Fedora (opera)

In 1889, Umberto Giordano saw Sardou's play Fédora at the Teatro Bellini di Napoli, with Sarah Bernhardt (for whom the play was written) in the title role. The play was popular, and the hat "fedora" was named after it. He immediately asked Sardou for permission to base an opera on the play, and Sardou initially refused because, at the time, Giordano was a relatively unknown composer. Following the premiere of his 1894 Regina Diaz, Giordano's publisher, Edoardo Sonzogno, asked Sardou again. However, Sardou demanded what Sozogno considered an exorbitant fee. It was only on the third attempt, and after Giordano's success with Andrea Chénier in 1896, that an agreement was reached to go ahead with the opera.

Its first performance took place in Milan at the Teatro Lirico Internazionale. Gemma Bellincioni sang the role of Fedora, and Enrico Caruso was Loris Ipanov. The opera had great success on its opening night, and was soon brought to the Vienna Staatsoper by Mahler, and then to Paris where it was reportedly admired by Massenet and Saint-Saëns.[1]

Fedora received its US premiere on 5 December 1906 at the New York Metropolitan Opera, with Caruso as Count Loris, Lina Cavalieri as Fedora, and Arturo Vigna conducting. The opera received eight performances during the Met's 1906/1907 and 1907/1908 seasons, and was revived in the 1920s when it received 25 more performances between 1923 and 1926. By the mid-20th century, however, operatic tastes had changed, and outside of Italy the opera was performed less often.[2] In Italy it maintained its popularity during the 50s, 60s and 70s, serving as a vehicle for celebrated sopranos and tenors such as Maria Caniglia, Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Magda Olivero, Antonietta Stella, Marcella Pobbe, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Mario del Monaco.

The 1990s saw a resurgence of interest in Fedora, with new productions at the Vienna Staatsoper, La Scala, New York's Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Washington National Opera and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Notable singers in post-1990 productions include Mirella Freni, Renata Scotto, Agnes Baltsa, Katia Ricciarelli, and Maria Guleghina as Fedora; and Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and José Cura as Loris. Among Fedora's more recent performances are those at the Vienna Staatsoper in 2003, La Scala in 2004, London's Holland Park Opera in 2006, and at the Metropolitan Opera in 2022/2023.

"Amor ti vieta" ("Love forbids you") is the most famous aria from the opera and is often sung by tenors in recitals, especially as an encore piece. This short aria (approximately 1:51 minutes) is sung by Count Loris when he declares his love to Fedora in Act II.[5] An immediate favourite with the audience, it was encored by Enrico Caruso on the opera's opening night.[6] Caruso can be heard singing the aria, accompanied on the piano by Giordano himself, on Volume 1 of Enrico Caruso – The Complete Opera Recordings (Naxos 8.110703). This recording was made in 1902.

Notes

Sources

• 'Amor ti vieta' documentation on The Aria Database. (accessed April 1, 2007)
• Fairman, Richard, 'Review: Fedora, Opera Holland Park, London', The Financial Times, June 11, 2006.
• Gelli, Piero (ed.), Dizionario dell'Opera, 2006, Milan: Baldini Castoldi Dalai, ISBN 88-8490-780-2
• Girardi, Michele, 'Fedora, una prima donna sull'orlo di una crisi di nervi' in Fedora, 2000, Turin: Teatro Regio di Torino, pp. 9–20.PDF file. (accessed April 1, 2007)
• Goebel, Wilfried, Fedora Discography 1931–1998, on Operone (accessed April 1, 2007)
• Melitz, Leo, The Opera Goer's Complete Guide (Translated by Richard Salinger), 1921, New York: Garden City Publishing Company. (accessed April 1, 2007)
• Metropolitan Opera Archives. (accessed April 1, 2007)
• Ponick, T.L., 'Voices save Fedora from poor staging', The Washington Times, November 1, 1998 (review of the October 1998 performance at Washington National Opera).
• Tommasini, Anthony, '70 Years Later, a Melodrama Is Back', The New York Times, October 7, 1996. (accessed April 1, 2007)
• Volpe, Michael, 'Fedora – just what the audience ordered' (programme notes for the June 2006 performances by Holland Park Opera, London: Royal Borough of Kensington). (accessed April 1, 2007)

• Fedora: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• libretto of Fedora, from operalibretto.com