Fra Diavolo
Music by Daniel Auber · libretto by Eugène Scribe · premiered 1830 · at Opéra-Comique
Fra Diavolo, ou L'hôtellerie de Terracine (Fra Diavolo, or The Inn of Terracina) is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer Daniel Auber, from a libretto by Auber's regular collaborator Eugène Scribe.
It is loosely based on the life of the Itrani guerrilla leader Michele Pezza, active in southern Italy in the period 1800-1806, who went under the name of Fra Diavolo ("Brother Devil"). Diavolo fought against the French, who occupied parts of Italy, pillaging different towns on his way. Once French occupation ended, Diavolo was pardoned. When Napoleon recaptured Naples, a price was put on Diavolo's head and he was hanged in the public marketplace. He is now celebrated in Italian folk legends and through works like this opera.
The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Ventadour in Paris on 28 January 1830 and an Italian version was prepared by Auber and Scribe for performance in London in 1857. This contained new recitatives and arias, as well as expanding the roles of Fra Diavolo's accomplices. The opera was Auber's greatest success, one of the most popular works of the 19th century, and was in the standard repertory in its original French as well as German and Italian versions.
An English translation was also prepared.
Hugh Macdonald has characterised this comic opera as "the most successful work of its kind before Offenbach."
Text from the Wikipedia article "Fra Diavolo (opera)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (French: [danjɛl fʁɑ̃swa ɛspʁi obɛːʁ]; 29 January 1782 – 12 May 1871) was a French Romantic composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when the family's fortunes failed in 1820. He soon established a professional partnership with the librettist Eugène Scribe that lasted for 41 years and produced 39 operas, most of them commercial and critical successes. He is mostly associated with opéra-comique and composed 35 works in that genre. With Scribe he wrote the first French grand opera, La Muette de Portici (The Dumb Woman of Portici) in 1828,…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Daniel Auber", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Daniel Auber
- Gustave III
- La circassienne (1787)
- La muette de Portici (1830)
- Le cheval de bronze (1835)
- L'ambassadrice (1836)
- La part du diable (1843)
- La sirène (1844)
- La barcarolle (1845)