Stiffelio

A spiritual guide is confronted by his wife’s adultery: the struggle between body and soul is examined in this lesser-known work by Verdi that Debora Waldman and the Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne have restored to the stage.

Towards the end of the 1840s, Verdi entered his 30s with two consecutive masterpieces, Macbeth (1847) and Luisa Miller (1849). Their success provided him with a certain artistic freedom. So what new subject would he choose for his next endeavour? Few opera lovers know the answer, and with good reason: Stiffelio was withdrawn from public performance by the composer himself, despite the many beauties of a score to which he seemed particularly attached. The plot, drawn by Francesco Maria Piave from a contemporary play, seems to harken to the dramas of the Scandinavian school. The pastor Stiffelio, returning to his flock with his spouse Lina, discovers that she has betrayed him with another. The battle in his soul between the thirst for revenge and the desire to pardon inspired Verdi to compose some of his most beautiful pages. But the scandal of such an adultery, and the prospect of divorce paraded on the stage, provoked the ire of the censors. It would not be until 1992 that fragments of manuscript copies would be discovered in Verdi’s archives, finally allowing for the restoration of the original score. 

Coproduction Opéra national du Rhin, Opéra de Dijon
With the patronage of Crédit Agricole de Champagne-Bourgogne 

In partnership with 

Music Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto Francesco Maria Piave
Based on the play by Emile Souvestre & Eugene Bourgeois

Musical director Debora Waldman
Staging Bruno Ravella

Orchestre Dijon Bourgogne
Chœur de l’Opéra de Dijon

Sets and costumes Hannah Clark
Lighting Malcolm Rippeth
Movement Carmine De Amicis
Collaboration on sets and costumes Robin Husband

Stiffelio Stefano Secco
Lina Erika Beretti
Stankar Dario Solari
Raffaele Raffaele Abete
Jorg Önay Köse
Dorotea Julie Dey
Federico Jonas Yajure*
Extra :
Fritz Jean-Christophe Sandmeier*
Dame Véronique Rouge*

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^{* Artists from Chœur de l’Opéra de Dijon}