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Il ritorno di Don Calandrino

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Il ritorno di Don Calandrino
Intermezzo by Domenico Cimarosa
Composer Domenico Cimarosa
TranslationThe Return of Don Calandrino
Other titleArmidoro e Laurina
LibrettistGiuseppe Petrosellini (?)
LanguageItalian
Premiere
1778

Il ritorno di Don Calandrino (The Return of Don Calandrino), also known as Armidoro e Laurina,[1] is an intermezzo in two acts by Domenico Cimarosa to an Italian libretto presumably written by Giuseppe Petrosellini.[2]

Performance history

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The premiere took place in 1778 at Teatro Valle in Rome. Performances in Livorno (1783), Prague (1785), Vienna (1787), Barcelona (1788), Florence (1788 and 1793) and Padua (1801) followed.[3] After a long break, the opera was revived in 2007 under the musical direction of Riccardo Muti in a series of performances at the Salzburg Festival,[4][5][6][7][8][9] Teatro Pérez Galdós [es] in Las Palmas,[10][11] Teatro Municipale in Piacenza,[12] Teatro Verdi [it] in Pisa,[13] and the Ravenna Festival.[14]

Roles

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Role Voice type
Livietta soprano castrato travesti
Don Calandrino soprano castrato[15]
Monsieur Le Blonde bass
Irene soprano castrato travesti
Valerio tenor

Synopsis

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The libretto gives a humorous account of characters and actions of Don Calandrino, the son of the podestà of Monte Secco (Abruzzo, Italy),[16] who pretends he knows everything, but in fact is incapable of even thinking logically; Livietta, a haughty and rich peasant girl, who tries to act as a lady, but invariably fails both in her language and manners; Monsieur Le Blonde, a French traveler eager to talk about places he has supposedly visited, but of which he knows nothing; Irene, a simple and humble girl; and Valerio, the Mayor of Monte Secco and Irene’s brother. After several turns, the story resolves in pairing Don Calandrino with Livietta, and Le Blonde with Irene.[17]

Recordings

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Year Cast
(Livietta,
Don Calandrino,
Monsieur Le Blonde,
Irene,
Valerio)
Conductor,
Orchestra
Label
2009 Laura Giordano,
Juan Francisco Gatell,
Marco Vinco,
Monica Tarone,
Francesco Marsiglia
Riccardo Muti
Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini
CD: Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso

References

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Notes

Cited sources

  • Giustiniani, Lorenzo (1803), Dizionario geografico-ragionato del Regno di Napoli, Tomo VI
  • Rossi, Nick, and Fauntleroy, Talmage (1999), Domenico Cimarosa: His Life and His Operas, Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30112-3
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