Le faucon
Music by Dmitry Bortniansky · libretto by Franz-Hermann Lafermière · premiered 1786
Le faucon (English: The Falcon, Russian: Сокол) is an opéra comique in three acts by the Ukrainian composer Dmitry Bortniansky with a French language libretto by Franz-Hermann Lafermière. It was first performed on 11 October 1786 at the Gatchina Palace in Russia by aristocratic amateur singers. The plot is borrowed from Boccaccio's The Decameron (Fifth Day, 9th tale) which also served as the basis for Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's 1771 comic opera Le faucon (libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine) (and later for Gounod's La colombe).
Two arias from the opera, "Le beau Tirsis" and "Adieu, Adieu", were published in a 1793 collection of songs by Bortniansky (Recueil de romances et chansons, St. Petersburg: Breitkopf). Although rarely performed in its entirety in modern times, Le faucon was revived as a chamber opera by Boris Pokrovsky at the Moscow Chamber Musical Theatre in 1979. Excerpts from the work were also performed at New York City's Avery Fisher Hall by the Choral Guild of Atlanta and the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera in 1988. Maxim Strikha translated the libretto into Ukrainian in 1990. In this version the opera was premièred in Kyiv on 15 October 1995.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Le faucon (opera)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky (28 October 1751 – 10 October [O.S. 28 September] 1825) was a Russian composer of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He was also a harpsichordist and conductor who served at the court of Catherine the Great. Bortniansky was critical to the musical history of both Russia and Ukraine, with both nations claiming him as their own. Bortniansky, who has been compared to Palestrina, is known today for his liturgical works and prolific contributions to the genre of choral concertos. He was one of the "Golden Three" of his era, alongside Artemy Vedel and Maxim Berezovsky. Bortniansky was so popular in the Russian Empire that his figure was represented in 1862 in the bronze…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Dmitry Bortniansky", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.