Il Guarany
Music by Carlos Gomes · libretto by Antonio Scalvini · premiered 1870 · at La Scala
Il Guarany (The Guarany) is an opera ballo composed by Antônio Carlos Gomes, based on the novel O Guarani by José de Alencar. Its libretto, in Italian rather than Gomes' native Portuguese, was written by Antonio Scalvini and Carlo D'Ormeville. The work is notable as the first Brazilian opera to gain acclaim outside Brazil. Maria Alice Volpe has analysed the historical subtext of the indianism movement behind Il Guarany. The operatic version of the story takes place near Rio de Janeiro in 1560, and the plot centers around an interracial love story between Pery, a Guarani Indian prince, and Cecilia, the daughter of a Portuguese nobleman. The work emphasizes the Romanticized concept of the "noble savage" in an exotic Brazilian tropical setting as well as the concept of racial miscegenation, which had been a significant part of Brazilian life since the country's inception. In the Overture to the opera, Gomes creates a Romantic Indianist atmosphere over an Italian orchestral backdrop as he introduces intimate lyrical passages in the winds and strings contrasted by tempestuous dramatic moments that utilize the full dynamic range of the orchestra.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Il Guarany", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Carlos Gomes may refer to:
Text from the Wikipedia article "Carlos Gomes", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Carlos Gomes
- A noite do castelo (1830)
- Fosca (1869)