Maria di Rohan Ricordi Opera Vocal Score Series Vocal Score based on the Critical Edition by Gaetano Donizetti Voice - Sheet Music

Brent S.

Maria di Rohan

Maria di Rohan; for Lord of the Rings fans, has nothing whatsoever to do with anything dealing with Rohan. Actually the score was well printed and designed, and again a critical edition of a score that was not at all familiar to me. I do have a recording of Maria di Rudenz (and some of the finales from Maria Stuarda are also used in it) but this opera was totally unknown to me except as a mention in Donizetti's operas. The score is very interesting, and the music is quite dramatic at times. How one would stage it, I am not quite sure. Still, it gives a very valuable look into Donizetti's progression as a composer, and again his willingness to alter things, even when it was totally against his conceptions (as was the case with the finale from Lucezia Borgia). I guess singers and managements had great pull. Like many forgotten operas from various composers this opera actually probably would be a forgotten and often-times maligned gem. It is true that some operas that are forgotten really should remain forgotten, or at least revived once to see what it as all about, but this opera is NOT such a work. It really is a gem. Now I am judging it from a piano vocal score, and have not scanned an orchestral score, but Donizetti was a master orchestrator, which he learned from one of his teachers, Mayr whose Medea in Corinto is a really dramatic work though completely different from Cherubini's Medee. There are many very subtle accompaniments in the score to very heart-rending sections, and from the piano score seem nearly barely accompanied, but I am certain the orchestration would only enhance the emotional quality the scenes are conveying. Excellent buy, and a well-bound edition, and super clear print.