Guido et Ginevra
Introduction '''''Guido et Ginevra, ou La Peste de Florence''''' (French: ''Guido and Ginevra, or the Plague at Florence'') is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Eugène Scribe. It was premiered on 5 March 1838 by the Paris Opera at the Salle Le Peletier.
Performance history ''Guido et Ginevra'' was only a moderate success for Halévy, not nearly as applauded as his previous grand opera ''La Juive'' (1835) or as ''La reine de Chypre'' which followed it (1841). However, after its premiere it was soon played in all the major European centres. When the opera was revived in Paris in 1840 it was cut to four acts. It was translated into Italian and performed in three acts by the Théâtre-Italien at the Salle Ventadour beginning on 17 February 1870.It was performed in German in Mannheim beginning on 3 April 1879, and Hamburg, on 20 March 1882.No recent productions are known.The opera contains touches of the composer's innovative orchestration, with a mélophone in Act II, and with Ginevra's tomb scene set to dark woodwind and brass instruments using diminished seventh harmonies.
Roles RoleVoice typePremiere Cast, 5 March 1838(Conductor: )Cosme de MédicisbassNicolas LevasseurManfredi, ''Duke of Ferrara''bassNicolas-Prosper DérivisGuido, ''a young sculptor''tenorGilbert DuprezForte-Braccio, ''condottiere''tenorJean-Étienne-Auguste MassolLorenzo, ''steward to Médicis''bassMolinierTéobaldo, ''sacristan of Florence Cathedral''bassFerdinand Prévost Ginevra, ''daughter of Médicis''sopranoJulie Aimée Dorus-GrasRicciarda, ''a singer''mezzo-sopranoRosine StoltzLéonore, ''chambermaid of Ginevra''sopranoMme MorinAntonietta, ''young peasant''sopranoMaria Flécheux
Synopsis ''Scribe drew the elements of his plot from the history of Florence by Louis-Charles Delécluze''===Act 1===''The Medici court''Ginevra is to be married to the Duke of Ferrara.===Act 2===During the ceremony, a poisoned veil she has been given causes her to faint away in a deathlike trance; the sculptor Guido mourns her. It is assumed that she has the plague.===Act 3===''The Medici vault''Buried in the Medici vault she awakes.===Act 4===Guido offers her shelter.===Act 5===''The village of Camaldoli''Ginevra is reunited with her father, who agrees to her marriage with Guido. A procession of thanksgiving ends the opera.
References '''Notes''''''Sources'''* Chouquet, Gustave (1873). ''Histoire de la musique dramatique en France'' (in French), pp. 309–425.Paris: Didot. View at Google Books. * Hallman, Diana (2003). "The Grand Operas of Fromental Halévy", in ''The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera'', ed. David Charlton. * Loewenberg, Alfred (1978). ''Annals of Opera 1597–1940'' (third edition, revised). Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield. . * Macdonald, Hugh (2001). ''Guido et Ginevra'', article in Grove Music Online.