L'isola disabitata
| L'isola disabitata | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Joseph Haydn | |
Portrait of the composer by Thomas Hardy, in 1791
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| Description | azione teatrale |
| Translation | The desert island |
| Librettist | Metastasio |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on |
L'infedeltà fedele by Giambattista Lorenzi |
| Premiere | 6 December 1779 Eszterháza |
L'isola disabitata (The desert island), Hob. 28/9, is an opera (azione teatrale in due parte) by Joseph Haydn, his tenth opera, written for the Eszterházy court and premiered on 6 December 1779. The libretto by Metastasio, the only one by that author Haydn set, was previously set by Giuseppe Bonno and subsequently used by Manuel García.Nino Rota has set excerpts to music as well.
Haydn's work has long been remembered for its dramatic Sturm und Drang overture, but the rest of the opera did not see print until H. C. Robbins Landon's 1976 edition (only available for rental). A new edition by Thomas J Busse was prepared in 2007 and is now online. The piece is striking for its use of orchestral recitativo accompagnato throughout.
There is also a libretto of the same title by Carlo Goldoni (using the pen name Polisseno Fegeio), set by Giuseppe Scarlatti in 1757; it concerns a Chinese woman and Dutch sailors and was revived in 1760 (and again in Vienna in 1773) under the title La cinese smarrita.
Using the crudest of tools, Costanza is on the verge of completing an inscription on a rock next to her cave: "Abandoned by the traitor Gernando, Constanza finished her days on these strange shores. Friendly traveler, unless you be a tiger, either avenge or pity…" Her young sister Silvia enters, rejoicing that a lost pet deer has returned, and asks why Costanza is unhappy, being on such a pleasant island far from the world wicked men she has often described, but cannot cheer her. Silvia, alone, watches a ship arrive and runs to ask her sister what monster swims and flies at the same time. Her way is blocked by Gernando and his friend Enrico, and she hides, not being able to overhear their conversation. Both had been captives of pirates, Gernando seized on this very beach while his wife was recovering from seasickness. They split up to search the island, Enrico first singing of his unending gratitude to his friend for helping his escape. Silvia has managed to get a good look at him, too kind-looking to be a man, but not wearing a skirt either. She marvels as well at a new kind of fear that causes gladness: yet more questions for Constanza.
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Wikipedia