Performance History
The opera has only been rarely performed since 1882.
However, there was a major revival of the Italian version at the 1959 Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, after conductor Thomas Schippers discovered the score, reworked it by removing most of Salvi's additions and reconstructing the final acts himself from Donizetti's notes. Schippers also returned 'Spirto Gentil' to its original place in the opera. The Spoleto production was directed by Luchino Visconti who used restored sets from the 1882 premiere.
Schippers presented the United States premiere of the work later that year under the umbrella of the American Opera Society at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on 15 October 1959. The Schippers version with the Visconti production was revived at the 1992 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.
In October 1982 Opera Orchestra of New York gave a concert performance of a version of the opera with Matteo Manuguerra in the title role. It was recorded, as was a 2007 concert performance given by the Orchestra national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon.
In May 2012 Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp and Ghent presented the first performances of the original French opera in a four-act version completed with additional music by Giorgio Battistelli; the conductor was Paolo Carignani.
Read more about this topic: Le Duc D'Albe
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