The King. The scene opens in the guard room of Chambord Castle. Laffemas attempts to seduce Marion, but is refused. Marion determines to rely upon the king. Louis XIII enters, furious with Cardinal Richelieu who ousted him from power. Marion and the Marquis de Nangis (Saverny's uncle) plead for a royal pardon for the two convicts. But the king is intractable; he refuses to oppose the cardinal. Left alone with the king, L'Angély, his jester, tries to persuade the King by convincing him that the two convicts are falconers (the king is keen on hunting). At his insistence, the king, weak and undecided, relents to pardon the two men, and Marion departs with the pardon in hand. After “La Gioconda,” the composer wrote this opera, based on a libretto by Angelo Zanardini. The opera premiered at La Scala in 1880, the fourth opera to do so after “I Lituani” and “La Gioconda.” He also won Singer of the Year 2002 by the Berlin Opera, The First Grand Prize for Male Voices of the 28th Edition of the Francisco Viñas Singing Competition, as well as the Special Prize La Traviata (Barcelona 1990), the Second Prize for Male Voices of the Bilbao III Singing Competition (Bilbao 1990). He was also a National Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera Guild Singing Competition in 1989. Tobia Gorrio (pseudonym/anagram of Arrigo Boito) after Victor Hugo's drama Angelo, tyran de Padoue (1835) The Comedians. The scene is the château de Genlis. Saverny enters, incognito, who related to the judge Laffemas the story of his own death. But during the conversation, Saverny learns that the man he fought with was Didier and that it was Marion's lover who saved his life. Shortly afterwards, Laffemas receives a letter announcing the escape of Didier, probably accompanied by Marion. He goes after them.

After a choir sings the beauty of courtesan Marion Delorme ("A Marion, reine des belles"), Fontrailles, Montrésor, Montmort, de Brienne, Monglat, and the other courtesans discuss the increasing influence of Cinq-Mars over the King. The nobles are dissatisfied with the excessive power that the Cardinal of Richelieu has assumed, and they wonder if Cinq-Mars will join finally their cause. Marion reports that the Cardinal threatens to exile Cinq-Mars; Fontrailles is surprised, and is sure that Paris would become very boring without its elegant salons ("On ne verra plus dans Paris"). Marion announces that she will organize a ball the next day, which will give them the opportunity to cast the basis of an intrigue to eliminate the Cardinal. Cinq-Mars appears and is welcomed by the courtesans ("Ah! Monsieur le Grand Ecuyer"). Marie has just arrived at the Court, and the two lovers are reunited ("Quand vous m'avez dit un jour"). However, just after this blessed moment, Father Joseph comes to announce that, in spite of the King's informal agreement of Cinq-Mars's marriage with Marie, the Cardinal refuses to formalize their union, preferring rather to follow the original plan of marrying Marie to the King of Poland. Marion chce zachránit život svého milence a stráví proto noc s královským soudcem. Didier se dozví o její minulosti a odmítne uprchnout za takovou cenu a navíc nyní Marion pohrdá. Na konci hry se objeví jako hlas z nosítek i Richelieu, ale i on odmítne udělit milost. Didier i de Saverne jsou popraveni, ale ještě před tím Didier Marion její minulost odpustí. Hluboká láska Marion k Diderovi jí tak vrací morální čistotu. The Cardinal. The scene is the dungeon of Beaugency. Marion, bearing royal pardon, arrives to have Dider released; but the royal pardon has been revoked by the cardinal. Confronted with Laffemas, she finally gives in, and agrees to prostitute herself to him in exchange for Didier's freedom. The thing done, she enters the courtyard where Didier and Saverny are awaiting death, but Didier, still angry and revolted because he guesses what she had to do to get there, refuses to follow her. The guards arrive to escort them away. At the last moment, Didier confesses his love to Marion, who forgives him and asks for forgiveness. The condemned march towards torture. Marion remains alone on stage, and sees the litter of the cardinal, who has just been present at the execution.

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The final of Ponchielli’s Ghislanzoni collaborations, this opera was not actually completed by the composer but by his son Annibale Ponchielli and Arturo Cadore. On leaving Milan, he spent some time in America and also occupied the position of principal double-bass in the Italian opera at Havana, where he later became director. Here his first opera, Cristoforo Colombo, was produced in 1847. In 1849 he made his first appearance in England, playing double bass solos at one of the Musical Union concerts. After this he made frequent visits to England, and his extraordinary command of his unwieldy instrument gained him great popularity in London and the provinces. Marion Delorme (3 October 1613 – 2 July 1650) was a French courtesan known for her relationships with the important men of her time. Main article: List of compositions by Giovanni Bottesini Selected works for solo double bass [ edit ]Bottesini was widely acclaimed, and his virtuosic skill in the bass paralleled that of Paganini himself on the violin. Because of the contributions of Bottesini (along with those of Sperger and Dragonetti) to bass technique, many have come to view the double bass as a diverse and versatile instrument. Most notably there are many virtuoso bass players who draw inspiration from the early renaissance of the double bass. Dalibor Jenis starts the current season (2004) at Royal Opera House Covent Garden London with a new production of Charles Gounod’s Faust in the role of Valentin under the baton of Maurizio Benini. At the Hamburgische Staatsoper he will sing Germont in La Traviata under the baton of Niksa Bareza; in Basle he is to hear in a gala concert under Fabio Luisi. At the Opéra National de Paris he sings the title-role of Barbiere di Siviglia under Daniel Oren and Marc Piollet. In concert he will appear together with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Gerd Albrecht in Dvorak´s König und Köhler. He will finish this season with the revival of Don Carlo (Posa) at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. Cinq-Mars, subtitled Une conjuration sous Louis XIII, is an opera in four acts by Charles Gounod to a libretto by Paul Poirson [ fr] and Louis Gallet loosely adapted from Alfred de Vigny's historical novel. Denia Mazzola-Gavazzeni is a magnetic Marion, even when she pushes her voice in uncomfortable directions. And if Francisco Casanova is more a full-throated tenor than a carefully characterised young lover then that’s the fault of the song not the singer.

Hra se odehrává roku 1638 a její hlavní postavou je francouzská kurtizána Marion de Lorme, známá pro své vztahy s významnými lidmi své doby. Zamiluje se však do venkovského důstojníka Didiera, který neví nic o její minulosti, a odejde s ním do Blois stranou královského dvora. Pak však do města přijede markýz de Saverne, dřívější Marionin milenec, který ji chce získat zpět. Mezi oběma muži dojde k souboji, které byly kardinálem Richelieuem zakázány. Jsou za to odsouzeni k smrti, a přesto, že se jim podaří nejprve uprchnout, jsou dopadeni. Král na přímluvu svého šaška L'Angelyho udělí nejprve odsouzencům milost, ale tu pak z obavy, co by tomu řekl kardinál, odvolá. Změní pouze způsob popravy z oběšení na stětí. Amilcare Ponchielli, born on August 31, will always be remembered for one work of opera – “La Gioconda.” And some might add that not even these days the opera is as popular as to give him sufficient clout as one of opera’s legendary composers. In reality, the composer’s famous work has lost its status in recent years, and by extension, the composer’s profile has dropped rapidly. Marion and Didier enter. They have hidden themselves among a troupe of traveling comedians and are given roles. Didier is desperate to flee with Marion, and asks her again to marry him. Marion is spotted by Savergny, who passes the information to Laffemas. He realizes that the fugitive he seeks must be among the actors. Didier discovers that the woman he loves is none other than Marion de Lorme, the courtesan. Revolted, he denounces himself to Laffemas, who arrests him. Saverny, in an attempt to save Didier, unmasks himself, but he is arrested too. Hra je založena na principu všemocnosti lásky, schopné vykoupit i ztraceného člověka. Francouzská kurtizána Marion de Lorme (1613–1650) je ve hře láskou morálně očištěna. Jejím protipólem je děsivý symbol absolutismu kardinál Richelieu, první ministr krále Ludvíka XIII.

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My late, lamented colleague, Michael Oliver, would have exulted at the prospect of reviewing this hardly-ever-heard example of verismo, a genre (like so many others) of which he made a speciality. Ponchielli’s last opera appears never to have been recorded before, and has received few performances, even in Italy, after its comparatively successful première at La Scala in 1885. Largely eschewing the melodramatic gestures and invigorating energy of Gioconda, Ponchielli shows the influence of the school of his French contemporaries in his light, elegant scoring and through the presence of a peripheral, travesty character, Lelio, sung by a mezzo. The work is lop-sided in that the longest, most emotion-laden Act is the fourth and last. There Marion and Didier have finely shaped solos, then a lengthy duet of recrimination with an original structure. Act 1 has a warm romance for the heroine followed by a love duet. All the other characters have solos suited to their characters, Lelio’s appropriately light and catchy. There is rather too much anonymous infilling, but enough of merit to make the opera worthinvestigating, especially to those sated by the regular repertory. The plot faithfully follows the external events of the failed revolt of the French nobility against Richelieu's consolidation of power ( Count de Soissons's conspiracy [ fr]), but adds a secret love affair between the Marquis of Cinq-Mars and princess Marie de Gonzague. Whereas de Vigny's character yearned to become her social equal, the opera's hero enters politics only on learning of a planned marriage between Marie and the king of Poland. After the conspiracy is discovered, she is given a chance to save him by agreeing to the match, but her sacrifice is in vain: before their escape plans can be put into effect, the hour of execution is suddenly moved forward. Shortly before his death, in 1888 he was appointed director of Parma Conservatory on Verdi's recommendation. Bottesini died in Parma on 7 July 1889. His solo works remain standard repertoire for accomplished double bassists to this day. Bottesini was a freemason, initiated 20 June 1849, in the Bank of England Lodge No. 263, London.