La Fattucchiera

La Fattucchiera is one of the most significant operas of the Hispanic romanticism. No other work, during the first third of the nineteenth century, reached such repercussion nor did it survive in the historiography maintaining at all times such high esteem. In his study on Spanish music, Rafael Mitjana regards La Fattucchiera as ‘a score worthy of esteem, which was very successful, the only demonstration coming from a talent not at all vulgar which became known in the best possible way’ 1. Vicente Cuyás, the composer, led the group of Spanish composers seduced by the Bellinistic aesthetics, whose was blessed with a large creative fantasy and a refined and delicate sensitivity. Virella Cassañes, a man who lived surrounded by Germanic tendencies, would still highlight the value of Cuyás’ opera in his study La Opera en Barcelona [The Opera…

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Notas

Mitjana, Rafael. Historia de la Música en España. (Enciclopedie de la Musique et dictionaire du conservatoire). Paris: Lavaignac, 1920 reedition by A. Alvarez Cañibano. Madrid: INAEM, p.433.

Virella Cassañes, F. La Opera en Barcelona. Barcelona: Establecimiento tipográfico de Redondo y Xumetra, 1888, p.117

Subirá, José. La ópera en los Teatros de Barcelona. Barcelona: ed. Millá, 1946, p.16-17.

Anglada, Mª Angels. Viola d’amore. Barcelona: Barcelona: ed. Millá, 1946, p.16-17

Arteaga y Pereira, Fernando de. Celebridades Musicales. Barcelona: ed. Seguí, 1886, p.565. Artegada assumes the date for the premiere of the work to be 17 July 1838.

Fargas y Soler, Antonio. "Biografía de los músicos más distinguidos de todos los países", in La España Musical. Barcelona: 1866, vol. I. p. 438; Balaguer, Víctor. "D. Vicente Cuyás. Biografía", in El Barcino Musical. Barcelona: June 28 1846. Balaguer’s biography is, in part, a result of Fargas’ articles.

Cuyás, Vicente. Sinfonía. Biblioteca-Museu Víctor Balaguer (Vilanova i la Geltrú), ms. 450

Cuyás, Vicente. Sinfonía segunda. Biblioteca-Museu Víctor Balaguer (Vilanova i la Geltrú), ms. 450

Cuyás, Vicente. Plegaria de los presos. Biblioteca-Museu Víctor Balaguer (Vilanova i la Geltrú), ms. 450

Cuyás, Vicente. Canción del Pelegrín. Biblioteca-Museu Víctor Balaguer (Vilanova i la Geltrú), ms. 450

Pedrell, Felipe. Diccionario Biográfico y Bibliográfico de Músicos y Escritores de Música españoles, portugueses e hispanoamericanos, antiguos y modernos. Barcelona: imp. Berdós, 1897.

Pedrell, Felipe. Op. cit.

Cuyás, Vicente. Duetto sobre letra del [sic] Sonámbula. Biblioteca-Museu Víctor Balaguer (Vilanova i la Geltrú), ms. 450

Id. Ibidem. Nota de Piqué y Cerveró.

Cuyás, Vicente. Coro. Biblioteca-Museu Víctor Balaguer (Vilanova i la Geltrú), ms. 450

According to the biography by Balaguer, the opera outlined by Cuyás Ugo conte di Parigi did not match the voices in the Italian opera company that was performing during the 1838 opera season in the Teatro de Santa Cruz. Balaguer, Victor. Op. cit.

The notes taken by to Piqué y Cerveró have to be taken with certain doubt with regard to Cuyás’ biography. On the cover page of ms.450 Piqué indicates that Cuyás wrote La Fattucchiera in 1838 at the age of 20 which would implicate that Cuyás was born in 1818. On this same note he assures that his father died during the writing of the opera while all other sources from the Barcelonean press insist he died during the last rehearsals, this being in the month of July.

Diario de Barcelona, March 12 1839

Museo de las Familias. Barcelona, tomo I, p. 47

Article signed with the pseudonym of Aben-Abulema. Diario de Barcelona, March 16 1839

Id. Ibid

Casares Rodicio, Emilio. "Cuyás i Borés, Vicente", en Diccionario Enciclopédico de la música Española e Hispanoamericana (in press).

Diario de Barcelona, July 23 1838.

Vid. Alier, Roger. L´òpera a Barcelona. Institut d´Estudis Catalans-Societat Catalana de Musicologia, 1990.

Balaguer, Víctor. "Vicente Cuyás", en El Barcino Musical. Barcelona, June 21 1846

Another article on the biography of Cuyás by Balaguer was published in La Gazetta Musical, Year II, nº 35, Madrid, August 31 1856, p.260.

La Gaceta Musical Barcelonesa, year III, nº 108. Barcelona: ed. Miguel Budó, p. 4.

Amadeo Verger showed great interest in reviving the cultural activity of the Liceo following the fire in 1861. Although the regular performances of the Liceo consisted in operas, he also included ballets, zarzuelas, plays, concerts and other varieties. Verger managed to improve the quality of the operatic performances and worked on improving the French repertory. Vid. Alier, Roger; Mata, Francesc X. El Gran Teatro del Liceo. Barcelona: ed. Francesc X. Mata, 1991, p. 39

La Gaceta Musical Barcelonesa, year III, nº 112, November 15 1863, p. 4.

Bretán, Marc-Jesús. El Gran Teatre del Liceu. Barcelona, p. 150-153. In 1863, a cruel and unfortunate press campaign began against Verger, who was considered the brother of a baritone, Napoleón Verger, who led important scenes in Paris. According to some, Verger’s intentions were to transform the Liceo into some sort of branch managed from Paris.

La Gaceta Musical Barcelonesa, year III, nº 112, November 15 1863, p. 4.

Subirá, José. La ópera en los teatros de Barcelona. Barcelona: ed. Milá, 1946, p. 15.

Piferrer, Pau. "La Fattucchiera", in El Guardia Nacional. Barcelona, July 26, 27 and 28 1838.

Id. Ibidem.

Id. Ibid. July 28 1838

Balaguer, Víctor. "Don Vicente Cuyás. Biografía", in El Barcino Musical. Barcelona, year I, nº 2, June 28 1846

Pedrell, Felipe. Op. cit. p. 467.

Arteaga y Pereira, Fernando de. Op. cit.

Diario de Barcelona, March 12 1839.

Black, John N. "The central finale in the libretti of Felice Romani", in Felice Romani. Melodrammi, poesie, documenti. Florencia: Leo S. Olschki, 1996, p. 183-202.

It must not be forgotten that Cuyás’ inconclusive opera, Ugo, conte di Parigi, was set to music by Donizetti in 1832, and it is probable that Cuyás would have obtained reference of the work.

Casares Rodicio, Emilio. Op. cit. The reminder of Weber, in this case, can only by in a casual sense: Der Freischütz no did not reach Barcelona until 1849, it is unlikely that Cuyás could have had any contact with the score.

La Fatucchiera. Melodrama in due atti. Da representarsi nel teatro dell´eccellentissima città di Barcelona, l´anno 1838. Barcelona: imprenta de Ignazio Estivill

Sommariva, Andrea. "Temi, occasioni, risonanze e imagini", in Felice Romani. Melodrammi, poesie, documenti. Florencia: Leo S. Olshki, 1996, p. 14

Roccatagliati, Alessandro. "Felice Romani, drammaturgo in musica. Caratteri e limiti della prescrizione libretistica nel proceso compositivo del melodramma italiano di primo ottocento", in Revista de Musicología, nº XVI-6, 1993, p. 3151

The libretto was published in Milán, by Luigi di Giacomo Pirola, 1832. (Vid. Black, John N. "The libretti of Felice Romani: a bibliographical survey", in Felice Romani. Melodrammi, poesie, documenti. Florencia: Leo S. Olschki, 1996, p. 240-241.

The libretto was published in Madrid: Imprenta de los Hijos de doña Catalina Piñuela, no date given.

Black, John N. Op. cit. p. 241.

Piferrer, Pau. Op. cit., July 28 1838.

Baldelló, Francisco de P. La música en Barcelona (Noticias históricas). Barcelona: Librería Dalmau, 1943, p. 38

Arlincourt, Charles Victor. El amor y la muerte, o, La hechicera. Novela heroica, traducida por A(ntoni) de G(ironella). Valencia: Imprenta de Cabrerizo, 1832. Other works by Romani were published in this same collection. Among them, La Estranjera, Spanish version of La Straniera, a version that reached a number of re-editions.

The opera Il Solitario by Hilarión Eslava, premiered in the teatro de Cádiz in June 1841 would originate from this source.

A name coincident with the Normandic locality of Saint Pair, in the region of Granville of the Canal of la Mancha. This place, where exists a church of the eleventh century, originated around the monastery of Scisciacum. The name is derived from the founder of the monastery, , San Paternus, bishop of Avranches. There is no castle in the vicinity. With regards to Gissor, situated in the French state of Eure, it is not an abbey but a famous ruined castle from the nineth century which played an important role in the wars against England in the twelfth century, contemporary to the time of the opera.

Leich-Galland. "La Magicienne" (1858), in Revista de Musicología, vol. XVI-6, p. 3171-3178. Inexplicably, the author omits the references to all Italian precedents with similar or identical argument.

The manuscript has the following dimensions: 200x315 mm., made up of horizontal booklets grouped in two acts. Separately, there is the material used for the bands on stage which all have different format and graphs. From now on the manuscript will be addressed as M-450. According to Subirá (Op. cit. p. 16) the material from La Fattucchiera was considered lost during a certain period of time and later found in Vilanova i la Geltrú by Antonio Capdevila. The Biblioteca-Museu, born by initiative of Víctor Balaguer, was founded thanks to funds provided by Balaguer himself and to a public call in order to obtain donations which would increment its capital. Piqué y Cervero donated Cuyás’ material in response to this campaign.

Pedrell, Felipe. Op. cit. p. 472

José Piqué y Cervero was born in Tudela. He was a composer and a musician of a regiment. He studied harmony with the teachers Monforte, Colomé, Maseras and Durán. At the age of fourteen he occupied the highest position of the first artillery regiment of Barcelona where he played the piccolo conducted by the senior musician Juan Grassi. In 1831 he began his studies in composition with José Maseras and Pablo Bofill. He later continued as a self-taught musician helped assisted by the peculiar compositional method of José Clariana, Geneuphonia from the Madrid Conservatory; he later studied with Ramón Vilanova, following the methods of the German Reicha and the Italian Asioli. He wrote the opera Ernesto Duca di Scilla which was performed in the Teatro Principal of Barcelona . He studied singing with the Catalans José Davesa and Manuel Testa, and also studied aesthetics applied to music with Francisco Javier Llorens i Barba, professor from the university of Barcelona. The biography published by Saldoni, was sent by Piqué himself in 1860 from Málaga, city in which he held the position of senior musician of the army before heading for the war in Africa. In 1865, he resigned as senior musician of the second regiment of Granaderos of the Guardia Real [Royal Guard], of Guadalajara, Valencia and Murcia, and in 1869 he still lived in Barcelona giving music lessons. (Vid. Saldoni, B. Diccionario Biográfico Bibliográfico de Efemérides de Músicos Españoles. Madrid: imp. Antonio Pérez Dubrull, 1881.)

Berlioz, F. Gran Tratado de Instrumentación y Orquestación. Traducido, recopilado y dispuesto para uso de los compositores españoles, by Oscar Camps y Soler. Madrid: imprenta de Manuel Linuesa, 1860.