Il giuramento

(This is the same source as Arrigo Boito, under the pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio, was to use for his libretto for Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda).

[1] Within a year, it was staged in Vienna (April 1838) and later appeared in many European cities including London (Her Majesty's Theatre 27 June 1840) and Paris (1858) and in New York (February 1848).

As has been noted by Colleen Fay, there were aspects of this work which moved Italian opera in a new direction: Its taut dramatic structure and vivid musical scene-painting set it apart from the operas of his day ... Not only do we hear in its music a reliable Italian lyricism, but also the early moves away from ornamentation for its own sake.

The opera was presented at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto in June 1970 with Thomas Schippers conducting.

[1] It was also given at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, Italy, in the summer of 1984, conducted by Bruno Campanella; this too was recorded and made available on CD.

Saverio Mercadante
Title page of the libretto, 1837