Overview
"Triumphant...should not be missed."
— James Keller, The New Mexican
"The audience responded with a full-throated,
passionate ovation..."
— John Stege, Santa Fe Reporter
Is Rossini’s serious side musically even richer than his comedies? There’s no need to choose, but even longtime Rossini enthusiasts will be astonished by the treasures that abound in Santa Fe’s world premiere of the new critical performing edition of Maometto II, recapturing the original character of the music. A love story set against a backdrop of the Venetian colony of Negroponte, Maometto II offers Rossini at his appealing best, including show-stopping coloratura arias.
8:30 pm performances: July 14, 18, 27
8:00 pm performances: August 2, 7, 16
Synopsis
Composed by Gioachino Rossini
Sung in Italian with English and Spanish Opera Titles
ACT I
The ancient realm of Byzantium has fallen to the forces of the Turkish sultan Maometto II, and the Venetian city Negroponte is under siege. On the Byzantine side, Calbo urges the commander Paolo Erisso to continue defending the city; Condulmiero urges surrender. Erisso, who has arranged the engagement of his daughter Anna to Calbo, does not know she is in love with a nobleman of Corinth.
Turks overrun Negroponte’s defenders, taking Erisso and Calbo as prisoners. The sultan Maometto arrives, recognizing Anna as his clandestine lover. The stunning truth of the realization horrifies both Erisso and Anna, who threatens suicide unless Maometto frees Erisso and Calbo. Maometto agrees, promising Anna a life of love and luxury.
ACT II
Still overwhelmed by Maometto’s revelations and her homeland’s plight, Anna rejects his ardent declarations of love. He leaves to press the attack on Negroponte, entrusting her with his seal of imperial authority as a guarantee of her safety while he is gone. But Anna joins Calbo and her father in hiding, overcoming Erisso’s accusations of disloyalty by giving him Maometto’s seal. Now free to emerge from hiding, Erisso conducts Calbo’s marriage to his daughter in the shadow of her mother’s tomb, and the two men leave to face the Turks in combat.
Temporarily at a distance from the conflicting men in her life, Anna receives good and bad news: Erisso has defeated Maometto and successfully defended Negroponte, but Anna is now in danger from Maometto, who will undoubtedly want to avenge her betrayal. Confronted by Maometto and his troops at the very spot where she was married, Anna reveals the details of her deception and stabs herself, dying on her mother’s tomb.
Artists
- Anna - Leah Crocetto
- Calbo - Patricia Bardon
- Paolo - Bruce Sledge
- Maometto - Luca Pisaroni
- Conductor - Frédéric Chaslin
- Director - David Alden
- Scenic Designer - Jon Morrell
- Costume Designer - Jon Morrell
- Lighting Designer - Duane Schuler
- Choreographer - Peggy Hickey