- La cifra
"La cifra" is an
opera byAntonio Salieri in two acts, set to an Italianlibretto byLorenzo Da Ponte .The work, a dramma giocoso, is set in
Scotland , and was written forAdriana Ferrarese del Bene , the first Fiordiligi inMozart 's "Così fan tutte ". [Glasow, E. Thomas, 'Cecilia Bartoli: The Salieri Album (review)', "The Opera Quarterly", Volume 20, Number 2, Spring 2004, pp. 339-341]Performance history
The opera was first performed in
Vienna on December 9, 1789. This was followed by a production inDresden on October 13, 1790. It went on to receive several productions both inGermany andAustria between 1789 and 1805. ['Die Oper in Italien und Deutschland zwischen 1770 und 1830', [http://www.opernprojekt.uni-koeln.de/einzeldarstellung_werk.php?id_werke=451&herkunft= Das Opernprojekt] , University of Cologne (accessed 26 June 2007)] ."La cifra" received a recent performance in Cologne in June 2006, in a production conducted by Martin Haselböck and directed by Christian Stückl. [Schwering, Markus, 'Das ist ein Mozart fürs Volk', " [http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1144673513746.shtml Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger] ", May 30, 2006 (accessed 26 June 2007)]
Roles
Brief Synopsis
Fideling, a Scottish lord, is seeking a lost noblewoman with whom he had fallen in love. Lisotta, the daughter of the town's mayor is betrothed to Sandrino, but is in love with Fideling and believes herself to be the woman he is searching for. Eurilla also loves Fideling but despairs because she is a mere shepherdess. In Act II, before her true identity is revealed, she sings 'Alfin son sola … Sola e mesta' (In the end I am alone... Alone and sad). It finally emerges that Eurilla is in fact the daughter of a nobleman. She and Fideling are reunited and all ends happily in the finale. [Liner notes for "The Salieri Album" (Decca 475 100-2)]
Recordings
There is no known studio recording of the complete opera, However, "The Salieri Album", (
Cecilia Bartoli with theOrchestra of the Age of Enlightenment , conducted byAdam Fisher , Decca 475 100-2) has two excerpts:
*'E voi da buon marito … Non vo’ gia che vi suonino' (Lisotta's recitative and aria from Act I)
*'Alfin son sola … Sola e mesta' (Eurilla’s recitative and rondo from Act II.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
