"La Sonnambula" Беллини: История создания и исполнительницы

Opera by Vincenzo Bellini
the Bellini opera

La sonnambula (; The Sleepwalker) is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet pantomime written by Eugène Scribe and choreographed by Jean Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur. The ballet had premiered in Paris in September 1827 at the height of a fashion for stage works incorporating somnambulism. The role of Amina was originally written for the soprano sfogato Giuditta Pasta and the tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini, but during Bellini's lifetime another soprano sfogato, Maria Malibran, was a notable exponent of the role. The first performance took place at the Teatro Carcano in Milan on 6 March 1831. The majority of twentieth century recordings have been made with a soprano cast as Amina, usually with added top notes and other changes according to tradition, although it was released in soprano sfogato voice (not be confused with the modern mezzo, nonexistent at the time) who sang soprano and contralto roles unmodified. The phrase Ah! non credea mirarti / Sì presto estinto, o fiore ("I did not believe I would see you fade so soon, oh flower") from Amina's final aria is inscribed on Bellini's tomb in the Catania Cathedral in Sicily.

Returning to Milan after the I Capuleti e i Montecchi performances in March 1830, little occurred until the latter part of April when Bellini was able to negotiate a contracts with both the Milan house for the autumn of 1831 and another for the 1832 Carnival season at La Fenice in Venice; these operas were to become Norma for La Scala and Beatrice di Tenda for Venice. Writing to his uncle in Sicily, the composer reported that "I shall earn almost twice as much as if I had composed [only for the Venetian impresario]". However, there was also a contract for a second Milan house for the following winter season for as yet an unnamed opera, but it had already been agreed that Giuditta Pasta, who had achieved success in Milan in 1829 and 1830 appearing in several major operas, would be the principal artist. Then Bellini experienced the re occurrence of an illness which had emerged in Venice due to pressure of work and the bad weather, and which consistently recurred after each opera. The gastro enteric condition—which he described as "a tremendous inflammatory gastric bilious fever"— resulted in his being cared for by friends. It was not until the summer, when he went to stay near Lake Como, that the pressure to decide upon a subject for the following winter's opera became more urgent. That Pasta owned a house near Como and would be staying there over the summer was the reason that Felice Romani traveled to meet both her and Bellini. By 15 July they had decided on a subject for early 1831, but it was uncertain as to whether Pasta was interested in singing a trousers role, that of the protagonist, Ernani, in an adaptation of Victor Hugo's Hernani, later set to music by Giuseppe Verdi in 1844. With both men having various other commitments, by the end of November 1830 nothing had been achieved in the way of writing either the libretto or the score of Ernani but, by January, the situation and the subject had changed. Bellini wrote that "[Romani] is now writing La sonnambula, ossia I Due Fidanzati svezzeri It must go on stage on 20 February at the latest." That music which he was beginning to use for Ernani was transferred to Sonnambula is not in doubt, and, as Weinstock comments, "he was as ready as most other composers of his era to reuse in a new situation musical passages created for a different, earlier one". During Bellini's lifetime another sfogato, Maria Malibran, was to become a notable exponent of the role of Amina.

With its pastoral setting and story, La sonnambula was an immediate success and is still regularly performed. The title role of Amina (the sleepwalker) with its high tessitura is renowned for its difficulty, requiring a complete command of trills and florid technique, but it fitted Pasta's vocal capabilities, her soprano also having been described as a soprano sfogato, one which designates a contralto who is capable—by sheer industry or natural talent—of extending her upper range and being able to encompass the coloratura soprano tessitura. The opera's premiere performance took place on 6 March 1831, a little later than the original date. Its success was partly due to the differences between Romani's earlier libretti and this one, as well as "the accumulation of operatic experience which both [Bellini] and Romani had brought to its creation." Press reactions were universally positive, as was that of the Russian composer, Mikhail Glinka, who attended and wrote overwhelmingly enthusiastically:
Pasta and Rubini sang with the most evident enthusiasm to support their favourite conductor [sic]; the second act the singers themselves wept and carried the audience along with them. After its premiere, the opera was performed in London on 28 July 1831 at the King’s Theatre and in New York on 13 November 1835 at the Park Theatre. Herbert Weinstock provides a comprehensive year by year listing of performances following the premiere and then, with some gaps, all the way up to 1900. Later, it was a vehicle for showcasing Jenny Lind, Emma Albani and—in the early 20th century—for Lina Pagliughi and Toti Dal Monte.

Weinstock's account of performances given charts those in the 20th century beginning from 1905. Stagings were presented as frequently as every two years in one European or North American venue or another, and they continued through the 1950s bel canto revivals up to the publication of his book in 1971. and at the Metropolitan Opera in 1963, where the role become one of her most significant successes. While not part of the standard repertory, La sonnambula is performed reasonably frequently in the 21st century. It has been given three productions with Natalie Dessay, the first at the Santa Fe Opera in 2004, the second in Paris in January/February 2010, and the third at the Metropolitan Opera in 2009, a production which was revived in Spring 2014 with Diana Damrau singing the role of Amina. A production was mounted by The Royal Opera in London in 2011, by the Salzburger Landestheater in Salzburg 2015, and by the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich in 2015/2016. The first mezzo soprano to record the role was Frederica von Stade in 1980, followed by Cecilia Bartoli.

YearCast(Amina, Elvino,Rodolfo, Lisa,Teresa)ConductorOpera house and orchestraLabel1952Lina Pagliughi,Ferruccio Tagliavini,Cesare Siepi,Wanda Ruggeri,Anna Maria AnelliFranco Capuana,RAI Torino Orchestra and Chorus CD: Preiser RecordsCat: 200381955Maria Callas,Cesare Valletti,Giuseppe Modesti,Eugenia Ratti,Gabriella CarturanLeonard Bernstein,La Scala Orchestra and ChorusRecording of a performance at La Scala on March 5CD: Warner Classics1957Maria Callas,Nicola Monti,Nicola Zaccaria,Eugenia Ratti,Fiorenza CossottoAntonino Votto,La Scala Orchestra and Chorus,(Recorded at the Basilica di Sant'Eufemia, Milan, 3–9 March)CD: EMI ClassicsCat: B000002RXR1962 Joan Sutherland,Nicola Monti,Fernando Corena,Sylvia Stahlman,Margreta ElkinsRichard Bonynge,Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra and ChorusCD: DeccaCat: 448 966 2; 455 823 2 (France)1980 Joan Sutherland,Luciano Pavarotti,Nicolai Ghiaurov,Isobel Buchanan,Della JonesRichard Bonynge,National Philharmonic OrchestraLondon Opera ChorusCD: DeccaCat: 417 424 21987 Jana Valášková,Josef Kundlák,Peter Mikuláš,Eva Antolicová,Ján GalloOndrej Lenárd,Slovak Radio Symphony OrchestraSlovak Philharmonic ChorusCD: OpusCat: 9356 1928/291990 Lucia Aliberti,John Aler,Francesco Ellero d'Artegna,Jane Giering,Iris VermillionJesús López Cobos,Deutschen Oper BerlinLive recordingCD: EurodiscCat: RD 692421992 Ľuba Orgonášová,Raúl Giménez,Francesco Ellero d'Artegna,Dilber YunusAlexandra PapadjiakouAlberto Zedda,Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra(Recording of a concert performance in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam)CD: NaxosCat: 8.660042/431998 Edita Gruberová,José Bros,Roberto Scandiuzzi,Dawn Kotoski,Gloria BanditelliMarcello Viotti,Munchner RundfunkorchesterCD: Nightinggale1999 Eva Lind,William Matteuzzi,Petteri Salomaa,Sonia Ganassi,Stefania DonzelliGabriele Bellini,Orchestra of Eastern NetherlandsCD: Arts 2006Natalie Dessay,Francesco Meli,Carlo Colombara,Sara Mingardo,Jael AzzarettiEvelino Pido,Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra de LyonCD: Virgin ClassicsCat: 3 95138 22008Cecilia Bartoli,Juan Diego Flórez,Ildebrando D'Arcangelo,Gemma Bertagnolli,Liliana NikiteanuAlessandro De Marchi,Orchestra La ScintillaCD: L'Oiseau Lyre (Decca)Cat: 478 1084