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Wladyslaw Zelenski: Goplana (1896)
Opera in three acts (performed in two acts). Running Time: 1 hour 47 minutes. This one is based on an 1839 Polish drama about a murderous dark haired titular anti-heroine, Balladyna, who kills her own blonde sister over a man, only to have her life turned upside down by Goplana, Fairy Queen of Lake Goplo…
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Italo Montemezzi: L’Incantesimo (1952)
Opera in unico atto. Running Time: 42 minutes. Montemezzi is best known for L’amore dei trei Rei, and this was sort of a long in the works follow up to that success in the United States. The libretto was written by Sem Benelli (the same librettist) and completed in 1933, when Montemezzi moved to California…
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Ildebrando Pizzetti: Ifigenia (1950)
Opera in unico atto. Running Time: 50 minutes. Now that I have done a Pizzetti opera on a Jewish theme, a Christian theme, we have a Greek mythological theme. This won first prize at the 1950 Prix Italia in Turin and was first performed in a radio broadcast for RAI. Incidentally, Pizzetti’s final opera, 1965’s…
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Ildebrando Pizzetti: Assassinio nella Cattedrale (1958)
Opera in due atti e intermezzo. Running Time: 1 hour 20 minutes. This one is for OperaScribe. This opera is so recent, 1958, that its La Scala premiere is actually available on Opera d’Oro label. This might be of slightly more interest to people since Leyla Gencer created the original soprano Coryphee role. Much of…
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Ildebrando Pizzetti: Debora e Jaele (1922)
Opera in tre atti. Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes. Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968) is a strange figure in Italian operatic history. He produced numerous operas, although only two, this and the earlier Fedra (1915) survive from his early period. His middle period is considered extremely weak, and immediately followed this opera. His late period had…