Verdi I Vespri Siciliani DVD

Verdi I Vespri Siciliani DVD.

"The Sicilian Vespers" is the name under which history remembers the massacre of about 2000 French occupiers by the Sicilians in Palermo on 30 March 1282. On that day, in front of the church of Santo Spirito, where people were going to Vespers, a Frenchman molested a passing Sicilian woman, pretending to search her. She clung to her husband, who shouted "Death to the French". The cry was taken up from all sides as the bell rang for Vespers. Verdi's nineteenth opera, "I Vespri Siciliani", or rather "Les Vêpres siciliennes", was an attempt to combine the style of Meyerbeer with his own warmer, more generous musical impulses; to harness the enormous resources of the Paris Opéra for a grand, exciting opera. As early as 1850 the Opéra asked him for a new work (Don Carlos was one of the proposed subjects). In 1852 a contract was drawn up: Scribe was to be the librettist, and Verdi could choose the cast. Scribe began by presenting two scenarios that Meyerbeer had earlier rejected. Verdi objected. He wanted a "splendid, passionate and original subject"; he agreed with Scribe that the Opéra needed "scenes with women, ballets de luxe, etc." and wanted something that would bring spectacular production effects. In October 1883 Verdi traveled to Paris. Scribe suggested "Le Duc d'Albe", a libretto written for Donizetti, which the latter had been unable to set completely because of illness, and Verdi agreed to use it - on condition that the title be changed, the setting be moved to a "climate less cold than the Netherlands, a warm and musical climate" (he proposed Naples, but Scribe thought that would be too close to "La Muette de Portici") and that a fifth act be added to make it a work on the scale of "Les Huguenots" or "Le Prophète". The result is not a drama of characters who come to life in song, but a structure embracing large ensembles, elaborate spectacle, local color, intricate and innovative orchestral effects and virtuoso singers.

Specifications:

Brand: Line Music.
Color: multicolor.
Used product.
No user manual.

Package includes:

1 x Verdi I Vespri Siciliani DVD.