera semiseria by Gioachino Rossini

Rossini c. 1815

Librettist| Cesare Sterbini
Language| Italian
Based on| Les Amours du chevalier de Faublas by Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai
Premiere|

26 December 1815 (1815-12-26)

Teatro Valle, Rome

Torvaldo e Dorliska is an operatic dramma semiserio in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini, based on the novel/memoir Les Amours du chevalier de Faublas [fr] (1787–1790) by the revolutionary Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai, whose work was the source of the Lodoïska libretto set by Luigi Cherubini (1791), and Lodoiska set by Stephen Storace (1794), and Simon Mayr (1796).

Torvaldo e Dorliska is a rescue opera with an eventual happy ending. The inclusion of buffo roles is the reason for its designation as a 'semiserio' work, similar to Rossini's La gazza ladra.

## Performance history

[edit]

Torvaldo and Dorliska was first performed at the Teatro Valle, Rome, on 26 December 1815. It remained in the repertory and appeared in several Italian cities including Venice for the next twenty five years, though it was never a great critical success. While there were no productions staged in London nor New York, it was staged in ten European cities in the ten years after its Rome premiere.

The opera was presented in Vienna in 1987 and in Savona in 1989.[1] It was given at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro as part of the 2006 season and again in 2017.[2]

## Roles

[edit]

Adelaide Sala, who created the role of Dorliska, by Giovanni Sasso Roles, voice types, premiere cast Role  | Voice type | Premiere cast, 26 December 1815[3]
(Conductor: - )

|
|

Torvaldo  | tenor | Domenico Donzelli
Dorliska, wife of Torvaldo | soprano | Adelaide Sala
Duke of Ordow  | bass | Filippo Galli
Giorgio, guardian of the castle | baritone | Raniero Remorini
Carlotta, his sister | mezzo-soprano | Agnese Loiselet
Ormondo  | bass  | Cristoforo Bastianelli

## Synopsis

[edit]

Time: The Middle Ages[4]
Place: "In and around the Castle of the Duke of Ordow"[4]

The opera tells the story of the love between the Knight Torvaldo and his wife Dorliska, which is opposed by the terrible and violent Duke of Ordow, who is in love with Dorliska. In order to take her for himself, the Duke tries to kill Torvaldo and, after their fight, leaves him for dead. Making her way to the Duke's castle but not knowing that it is his home, Dorliska is held prisoner, comforted only by Carlotta and her brother Giorgio, the keeper of the castle. After escaping an ambush, Torvaldo enters the castle in disguise, but his identity is inadvertently revealed by Dorliska. The Duke then sentences him to death. Carlotta, Giorgio, and their friends conspire against the Duke to free the couple. Carlotta manages to steal the keys to Torvaldo's prison cell, and Dorliska embraces him again. However, the couple is discovered by the Duke, but before he can kill them, he is interrupted by the crowd entering the castle. The rebellious people capture the Duke and he is led away to prison and to his death. Torvaldo and Dorliska are freed.[5]

## Recordings

[edit]

Year  | Cast:
Dorliska,
Torvaldo,
Il Duca d’Ordow,
Giorgio, Carlotta  | Conductor,
opera house and orchestra  | Label[6]

|
|
|

1976  | Lella Cuberli,
Pietro Bottazzo,
Siegmund Nimsgern,
Enzo Dara,
Lucia Valentini-Terrani  | Alberto Zedda,
Orchestra and choir of Rai di Milano.
1992  | Fiorella Pediconi,
Ernesto Palacio,
Stefano Antonucci,
Mauro Buda,
Nicoletta Marani  | Massimo de Bernart [it],
Orchestra and Chorus of RadioTelevisione Svizzera Italiana
and the Gruppo Vocale Cantemus  | Audio CD: Arkadia,
Cat: CDAK 123-2;
Agorá,
Cat: AG 073.2
2003  | Paola Cigna,
Huw Rhys-Evans,
Michele Bianchini,
Mario Utzeri,
Annarita Gemmabella | Alessandro De Marchi
Czech Chamber Soloists and the ARS Brunensis Chamber Choir  | Audio CD: Naxos Records
Cat: 8.660189-90
2006  | Darina Takova,
Francesco Meli,
Michele Pertusi,
Bruno Praticò,
Jeannette Fischer  | Víctor Pablo Pérez,
Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento and the Prague Chamber Chorus
(Audio recording made at performances at the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro)  | Audio CD: Dynamic
Cat: CDS 528/1-2

## References

[edit]

Notes

1. ^ Performance history based on Osborne, C. 1994, p. 51
2. ^ Rossini Opera Festival production details (with production photos)
3. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Torvaldo e Dorliska, 26 December 1815". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
4. ^ a b Osborne, C. 1994, pp. 50–52
5. ^ Synopsis based in part on Osborne, C. 1994, p. 51
6. ^ Recordings of Torvaldo e Dorliska on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

Sources

* Osborne, Charles (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, London: Methuen; Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0931340713

## Further reading

[edit]

* Gossett, Philip; Brauner, Patricia (2001), "Torvaldo e Dorliska" in Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4
* Osborne, Richard (1990), Rossini, Ithaca, New York: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-088-5
* Osborne, Richard (1998), "Torvaldo e Dorliska", in Stanley Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. xxxx. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5

## External links

[edit]

* Torvaldo e Dorliska: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
* Italian libretto at rossinigesellschaft.de

* v
* t
* e

Gioachino Rossini

* List of compositions
* List of operas

Operas|

| Early works|

* Demetrio e Polibio (1812)
* La cambiale di matrimonio (1810)
* L'equivoco stravagante (1811)
* L'inganno felice (1812)
* Ciro in Babilonia, ossia La caduta di Baldassare (1812)
* La scala di seta (1812)
* La pietra del paragone (1812)
* L'occasione fa il ladro, ossia Il cambio della valigia (1812)
* Il signor Bruschino, ossia Il figlio per azzardo (1813)
* Tancredi (1813)
* L'italiana in Algeri (1813)

|

Maturity|

* Aureliano in Palmira (1813)
* Il turco in Italia (1814)
* Sigismondo (1814)
* Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra (1815)
* Torvaldo e Dorliska (1815)
* Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione (1816)
* La gazzetta, ossia Il matrimonio per concorso (1816)
* Otello, ossia Il Moro di Venezia (1816)
* La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo (1817)
* La gazza ladra (1817)
* Armida (1817)
* Adelaide di Borgogna, ossia Ottone, re d'Italia (1817)
* Mosè in Egitto (1818)
* Adina, ossia Il califfo di Bagdad (1826)
* Ricciardo e Zoraide (1818)
* Ermione (1819)
* Eduardo e Cristina (1819)
* La donna del lago (1819)
* Bianca e Falliero, ossia Il consiglio dei tre (1819)
* Maometto II (1820)
* Matilde di Shabran, ossia Bellezza e Cuor di Ferro (1821)
* Zelmira (1822)
* Semiramide (1823)

|

Later works|

* Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del Giglio d'Oro (1825)
* Le siège de Corinthe (1826)
* Moïse et Pharaon, ou Le passage de la mer rouge (1827)
* Le comte Ory (1828)
* Guillaume Tell (1829)
* Ugo, re d'Italia (unfinished)

|

Pastiches|

* Ivanhoé (1826)
* Robert Bruce (1846)

Arias|

* "Ecco, ridente in cielo"
* "Largo al factotum"
* "Sombre forêt"
* "Una voce poco fa"

Sacred music|

* Messa di Gloria (1820)
* Stabat mater (1831, 1841)
* Petite messe solennelle (1864, 1867)

Other works|

* Six string sonatas (1804)
* Edipo a Colono (1817)
* La regata veneziana (1835)
* La Danza (1835)
* Péchés de vieillesse (1857-1868)

Film adaptations|

* The Barber of Seville (1947 film)

Cultural depictions|

* Rossini (1942 biographical film)
* Rossini! Rossini! (1991 biographical film)
* Rossini's Ghost (1996 film)

Named for Rossini|

* Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Gioachino Rossini"
* Prix Rossini
* Rossini Opera Festival
* Rossini in Wildbad

Related articles|

* La boutique fantasque
* Duetto buffo di due gatti
* Matinées musicales
* Messa per Rossini
* Rossiniana

* Category

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* France
* BnF data

Other|

* MusicBrainz work

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template