Villi, Le (SC 60), No. 7: La Tregenda

Description

LE VILLI (THE FAIRIES) is an opera in two acts by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924). The libretto by Ferdinando Fontana is based on a short story of the same name by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. Going off to collect his inheritance, Roberto promises his bride-to-be, Anna, that he will return to her. When he fails to return, enchanted by a siren, she dies in his absence. Blaming Roberto for her death, her father invokes the Villi to wreak vengeance on him. The opera premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on May 31, 1884. In the Act 2 interlude La Tregenda (The Witches' Sabbath), the legend of the fairies, who induce the breaker of a woman's heart to dance himself to death, is depicted. Instrumentation: 2+Picc.2.2.2+CBsn: 4.2+2Cnt.3.1: Timp.Perc(2-4): Hp: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set).