Performance History
The first London production was at Her Majesty's Theatre on 6 June 1839 with Giulia Grisi and Mario. When the opera was staged in Paris (Théâtre des Italiens) in 1840, Victor Hugo obtained an injunction against further productions within the domain of French copyright law. The libretto was then rewritten and retitled La rinegata, with the Italian characters changed to Turks, and the performances were resumed.
The first English-language production was in London on 30 December 1843. The English tenor Sims Reeves was a noted Gennaro. Lucrezia was first presented at New York's American Theatre on 11 May 1843 and later at the Astor Opera House in 1847: with Giulia Grisi in 1854; and with Thérèse Tietjens and Brignoli in 1876. It was given at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, in 1882, and at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1902 with Enrico Caruso as Gennaro.
Tietjens, a particularly famous 19th century Lucrezia, made her debut in the role at Hamburg in 1849, and in her day was unequalled and completely identified with the role. (She was also a superb Norma, Donna Anna, and Agathe.) In later life she became very fat, and collapsed on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre, London during her last performance, in this role, in 1877, and died soon afterwards.
A famous performance of Lucrezia Borgia presented by the American Opera Society Ensemble in 1965 at Carnegie Hall with soprano Montserrat Caballé, who was making her American debut, was soon followed by a recording featuring Caballé, mezzo soprano Shirley Verrett, tenor Alfredo Kraus, and bass Ezio Flagello, conducted by Jonel Perlea, who also led the Carnegie Hall performance. This performance and recording helped re-introduce the work to the opera-loving public.
Lucrezia Borgia is performed from time to time as a vehicle for a star soprano, a case in point being the Fall 2008 performances at the Washington National Opera with Renée Fleming in the title role. She also appeared in the role at the San Francisco Opera in October 2011.
Read more about this topic: Lucrezia Borgia (opera)
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