Cleopatra (Cimarosa)

La Cleopatra (1789) is an opera seria in two acts by composer Domenico Cimarosa with an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Moretti.[1]

For the epic poem by Girolamo Graziani, see La Cleopatra (poem).
La Cleopatra
Opera seria by Domenico Cimarosa
The composer
LibrettistF. Moretti
LanguageItalian
Premiere
7 February 1789 (1789-02-07)
Theater Eremitage, Saint Petersburg

Historical background and musical analysis

La Cleopatra was commissioned by Empress Catherine II of Russia in 1788. Cimarosa and Moretti were instructed to keep the opera short and give it a relatively simple plot. As a result, the opera is about a hundred minutes in length which is short for an opera of that period and time. The plot is also very straightforward, lacking the typical plot twists and intrigues of other opera serias of the day. Musically the opera is made up of mostly arias with only a few duets, a quartet, a ballet, and a march. Although, music critics of the opera have admired the duet at the end of act one, the music written for the ballet, and the final quartet at the end, overall the opera is not that remarkable. The work premiered at the Hermitage Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 27 September 1789.[2]

Roles
Role Voice type Premiere Cast, 27 September 1789
(Conductor: - )
Cleopatra coloratura soprano Anna Pozzi
Antonio castrato Domenico Bruni
Domizio tenor Gugliemo Jermoli
Arsinoe soprano Marianna Gattoni

Editions
  • Cimarosa, Domenico: La Cleopatra (Critical Edition by Simone Perugini), Full Score, Accademia Lirica Toscana "Domenico Cimarosa", 2018, ISBN 978-1719513982.

Recordings
  • La Cleopatra with conductor Franco Piva and the Orchestra e Coro Città di Adria. Cast includes: Luisa Giannini (Cleopatra), Patrizia Morandini (Antonio), Luca Favaron (Domizio), and Maria Pia Moriyòn (Arsinoe). Released in 1996 on Bongiovanni GB label.

Sources

Holograph Score: Library of Music Conservatory "San Pietro a Majella", Naples, Shelfmark: 13.2.11-12.

Original 1789 printed Libretto: Rossiyskaya Natsional'naya Biblioteka, St. Petersburg, Shelfmark: 13.16,2,4.

References
  1. "La Cleopatra von Domenico Cimarosa". Archived from the original on 2008-04-19. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  2. Opera Today : CIMAROSA: Cleopatra


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