Decameron Boccaccio - Ambrogiolo Act I (Scene 1)

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Decameron - Boccaccio Ambrogiolo Act I (Scenes 2-3)
Decameron - Boccaccio Ambrogiolo Act II

The Chamber Opera Ambrogiolo (from the opera collaboration DieciGiorni) is inspired by a tale from Giuseppe Boccaccio's Decameron, the seminal book marking the transition from the late Middle ages to the Renaissance.

The Decameron (literally the Ten Days) is composed of a hundred tales, told over a ten days period by ten fictional noble-men and -women, taking refuge from the Plague raging in Florence. Each day has a theme, and the tale I put in music is the ninth from day two: devoted to events which start badly but end up for the best.

Ambrogiolo, narrates a rather complex story: one of a husband (Barnabó) overconfident about his wife Zinevra's loyalty, of a treacherous man (Ambrogiolo) tricking him into believing that his wife is unfaithful, and the resulting tragedy of jealousy. The tale inspired Shakespeare's play Cymbeline, and it has such an array of characters, themes, and events that it could be tilted easily in different directions. I kept the story rather close to the original, but developed the characters further. Ambrogiolo is the unrepentant deceiver, and we see a little bit of his heart only when he encounters Zinevra. We come to know Barnabó as a limited man who does not understand the exceptional qualities of his wife; he can only brag about her. Zinevra is a feminist hero ahead her time: she can do anything, even become captain (in disguise) of a Sultan's guard. Her tragedy is that even that accomplishment is not enough to take her out of the social constraints that define her role.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Boccaccio
• Opera
• Classical