Donizetti

1870 · 36759 — Paris: J. Meissonier . E. Gérard et Cie. PN C.M. 4544 1870. Large octavo. Quarter black morocco black pebbled paper boards with crown and "M" gilt to upper spine in gilt-ruled compartments titling gilt marbled endpapers. 1f. recto title verso blank 1f. recto cast list verso blank 212 pp. Text in Italian. Lithographed. <br /> <br /> With attractive engraved armorial bookplate of the Duke of Massa possibly Alfred 1837-1913 to front pastedown. Lucrezia Borgia to a libretto by Felice Romani after the play by Victor Hugo was first performed in Milan at La Scala on 26 December 1833.<br /> <br /> "One of the major successes of Donizetti's career Lucrezia Borgia reflects Donizetti's interest in powerful melodramatic tragedy. He was attracted to the subject by the scene in Hugo's play in which the six coffins of Lucrezia's victims were suddenly revealed. The Milanese censors refused to allow the inclusion of this episode in the opera; indeed the subject was at first regarded as so suspect that three years elapsed between the successful opening run at La Scala. and its second production. For a time the work was given under a number of aliases; in one version the action was transferred to a non-Christian country. For its second production at La Scala in January 1840 Donizetti revised the final scene adding an arioso for the dying Gennaro and eliminating Lucrezia's final cabaletta as he thought it dramatically incongruous for a mother to sing a brilliant aria over a son whose death she has albeit unwittingly caused. From 1840 on Lucrezia Borgia became one of the central works of the repertory its vogue lasting until the end of the century." William Ashbrook in Grove Music Online. J. Meissonier ... E. Gérard et Cie. [PN C.M. 4544] unknown