- Isabeau
Mascagni operas
"Isabeau" is a "leggenda drammatica" or
opera in three parts byPietro Mascagni , 1911, from an Italianlibretto byLuigi Illica . Mascagni conducted its first performance onJune 2 ,1911 at the Teatro Coliseo,Buenos Aires . [Warrack, John & West, Ewan "Buenos Aires" "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera" Oxford University Press, 1996 "Oxford Reference Online" (Retrieved onMarch 22 ,2008 ),A retelling of the medieval English legend of
Lady Godiva , Mascagni described it in an interview as his attempt to "return to the romanticism which inspired so much of Italian opera."Girardi, Michelle: "Isabeau", "Grove Music Online" ed. L. Macy (Retrieved onMarch 22 ,2008 ),Roles
ynopsis
King Raimondo tries to find a husband for the princess Isabeau by holding a tournament, but she is unwilling to choose a husband. When the king forces her to ride naked through the city, the people refuse to look at her out of respect. Furthermore, they demand from the king an edict condemning to blindness anyone who dares to look at her. Unaware of the edict, the falconer Folco accidentally looks upon Isabeau during her ride and is arrested. When Isabeau visits him in prison, she falls in love with him and begs her father to pardon him. However, the king's minister stirs up the passions of the people who rise up in a vigilante mob and kill Folco. Isabeau kills herself over his dying body. [Warrack, John & West, Ewan "Isabeau" "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera" Oxford University Press, 1996 "Oxford Reference Online" (Retrieved on
March 22 ,2008 ),Notes and references
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