Parisina is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in four acts by Pietro Mascagni. Gabriele D'Annunzio wrote the Italian libretto after Lord Byron's poem Parisina of 1816.
Unfortunately Mascagni’s fear of the length of the opera was well founded. The opera, in four acts, lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes, which was far too long for the Italian public and critics. The length was condemned by Giovanni Pozza, the most influential Italian critic, in his comment on the first performance. After mentioning the numerous qualities in the work he wrote:
Inordinate length: if this flaw is not set to rights, it could only weigh down on Parisina’s sound. Independent of any judgement on the intrinsic value of the new opera, the Maestro’s most fanatic advocate must express one hope: cut, cut, cut! We will hear the 3 act cut version during the broadcast.
It was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on December 15, 1913.
Cast:
Parisina – Denia Mazzola
Ugo – Vitali Taraschenko
Stella – Tea Demurishvilli
Nicolo – Vladimir Vaneev
Enrique Diemecke – conductor
Recorded Live on Radio France - 1999