Amilcare Ponchielli’s workshop: a new source for the Introduction to I Lituani Act I

Abstract

Davide Mingozzi

Amilcare Ponchielli’s workshop: a new source for the Introduction to I Lituani Act I.

The day after the première of I Lituani (Milan, Teatro alla Scala, March 7, 1874) Amilcare Ponchielli, in agreement with librettist Antonio Ghislanzoni, decided to rework his score. Success had been no healing for the torment of his self-critical soul. Among other changes, the choir “Corrado Wallenrod... un stranier...” was edited out from Act I Introduction. The recent discovery of a hitherto unknown bifolium with sketches of its first draft sheds new light on Ponchielli’s working method. This essay pithily describes both the opera planning, drawing on the composer’s extensive correspondence, and the events associated with its 1874 staging, drawing on period reviews. There is also a study of the changes made for the 1875 restaging. The rediscovered draft is issued here for the first time, with an analysis of its codicological and musical elements.