Guglielmo Ratcliff
Music by Pietro Mascagni · libretto by Andrea Maffei · premiered 1895 · at La Scala
Guglielmo Ratcliff is a tragic opera in four acts by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, translated from the German play Wilhelm Ratcliff (1822) by Heinrich Heine. Mascagni had substantially finished the composition of Ratcliff before the success of his first opera, Cavalleria rusticana. After the composition and performance of further operas L'amico Fritz in 1891 and I Rantzau in 1893, Ratcliff eventually premiered on 16 February 1895 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and has been revived a number of times since, including a concert performance in 2003 at the Alice Tully Hall in New York and a staged performance at Wexford Festival Opera in 2015, conducted by Francesco Cilluffo. Mascagni often wrote that Ratcliff was his best opera. However, it has not entered the standard operatic repertoire, in part because the title role is one of the most taxing tenor parts ever written. It is especially known for its act 3 Intermezzo, which features prominently in the Martin Scorsese film Raging Bull. (Heine's play, which was never performed during his life, was also used as the basis for César Cui's 1869 opera of the same name and for Volkmar Andreae's 1914 opera Ratcliff.)
Text from the Wikipedia article "Guglielmo Ratcliff", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Pietro Mascagni is the composer of record for this opera.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Pietro Mascagni", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Pietro Mascagni
- Cavalleria rusticana (1880)
- Cavalleria rusticana discography (1890)
- I Rantzau (1892)
- Iris (1898)
- Amica (1905)
- Il piccolo Marat (1916)