Mascagni’s 10th performed opera
Isabeau gets its, in my opinion, long overdue UK premiere at Opera Holland Park 2018. ;D :) ;) :D
Rehearsed at Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa prior to Mascagni’s South American tour of 1911, it was premiered in Buenos Aires in June 1911 and received its Italian premiere jointly in January 1912 at La Scala, Milan and Teatro la Fenice, Venice.
A romantic opera, loosely based on the Lady Godiva legend, it has many beautiful moments, powerful arias and is superbly orchestrated. The tenor role, Folco, was sung by Bernardo de Muro 382 times in his lifetime. It was (almost) annually produced in Italy from 1912 up until the second world war.
One of my favourite operas by one of my most favourite composers.
There is a Facebook page on the opera:
https://www.facebook.com/Mascagnis-Isabeau-375376602662964/Sadly, like most of Mascagni’s 15 Operas,
Isabeau is now rarely performed.
In my life time I am aware of only three definite productions: San Remo (1962), Naples (1972) and Braunschweig (2011). There was a Utrecht concert performance in 1982, a Czech Radio performance in the early 2000s and, I think, student concert performances in Rome in the last 10 years. I have read there may have been a US performance sometime in the 1990s.
The best available recordings, in my view, are the Dutch Radio performance of 1982 available on Bongiovanni and a live performance from Braunschweig of 2011 (not commercially available).
