Adina (opera)

Adina is an operatic farsa in one act by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini. The opera develops the popular theme of the "abduction from the seraglio." [ [http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ciao/Rossini%20operas/1adina.html Adina ] ]

The première took place on June 22, 1826, at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon. [ [http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ciao/Rossini%20operas/1adina.html Adina ] ]

History

Adina was commissioned in 1818 by Diego Ignazio de Pina Manique, police superintendent of Lisbon and inspector of Portuguese theatres. The plot is very similar to that of Francesco Basili's 1819 opera, "Il califfo e la schiava", for which the libretto was written by Felice Romani, and some passages occur in both librettos - a mystery which has not yet been unravelled.cite book | last = Holden | first = Amanda | coauthors = (editor), with Kenyon, Nicholas and Walsh, Stephen | title = The Viking Opera Guide | origyear = 1993 | publisher = Viking | location = London | pages = 905 | id = ISBN 0-670-81292-7 ] The opera was intended as a gift for a now unknown soprano who had apparently enthralled the superintendent with her performances at São Carlos. The contract Rossini made was for a quick completion of the work, and the opera was finished in 1818, but, as a result of this time constraint, not all of the music in the opera is entirely original. Rossini composed anew only four of the work's nine numbers: the Introduction, the disarming Cavatina for Adina "Fragolette fortunate" (Lucky little strawberries), the Quartet, and the Finale; for three others he turned to his own "Sigismondo" of 1814; the remaining two were written by a collaborator.cite book |title= Gioachino Rossini: A Guide to Research |last= Gallo |first= Denise P |year= 2002 |publisher= Routledge |isbn=13: 978-0815334743] Rossini did not write an overture for the opera because no overture was specified in the contract, and he took little interest in the project. There is no apparent explanation for the eight-year gap between completion and first performance.

After the opera's initial première it was not revived again until 1963, when it was performed at the Accademia Chigiana of Siena. [ [http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ciao/Rossini%20operas/1adina.html Adina ] ]

Music historians have noted that the music of Adina is of slightly more serious nature than what is typical of other one-act operas of its time, especially one designated a "farsa". Some critics have described the opera as more of a semiserious opera in the "rescue" genre. Music critics praise the opera for avoiding pure archetypes and successfully achieving a unified style.

Roles

ynopsis

:Place: Baghdad in the Caliph's seraglio:Time: 17th century

Recordings

* Rossini's "Adina" was recorded at the Rossini Opera Festival in 1998 and is available on the Canterino label. The cast includes Susanne Blattert as Adina and Eberhard Lorenz as Selimo. [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015V7LHS Amazon.com: Rossini : Adina Oder der Kalif von Bagdad (Canterino): Gioachino Rossini, Wilhelm Keitel, Susanne Blattert, Eberhard Lorenz, Bruce Brys, Olaf Haye, Roland Fix, Orch Chorus Rossini Opera Festival Rugen: Music ] ]

References