Una nuova fonte per Gemma di Vergy: la revisione d'autore per il Théâtre-Italien (1845)

Abstract

Staged at La Scala in Milan in 1834 and then on countless Italian and European stages, Gemma di Vergy was performed the first time in Paris in 1845 at the Théâtre-Italien, in a version specially reworked by Donizetti (the last work he completed before his death). Long considered lost, the score prepared on that occasion by the composer has re-emerged among the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France - Département de la Musique. The essay describes the new source, reconstructs the genesis of the revision and examines the author’s variants. The latter are responsive to two main requirements: on the one hand, adapting the musical text to contingent interpretive needs, and more specifically to the characteristics of the singers of the Théâtre-Italien; on the other hand, renewing the work in the light of the contemporary aesthetic canons (especially Parisians), through the increase of formal conciseness and the substantial enrichment of the orchestration.