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"Ernani" is an operatic "dramma lirico" in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play "Ernani, o l'onore castigliano" by Vittore Ugo.

The first production took place at La Fenice Theatre, Venice on 9 March 1844.

In 1904 it became the first opera to be recorded complete.

The UK premiere took place at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on 8 March 1845 followed on 13 April 1847 by its US premiere in New York.

Today, Ernani is an infrequently performed work, although it appeared on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera as early as 1903 and has been given eighty-eight performances up to the March/April stagings in 2008.

It regained some popularity from the early-1980s onward and was revived in a series of new productions at the San Francisco Opera (1982), Lyric Opera of Chicago (1984), at La Scala (1984) and the Met (1985), the 2008 stagings being the first since that time.

It was given as part of the 1997 season of the Sarasota Opera's "Verdi Cycle" which plans to present all of Verdi's operas before the bi-centenary of his birth in 2013.

The Teatro Regio di Parma, another company with a similar aim, gave it in October 2005.

It was given in May 2008 by Opera Boston, a now-defunct company, which used to present unusual or rarely staged works, and the Melbourne City Opera staged it in March/April 2009.

That same year, in October/November, it formed part of the Lyric Opera of Chicago's season.

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The Met revived it for six perfomances in February 2012, the matinee performance of 25 February broadcast to theatres as part of the Met-in-HD season.

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[edit] Roles

Role Voice type Premiere Cast, 9 March 1844[3]

(Conductor: - Gaetano Mares)

Ernani,
Don Giovanni di Aragona
il bandito
tenore

Carlo Guasco

Don Carlo, re di Spagna
later Charles V,
Holy Roman Emperor, Carlo V, sacro romano imperatore.

baritone Antonio Superchi

Don Ruy Gomez de Silva
bass Antonio Selva

Elvira,
nipote e fidanzata di Don Ruy Gomez de Silva.

his niece and fiancée soprano Sophie Loewe

Giovanna, her nurse soprano Laura Saini

Don Riccardo,
Don Carlo's
equerry tenor Giovanni Lanner

Jago,
Don Ruy's equerry bass Andrea Bellini

Rebels,
brigands,
attendants, knights, servant, nobles, ladies - Chorus

Time: 1519.

Place:

ACT I-II: THE MOUNTAINS OF ARAGONA
ACT III: AACHEN.
ACT IV: ZARAGOZA

Act 1
Mountains of Aragon

The bandits demand the reason for Ernani's gloom.

Chorus:

Eviva! Beviam! Beviam!

"To you we drink" and

Ernani pensoso!

"Ernani, so gloomy?
Why, oh strong one, does care sit on your brow?".

Ernani replies

Recitative:

"Thanks, dear friends"; Cavatina:

Come rugiada al cespite

"As the flower turns to the sun")

that he loves Elvira, who is about to be married against her will to old Gomez de Silva

--

O tu che l'alma adora.

Ernani asks the bandits to abduct Elvira.

In Elvira's chamber

Elvira worries about her upcoming marriage (Scena:

"Now sinks the sun and Silva does not return"; Cavatina:

Ernani, Ernani involami

"Ernani, Ernani, save me"

as servants deliver Silva's wedding presents to her.

Elvira reaffirms her love for Ernani:

Tutto sprezzo che d'Ernani

"I scorn everything which does not speak to my heart of Ernani".

King Carlo,
DISGUISED AS A PEASANT,
enters.

Elvira recognizes him and rejects the love that he offers her.

As he attempts to use force, she grasps a dagger, but Ernani suddenly arrives and stops Carlos.

Trio: "A friend comes quickly to your aid".

Don Carlo recognizes Ernani as the leader of the bandits.

Ernani replies that Carlo robbed him of his lands and forced him into a life of banditry.

As Ernani invites Carlo to fight, Silva appears and sees Ernani:

Infelice!..e tu credevi..che mai vegg'io!

"Dreadful sight";

Silva's cavatina: "Unhappy man! You thought this lovely...was yours").

[Vienna, Spring 1844 or Milan, Autumn 1844, Silva's cabaletta added]

"Infin che un brando vindice"

Ernani offers to fight them both when Riccardo approaches and recognises the king.

Ernani whispers to Elvira to prepare to flee.

[edit] Act 2

A hall in Silva's palace

The bandit "Ernani" (Don Giovanni di Aragona) enters
DISGUISED AS A PILGRIM.

Ernani asks for shelter, which Silva grants him, and then learns from Silva that he is about to marry Elvira who believes Ernani to be dead.

Ernani reveals his true identity to Elvira and she tells him that she plans to kill herself at the altar

Duet: Ah, morir potessi adesso

"Ah, if I could die now").

Don Ruy Gomez de Silva walks in at that moment, discovers the pair, but agrees to keep his word to Ernani and

protect him from the king,

for which

Ernani will owe him a perpetual debt.

Trio:

No, vendetta piu tremenda

"No, I want to keep a greater revenge").

King Carlo arrives and wishes to know why the castle is barred.

Silva refuses to surrender Ernani.

Carlos' aria: Lo vedremo, veglio audace

"We shall see, you bold old man") and Don Carlos's men cannot find Ernani's hiding place.

Don Ruy Gomez de Silva keeps his word, even when the king secures Elvira as a hostage.

Silva releases the bandit Ernani, and then challenges him to a duel.

Ernani refuses to fight, but unites with Silva in his plans to free Elvira from the king.

Ernani swears to appear at the summons of Silva, wherever he may be at that time

Odi il voto o grande Iddio / "Oh God, hear the vow"),

[Added in Parma, Autumn 1844:[5]

Ernani gathers his men to him.

His aria of vengeance

Sprezzo la vita ne più m'alletta

"Life means nothing to me, only hope of vengeance")

concludes the act].

Act III: "O sommo Carlo"

"O sommo Carlo", sung by Mattia Battistini, Emilia Corsi, Luigi Colazza, Aristodemo Sillich, and the La Scala chorus in 1906.

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Shrine of Charles at Aachen.

In the burial vault of Charles the Great at Aachen

Carlo visits the grave of the emperor Carlo Magno, whose successor, the new Holy Roman Emperor, is being elected by delegates from the relevant countries.

Carlos resolves to change his life if he is crowned

Cavatina: Oh, de'verd'anni miei

"Oh, the dreams and deceits of my youth").

Hiding behind the vault, Carlo overhears a gathering of conspirators including Silva and Ernani.

Ernani swears to murder Carlos.

The conspiracy is foiled when Carlos's attendants enter and surprise the conspirators.

The king commands that all the traitorous noblemen be executed.

Ernani steps forward, declaring that thus he must die too.

He is not the bandit Ernani, but Don Giovanni di Aragona, whose lands were taken from him.

Elvira, who had been brought to Carlo as
his intended empress, begs mercy for her lover, and Carlo, whose mood has changed, forgives them both and
places Elvira's hand in that of Ernani.

Act 4

Ernani's Castle

Elvira and Ernani have just been married,
when, in consternation, Ernani hears a bugle call.

Silva arrives and silently
hands Ernani a dagger.

Ernani asks for time to "sip from the cup of love"

Ascolta, ascolta un detto ancor

"Listen, just one word..."

but, cursed by Silva as a coward, Ernani keeps his oath and stabs himself in the heart.

Trio with Silva:

E' vano, o donna, il piangere, e vano / "Your weeping is in vain, woman").

He dies in Elvira's arms, telling her to live.

[edit] Recordings

The first complete recording of an opera was the 1904 recording of Ernani, on 40 single-sided discs, by HMV in England.[6] Later recordings include:

Year Cast
(Ernani, Elvira, Don Carlo, Silva) Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra Label[7]
1930 Antonio Melandri,
Iva Pacetti,
Gino Vanelli,
Corrado Zambelli Lorenzo Molajoli,
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala di Milano 78 rpm: Columbia GQX 10069-10073
LP: Cat: 4407
1950 Gino Penno,
Caterina Mancini,
Giuseppe Taddei,
Giacomo Vaghi Fernando Previtali,
Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Roma della Rai Audio CD: Warner Fonit
Cat: 8573 82650-2
1957 Mario del Monaco,
Anita Cerquetti,
Ettore Bastianini
Boris Christoff Dimitri Mitropoulos,
Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Audio CD: Hr 4400
Cat: HR 4400/01
1967 Carlo Bergonzi,
Leontyne Price,
Mario Sereni,
Ezio Flagello Thomas Schippers,
RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra Audio CD: RCA Victor
Cat: GD 86503 (UK); 6503-2 (USA)
1969 Plácido Domingo
Raina Kabaivanska
Carlo Meliciani
Nicolai Ghiaurov Antonino Votto,
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus Audio CD: Opera D'Oro
Cat: ODO 1468
1983 Luciano Pavarotti
Leona Mitchell
Sherrill Milnes
Ruggero Raimondi James Levine,
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
(Recorded live on 12 and 17 December)[8] DVD: Pioneer Classics
Cat: PC-99-102-D
1983 Plácido Domingo
Mirella Freni
Renato Bruson
Nicolai Ghiaurov Riccardo Muti,
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
(Production by Luca Ronconi)
(Recording of a performance in the Teatro alla Scala, 4 January)[9] DVD: Kultur Video
Cat: D72913
1987 Luciano Pavarotti
Joan Sutherland
Leo Nucci
Paata Burchuladze Richard Bonynge,
Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera CD: Decca/London
2005 Marco Berti
Susan Neves
Carlo Guelfi
Giacomo Prestia Antonello Allemandi,
Teatro Regio di Parma
(Production by Pier' Alli, Video direction by Matteo Ricchetti)
(Audio and video recordings of a performance(s) May) DVD: Dynamic 33496
University of Chicago Critical Edition

[edit] ReferencesNotes
1.^ Holden, p.980
2.^ Parma's 2005 "Festival Verdi"
3.^ List of singers taken from Budden, p. 138.
4.^ Budden, pp. 167-168: he notes: "the cabaletta is a thoroughly undistinguished piece and it offers the ultimate absurdity of an 'exit aria' with no exit to follow"
5.^ "at Rossini's request, Verdi wrote a grand aria for the tenor Nicola Ivanoff", Budden, p. 169
6.^ Steven Schoenherr, Recording Technology History
7.^ Recordings on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
8.^ Recording details for the 1983 Met Ernani DVD: OCLC 212394683.
9.^ Note: this recording does not include include Silva's act 1 cabeletta nor Ernani's final aria and cabaletta at the end of act 2
Sources
Budden, Julian, The Operas of Verdi, Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. London: Cassell, 1984. ISBN 0-304-310581.
Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-140-29312-4
Melitz, Leo, opera synopsis in The Opera Goer's Complete Guide, 1921 version.
Creative Commons MP3 Recording
[edit] External linksLibretto on giuseppeverdi.it (in Italian) Retrieved 3 February 2012
Modern English translation of Victor Hugo's Hernani, the inspiration for Ernani on bedard.com/. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ernani&oldid=478128276"
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