Feb. 18, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast Is I Puritani

Summary: The Feb. 18, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is I Puritani, the final work by 19th century Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini.

Elvira (Diana Damrau) and her uncle, Lord George "Giorgio" Walton (Luca Pisaroni): Luca Pisaroni @lucapisaroni, via Twitter Feb. 11, 2017

The Feb. 18, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is I Puritani, the final work by 19th century Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835).

The Saturday matinee broadcast of I Puritani begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (6 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time) and ends at 4:35 p.m. EST (11 p.m. UTC). The estimated run time for the performance is 3 hours 35 minutes.

Librettist, poet and politician Count Carlo Pepoli (July 22, 1796-Dec. 7, 1881) wrote the Italian libretto during his residence as an Italian emigré in Paris. The source for the libretto was Têtes Rondes et Cavaliers (“Roundheads and Cavaliers”) by French dramatists Jacques-François Ancelot (Jan. 9, 1794-Sept. 7, 1854) and Joseph Xavier Saintine (July 10, 1798-Jan. 21, 1865). The recently performed French play premiered Sept. 25, 1833, at the Théâtre National du Vaudeville’s original site, rue de Chartres-Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris (1er arrondissement de Paris).

I Puritani is set around 1650 in the Puritan stronghold of Plymouth, Devonshire, South West England, during the English Civil War (Aug. 22, 1642-Sept. 3, 1651) between Parliamentarians, known as “Roundheads,” and Royalists, known as “Cavaliers.” A politically nuanced love triangle dominates the melodramma serio (“serious melodrama”). Puritan Sir Richard “Riccardo” Forth loves Puritan Elvira, who loves Royalist Lord Arthur “Arturo” Talbot. Elvira is the daughter of the fortress commander.

The world premiere of Vincenzo Bellini’s final work happened Jan. 25, 1835. Théâtre Italien de Paris, a Parisian opera company, held performances at Salle Favart, its location in Place Boïeldieu, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris (2e arrondissement de Paris). The short-lived Italian opera composer succumbed, at age 34, to a liver abscess and acute colon inflammation less than eight months after the world premiere.

The opera comprises three acts and two intermissions.

Act I is timed for 76 minutes. A 30-minute intermission succeeds Act I.

Act II is timed for 45 minutes. A 28-minute intermission follows Act II.

Act III is timed for 33 minutes. The opera ends with Act III’s final notes.

Maurizio Benini conducts the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of I Puritani. He was born in Faenza, Ravenna province, northeastern Italy. The Italian conductor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 with L’Elisir d’Amore by Italian bel canto opera composer Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848). This season he conducts all performances of I Puritani.

This season Maurizio Benini also performs for all dates of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. The two act opera buffa (“comic opera”) by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868) was the Jan. 28, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Diana Damrau appears as Elvira. She was born in Günzburg, Bavaria, southeastern Germany. The German operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos (“Ariadne on Naxos”) by Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949). This season Diana Damrau also appears in Roméo et Juliette by Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893).

Diana Damrau shares the role of Elvira this season with South African operatic soprano Pretty Yende. Roméo et Juliette was the Jan. 21, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Javier Camarena appears as Elvira’s beloved, Lord Arthur “Arturo” Talbot. He was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, eastern Mexico. The Mexican operatic tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2011 as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868). This season Javier Camarena reprises his role as Count Almavivia in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

Alexey Markov appears as Sir Richard “Riccardo” Forth. He was born in Vyborg, Karelian Isthmus, northwestern Russia. The operatic baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2007 as Prince Andrey Bolkonsky in War and Peace by Sergei Prokofiev (April 23, 1891-March 5, 1953).

Luca Pisaroni appears as Lord George “Giorgio” Walton, Elvira’s uncle. He was born in Ciudad Bolívar, Bolívar State, southeastern Venezuela. The Italian operatic bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 as Publio in La Clemenza di Tito by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1956-Dec. 5, 1791).

David Crawford appears as Lord Walter “Gualtiero” Walton, Elvira’s father. He was born in Sewickley, Allegheny County, southwestern Pennsylvania. The operatic bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2007 as a warrior in Macbeth by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). This season David Crawford also appears as a captain in Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893); a Trojan in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Idomeneo; a sergeant in Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924); young Count Pâris in Charles-François Gounod‘s Roméo et Juliette; the Fifth Jew in Salome by Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949) and a steersman in Tristan und Isolde by Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Virginie Verrez appears as Queen Henrietta “Enrichetta,” widow of executed monarch Charles I (Nov. 19, 1600-Jan. 30, 1649). She was born in Saint-Denis, Réunion, southwestern Indian Ocean. In the Met’s 2016-2017 season, the French mezzo-soprano also appears in a trouser role as Stéphano, Roméo’s page, in Roméo et Juliette.

Virginie Verrez is a second-year member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Created in 1980 by Music Director Emeritus James Levine, the program is named for billionaire businessman George Lindemann and his wife, Metropolitan Opera Board of Directors Vice President Frayda B. Lindemann.

Eduardo Valdes appears as Sir Bruno Robertson. He was born in Bayamón, northeastern Puerto Rico. The operatic tenor debuted during the Met’s 1993-1994 season as part of the ensemble of Death in Venice by Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (Nov. 22, 1913-Dec. 4, 1976).

I Puritani is notable as the favorite opera of Victoria (May 24, 1819-Jan. 22, 1901), Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India. Queen Victoria referred to the opera as “dear Puritani.”

As the art collection of the British Royal Family, the Royal Collection Trust features a pencil drawing by 16-year-old Princess Victoria. Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent became heir presumptive to her youngest paternal uncle, William IV (Aug. 21, 1765-June 20, 1837), with the death of her oldest paternal uncle, George IV (Aug. 12, 1762-June 26, 1830).

Princess Victoria’s sketch, dated July 19, 1835, captures Bellini’s favorite soprano, Giulia Grisi (May 22, 1811-Nov. 29, 1869), as Elvira and favorite bass, Luigi Lablache (Dec. 6, 1794-Jan. 23, 1858), as Giorgio during the first act of a performance she had attended the previous day, July 18. The opera’s UK premiere had taken place May 21, 1835, at King’s Theatre, Haymarket, London.

Operabase, an online database, places Vincenzo Bellini at number 18 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. I Puritani places at 111 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. I Puritani holds place 88, with 329 performances, for the period from first Met performance, Oct. 29, 1883, to last performance, May 10, 2014. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for I Puritani as the Feb. 18, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is its distinction as the final opera composed by short-lived Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini and as an exemplar of bel canto (“beautiful singing”) opera as well as its favoritism by long-lived Victoria.

Elvira (Diana Damrau) and her beloved, Lord Arthur "Arturo" Talbot (Javier Camarena): The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 6, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Elvira (Diana Damrau) and her uncle, Lord George "Giorgio" Walton (Luca Pisaroni): Luca Pisaroni @lucapisaroni, via Twitter Feb. 10, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/lucapisaroni/status/830212344475160577

Elvira (Diana Damrau) and her beloved, Lord Arthur "Arturo" Talbot (Javier Camarena): The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 6, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10158318119700533

For further information:

Ancelot, Jacques-François; Joseph Xavier Saintine. Têtes Rondes et Cavaliers, Drame Historique en Trois Actes, Mêlé de Chants. Paris, France: J.N. Barba, 1833.
Available via Gallica -- The BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Digital Library @ http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k749794/

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

Gillis, Trevor. “What Is Bel Canto?” Opera Sense > Bellini. Oct. 16, 2016.
Available @ https://www.operasense.com/what-is-bel-canto/

“Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.” The Metropolitan Opera > About > Who We Are.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/About/Who-We-Are/Lindemann-Young-Artist-Development-Program/

Luca Pisaroni @lucapisaroni. “Premiere of I Puritani at @MetOpera @MetOperaChorus @METOrchestra!!! Yeach!! With the incomparable @ DianaDamrau.” Twitter. Feb. 10, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/lucapisaroni/status/830212344475160577

Metropolitan Opera. "I Puritani: 'A te, o cara.'" YouTube. Feb. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VQFP9apG5I

Metropolitan Opera. "I Puritani: 'Non parlar di lei che adoro.'" YouTube. Feb. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPDvAAEKJ6A

Metropolitan Opera. "I Puritani: 'Suoni la Tromba.'" YouTube. Feb. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoPW62wvF2c

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Check out these stage rehearsal photos of Bellini's I Puritani starring Diana Damrau and Javier Camarena! Opens Friday, February 10. . . .” Facebook. Feb. 6, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10158318119700533

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

“Programs - I Puritani: February 18.” The Metropolitan Opera > 2016-17 Programs.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/metoperafiles/season/2016-17/operas/i_puritani/programs/021817%20Puritani.pdf

Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom. “Mademoiselle Grisi and Signor Lablache in I Puritani, dated July 19, 1835.” Royal Collection Trust > Collection.
Available @ https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/980009-af

“Vincenzo Bellini: I Puritani.” The Metropolitan Opera > On Stage 2016-17.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Season/2016-17-Season/puritani-bellini-tickets/