Esmeralda (Battista)

For the 1836 opera by Louise Bertin, see La Esmeralda (opera).
For the 1883 opera by Arthur Goring Thomas, see Esmeralda (opera).
Cover of the score of Esmeralda (1856)

Esmeralda is an 1856 grand opera in four acts with a score by the Italian composer Vincenzo Battista. With a libretto in English by Charles Jefferys,[1] it was based on Battista's Italian version Ermelinda (1851),[2] which in turn was based on Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

In 1851 in Naples in Italy Battista was at the height of his fame and powers. He had already staged a number of operas at the prestigious Teatro di San Carlo including Margherita d'Aragona (1844)[3] with the soprano Fanny Goldberg, the tenor Gaetano Fraschini and the baritone Filippo Coletti. His opera Rosvina de la Forest (1845) was commissioned by La Scala in Milan.

Cover of the score for Ermelinda (1851)

To a libretto in Italian by Domenico Bolognese (1919–1891) he composed the score for Ermelinda (1851), which in turn was based on Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. The opera opened as Esmeralda at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 30 June 1856 under the musical direction of J. H. Tully[4] and with a libretto in English by Charles Jefferys.[1]

  1. ^ a b F. Boase. Modern English Biography, 6 vols. (1892–1921)
  2. ^ Esmeralda : dramma lirico in 4 atti, Library of Congress online
  3. ^ Vincenzo Battista, Opening Night! - Stanford University Libraries
  4. ^ Full text of Esmeralda (1856), Esmeralda: Published by Charles Jefferys, 21, Soho Square, London (1856) - Google Books