Sly (opera) - Performance History

Performance History

Sly was first performed at La Scala in Milan on 29 December 1927 with Aureliano Pertile and Mercedes Llopart. The latter was a last minute replacement for Margaret Sheridan who became ill days before the performance. Turin heard Sly in February 1928, before the run at La Scala was finished, with the great Nino Piccaluga in the title role and Valeria Manna as Dolly. Dresden and Hannover were the first German cities to hear it, during the autumn, while Nino Piccaluga and Gina Cigna sang it in Trieste.

During 1929 the work spread to Venice and Naples, with Carmelo Alabiso and Giuseppe Taccani respectively in the title role. The work started to disappear from Italian stages, but was widely performed in Germany and neighboring countries. Its German version remained in the repertory until the start of the second world war, being heard somewhere or other practically every year until then. Outside Germany and Italy it was also given in Antwerp, the Hague, Budapest and Riga.

It more or less disappeared for some years, but had a spate of revivals in Germany in the 1950s culminating with a performance in Hanover in 1982, which was repeated next year. Its first modern performance in Italian took place in Zurich, a city and theatre that have recently become famous for their productions and performances of adventurous repertory. The Zurich cast was headed by tenor José Carreras. Sly's United States premiere took place at the Washington National Opera in spring 1999, again with Jose Carreras. Also, there were productions at the Metropolitan Opera, New York in April 2002 and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.