Le comte Ory

Le comte Ory is an opéra written by Gioachino Rossini in 1828. Some of the music originates from his opera Il viaggio a Reims written three years earlier for the coronation of Charles X. The French libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson adapted from a comedy they had first written in 1817.

The work is ostensibly a comic opera in that the story is humorous, even farcical. However, it was devised for the Opéra rather than for the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique and there are structural inconsistencies with the contemporary opéra comique genre: whereas the latter consists of relatively short lyrical numbers and spoken dialogue, Le Comte Ory consists of "highly developed, even massive musical forms linked by accompanied recitative. Although the opera contains some of Rossini's most colorful orchestral writing, the quaint, brief overture is oddly restrained and unassuming, ending with a whisper of pizzicato strings.

Performance history

File:Rossini - Le comte Ory - dernière scène - Cela doit se taire - Dubois del et sculp.jpg

Le compte Ory, final scene

It was first performed on 20 August 1828 at the Salle Le Peletier by the Paris Opera. It was given in London at the King's Theatre in Italian on 28 February 1829, in New Orleans at the Théâtre d'Orléans on 16 December 1830 and in New York on 22 August 1831.

The opera is performed infrequently and, between 2008 and 2013, it stands at number 165 with 19 performance runs as listed on Operabase.com. That number was increased in April 2011 when the opera received its premiere performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The cast included Juan Diego Flórez, Diana Damrau and Joyce DiDonato, singing in a new production directed by Bartlett Sher. In 2013, that production was revived with Diego Flórez repeating his role, but with a different supporting cast.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 20 August 1828 (Conductor: François Habeneck)
Count Ory	tenor	Adolphe Nourrit
Tutor	baritone	Nicolas Levasseur
Isolier	mezzo-soprano (en travesti)	Constance Jawureck
Raimbaud	baritone	Henri-Bernard Dabadie
La Comtesse Adèle	coloratura soprano	Laure Cinti-Damoreau
Ragonde	mezzo-soprano	Augusta Mori
Alice	soprano
1st Knight	tenor	Alexis Dupont
2nd Knight	tenor	Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol
3rd Knight	baritone	Henri-Bernard Dabadie the younger
4th Knight	baritone	Ferdinand Prévôt
Chorus of Ory's men, ladies, crusaders, peasants

Synopsis

Time: Circa 1200, during the Crusades

Place: Touraine

Act 1

The countryside before the castle of Formoutiers

The lords and men of Formoutiers have been away on a crusade. Count Ory, who is in love with the countess Adèle, takes advantage of the situation. Hoping to win her hand, he disguises himself as a hermit aided by Raimbaud, his friend. Raimbaud announces that a wise hermit will visit the village to offer advice on matters of the heart. The castle is filled with women waiting for their husbands to return from the crusades. Ory's page Isolier is in love with the countess. Isolier confides his love to the "hermit" (Count Ory in disguise) and explains his plan to sneak into the castle disguised as a female pilgrim.

The countess consults the hermit about a cure for her melancholia. He proposes that she fall in love, which she promptly does, with Isolier. The "hermit" warns her not to trust the page. Everyone is shocked when the Tutor reveals Ory's identity. The countess receives a letter announcing her brother's return.

Act 2

A large room in the castle

The countess and her attendants admit a group of female pilgrims awaiting their husbands' return from the crusade. This time the pilgrims are actually Ory and his men in disguise. Ory's new disguise is as "Sister Colette." Missing something to drink with dinner, Raimbaud breaks into the castle wine cellar and returns with enough for everyone. They toast the countess's absent brother. Isolier recognizes Ory and reveals his identity to Adèle. Isolier also tells the waiting women that their husbands will be back by midnight.

After everyone is in bed, Ory enters countess Adèle's room. He woos her, not realizing in the dark that it is Isolier's hand he is holding. The men return from the crusade. Isolier reveals himself and helps Count Ory escape from the castle.

Recordings

Year	Cast: Le Comte Ory La Comtesse Adèle Isolier Ragonde Raimbaud Le Gouverneur	Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra	Label
1956	Juan Oncina Sari Barabas Cora Canne-Meijer Monica Sinclair Michel Roux Ian Wallace	Vittorio Gui Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra and Chorus	Audio CD: Urania Cat: WS 121109; EMI (2 LPs) Cat: RLS 744 (mono)
1959	Michel Sénéchal Sari Barabas Cora Canne-Meijer Monica Sinclair Robert Massard	Vittorio Gui Orchestra and Chorus of RAI Torino	Audio CD: Arkadia Cat: MP 458.2; Living Stage Cat: LS 4035130
1979	Rockwell Blake Ashley Putnam Faith Esham Jane Shaulis David Holloway	Imre Palló New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Live Recording of a performance at the New York City Opera, September)	Audio CD: Celestial Audio Cat: CA 368
1988	John Aler Sumi Jo Diana Montague Raquel Pierotti Gino Quilico Gilles Cachemaille	John Eliot Gardiner Orchestre et choeur de l'Opéra de Lyon	Audio CD: Philips Classics Cat: 422 406-2
1995	William Matteuzzi Sumi Jo Marie-Ange Todorovitch, Nadine Chery, Jean-Luc Chaignaud, Gregory Reinhart	Evelino Pidò Orchestre Européen du Festival Choeur du Festival, Aix-en-Provence (TV recording from Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, July 1995) Stage directed by Marcel Maréchal	TV live broadcast (France 2)
1997	Marc Laho, Annick Massis, Diana Montague, Jane Shaulis, Ludovic Tézier, Julien Robbins	Andrew Davis London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus (Video recording of a performance at the Glyndebourne Festival, July) stage directed by Jérôme Savary	DVD: NVC Arts Cat: 0630 18646-2; Kultur Cat: D 2983
2002	Huw Rhys-Evans Linda Gerrard Luisa Islam-Ali-Zade Luca Salsi Gloria Montanari Wojtek Gierlach	Brad Cohen Czech Chamber Soloits, Brno Czech Philharmonic Choir, Brno (Live recording from Rossini in Wildbad, July)	Audio CD: Naxos Cat: ? (2007)
2003	Juan Diego Flórez Stefania Bonfadelli Marie-Ange Todorovitch Bruno Praticò Marina De Liso Alastair Miles	Jesús López Cobos Orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Bologna Coro da Camera di Praga (chorus master: Lubomír Mátl (Live recording at Teatro Rossini, from Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro, 10,13,16,19, 22 August,[1]) Stage directed, designed by Lluís Pasqual	CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: ?
2011	Juan Diego Flórez Diana Damrau Joyce DiDonato Stéphane Degout Susanne Resmark Michele Pertusi	Maurizio Benini Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus Stage directed by Bartlett Sher (HD Live from The Metropolitan Opera, 9 April 2011) HD Theatrical release Met Opera website of past Met-in-HD performances	DVD: Virgin Classics, Cat: ?

References

Notes

Cited sources

• Gossett, Philip; Brauner, Patricia (2001), " Le comte Ory " in Holden, Amanda (ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4
• Osborne, Charles (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, London: Methuen; Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0931340713

Sources

• Osborne, Richard (1990), Rossini, Ithaca, New York: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-088-5
• Osborne, Richard (1998), "Le comte Ory", in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. One, p. 913. London: MacMillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
• Osborne, Richard (2004), "Rossini's Life", in Emanuele Senici, (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Rossini, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00195-1.
• Toye, Francis, Rossini: The Man and His Music, Dover Publications, 1987. ISBN 0-486-25396-1 ISBN 0-486-25396-1,

External links

• List of performances of Le comte Ory on Operabase.