Don Bucefalo
| Don Bucefalo | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Antonio Cagnoni | |
Cover of the piano-vocal score published by Ricordi in the 1890s
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| Librettist | Calisto Bassi |
| Premiere | 28 June 1847 Milan Conservatory |
Don Bucefalo is an opera (dramma giocoso) in three acts composed by Antonio Cagnoni to a libretto by Calisto Bassi. Bassi's libretto was based on Le cantatrici villane by Giuseppe Palomba (fl. 1765-1825), originally intended for Valentino Fioravanti and premiered in 1799. Don Bucefalo premiered on 28 June 1847 at the Milan Conservatory.
After the success of Don Bucefalo at the Conservatory in Milan, the opera was next performed at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon (1 January and 11 February 1850), the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (23 January 1853), the Cannobiana theatre in Milan (now the Teatro Lirico (Milan)) (7 November 1854), the Teatro Regio (Parma), 4 January 1860 and 4 February 1860, an unsuccessful reprise (28 April 1860) in Milan, Bergamo's Teatro Donizetti (previously the Riccardi di Bergamo) (25 August 1860), The Provisional Municipal Theatre (Teatro Comunale) of Catania (22 January 1865), Comédie-Italienne in Paris (9 November 1865) and the Solís Theatre di Montevideo (19 June 1873). Subsequently, the opera disappeared, but in July 2008 it reappeared at the Festival della Valle d'Itria. More recently, Don Bucefalo appeared at the Wexford Festival Opera in October 2014.
At a cafe, Don Bucefalo, a music master, encounters some peasants who sing in praise of the harvest. He promises that his singing lessons will improve their lot. One of the peasants is Rosa, whose husband, Carlino, has apparently been killed in the war. She hopes to study singing and to become the spouse of Count Belprato. Don Marco, Rosa's neighbour, also loves her, and she and her friend, Agata, discuss Don Bucefalo and the opera which he plans to stage. A soldier (Carlino in disguise), arrives hoping to find Rosa. He hears her having a music lesson in her house with Don Bucefalo, and wonders whether she still loves him. Outside her house, the men of the village are jealous, while the women are envious.
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