INTRODUCTION

The title chosen for the #donizetti200 project, which consists of staging in each edition of the Festival an opera written by Donizetti exactly two centuries earlier, is Zoraida di Granata in the second version, that of 1824. In fact, the opera had premiered two years earlier, on January 28, 1822, at the Teatro Argentina in Rome, and was the first great success of Donizetti’s career, although at the last moment Gaetano had to rewrite for a mezzo-soprano en travesti the part of the male protagonist, Abenamet, initially composed for a tenor, who had been electrocuted by an aneurysm on stage a few days earlier while singing an opera by Pacini. Two years later, impresario Paterni asked Donizetti to revise the score, expanding the part of Abenamet to benefit the great contralto Rosmunda Pisaroni. In this new version, the opera was presented, again at the Argentina, on January 7, 1824, without achieving the same triumph as two years earlier: but more due to the inexhaustible thirst for novelty of the audience of the time than to any real weakness of the opera, among the most interesting of Donizetti’s first creative season.
At the Donizetti Opera, Granata’s Zoraida is presented in a new production directed by Bruno Ravella, in co-production with the prestigious Irish festival in Wexford, where, however, it was performed in the 1822 version. On the podium is Alberto Zanardi, a young baton who has been engaged for years “behind the scenes” at the festival. In the parts of the two lovers, two singers who continue to grow in success and fame, soprano Zuzana Marková (Zoraida) and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari (Abenamet), while tenor Konu Kim (formerly in theAnge de Nisida) will be the treacherous Almuzir. Alongside them in the flank parts are the young talents of the Bottega Donizetti.

PLOT

The libretto by Bartolomeo Merelli, reworked by Jacopo Ferretti (former librettist of famous Rossini operas), is based on the novel Golzalve de Cordoue, ou Grenade reconquise by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian and the libretto that Luigi Romanelli drew from it for Giuseppe Nicolini’s opera Abenamet e Zoraide.
The story takes place in the Moorish kingdom of Granada, Andalusia. Almuzir has killed the city’s king by usurping his throne and would like to marry his daughter, Zoraida, who, however, loves Abenamet, head of the aristocratic Arab clan of the Abencerragi, dearly. Almuzir then sets a trap for his rival. Having declared war on the Spaniards, he entrusts the command of his army to Abenamet, ordering him to return with the flag. But by deception, Almuzir causes the flag to fall into the hands of his enemies. When Abenamet, though victorious over the Spaniards, returns to Granada without the kingdom’s flag, Almuzir accuses him of treason and has him sentenced to death. At this point, Zoraida resigns herself to agree to a marriage with Almuzir, obtaining Abenamet’s life in return. Once free, the latter, sensing what the price of his pardon was, rebukes Zoraida for her infidelity. But the leader of Almuzir’s guards, Ali Zegri, surprises the conversation between the two lovers: Abenamet manages to escape, Zoraida is captured, brought before Almuzir, accused of treason and condemned to be burned at the stake, unless a warrior willing to uphold the woman’s innocence in a duel shows up. An unknown knight shows up at the scene of the fight, challenges Ali Zegri, defeats him, forces him to confess Almuzir’s treacherous plots, and finally reveals himself: he is, of course, Abenamet incognito. On hearing the truth, the enraged people would like to carry out summary justice on the king, but Abenamet defends him, thus saving his life. Impressed by such nobility of spirit, Almuzir repents of his hateful machinations and renounces Zoraida’s hand in favor of his rival. The pair of lovers is reunited and the opera ends with their marriage and Abenamet’s rondo of jubilation.