# 20th century Italian Opera



## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

Many thinks that Italian Opera ended with Puccini and Mascagni (and the other composers roughly categorized under verismo) because they were the last italian operists which produced enduring successful Operas still staged and popular today.
In reality, while the Opera industry in Italy began an irreversible decline since around WW1 caused by social-economic issues, the Country still produced a big number of new Operas in the 20th century which never found enduring success on the level of sacred names like Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi or Puccini.
What's peculiar about these lesser known composers and Operas is that the italian national radio which began airing in 1925 (first known as EIAR and later renamed RAI) soon started airing live performances or studio executions of these now forgotten works which at the time were contemporary productions.
Interested in the subject years ago I began searching what Operas EIAR/RAI aired between 1930 and 1980 and what of these recordings still existed.
I found out that between the recordings known to exist and other performances not located yet there were at least 600 distinct Operas composed by at least 200 distinct composers during the 20th century in Italy.

I created a website with the list of recordings I own and a list of recordings which I'm still searching since they might exists due to EIAR/RAI airing them.
If anyone has one of the recordings I'm looking for please contact me through the Contact Form page, maybe we could do an exchange.

http://orfeovedovo.weebly.com


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Let us not forget Gian Carlo Menotti who was quite a prolific 20th C. composer.

Oops. I just noticed that he, indeed, was included in your list.
Apologies.


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## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

What a great list. Very well done. Amazing how many operas even as recent at the 20th century are almost unknown, perhaps unlikely to ever be performed. 

What are the hidden treasures in the list?

For me:
Wolf-Ferrari, I Gioielli della Madonna

I saw Sakuntala a couple of times last year, together with listening to a recording, but remain unconvinced.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

My favorite 20th century Italian opera is Sciarrino's "Luci mie traditrici", but is not even in the list...


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Don Fatale said:


> I saw Sakuntala a couple of times last year, together with listening to a recording, but remain unconvinced.


I love Sakuntala I think it is among the top five most beautiful operas for me and I would say have grown for me. Alfano's Il Dottor Antonio is also very beautiful.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Very thorough job, well-done Bardamu, lots to read.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

schigolch said:


> My favorite 20th century Italian opera is Sciarrino's "Luci mie traditrici", but is not even in the list...


He makes Italian sound oddly like Finnish (though probably not to a Finn).


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

schigolch said:


> My favorite 20th century Italian opera is Sciarrino's "Luci mie traditrici", but is not even in the list...


I wish she'd lay that egg and get it over with.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

nina foresti said:


> Let us not forget Gian Carlo Menotti who was quite a prolific 20th C. composer.
> 
> Oops. I just noticed that he, indeed, was included in your list.
> Apologies.


Well yeah, I didn't mean that after Puccini no italian composer attained successful Opera career, just nothing that could rival giants like Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini and Mascagni which might give the impression that italian Opera stopped suddenly in early 20th century which isn't the case at all.
Menotti as you cited but also Rota, Wolf-Ferrari, Dallapiccola and Sciarrino as cited by Schigolch are still often staged today while others like Zandonai, Montemezzi, Alfano which are less staged in these days had Operas so successful to be part of the repertoire in the past (Francesca da Rimini, L'amore dei tre Re, Risurezzione).



Don Fatale said:


> What a great list. Very well done. Amazing how many operas even as recent at the 20th century are almost unknown, perhaps unlikely to ever be performed.
> 
> What are the hidden treasures in the list?
> 
> ...


I appreciate more Wolf-Ferrari when he is tackling Goldoni, in particular my favorite is the Opera I quatro rusteghi.






There are two version of Alfano' Sakuntala.
The original which is titled La leggenda di Sakuntala (The legend of Sakuntala) and a new score, titled simply Sakuntala, that Alfano had to rewrite from memory because the original score was thought to be lost after the bombing of Ricordi archive during WW2.
However in early '00s the original score was rediscovered and The legend of Sakuntala was staged for the first time in its original form after many decades in Rome in 2006.






Just like Sloe I also keep in high regard La leggenda di Sakuntala.


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