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LA RICONOSCENZA

CANTATA PASTORALE

Poetry by
GIULIO GENOINO

First public performance:
Naples – Teatro San Carlo
27 December 1821

Critical Edition by
PATRICIA B. BRAUNER

FONDAZIONE ROSSINI 2003

CHARACTERS:
ARGENE, soprano
MELANIA, contralto
FILENO, tenor
ELPINO, bass
Mixed chorus of shepherds and shepherdesses

The cantata is set in the pleasant countryside on the banks of the River Serchio, outside the walls of Lucca.

Instrumentation: 2 Flutes/2 Piccolos, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Harp, Strings

The libretto of La riconoscenza presents a pastoral playlet. The Duchess Maria Luisa is addressed in the opening lines of the Introduzione by two shepherdesses, Argenia and Melania, who express their gratitude to the sovereign for her beneficent reign. Arias for Argene and the shepherd Fileno bracket another duet for the two women and a trio for Argene, Melania and Fileno that is accompanied only by harp, woodwinds, and horns. A second shepherd, Elpino, has no solo numbers, but he participates in the recitatives and in the finale, a laudatory text for all four characters and the chorus.

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