World premiere: 24 January 1835, Théâtre-Italien, Paris
Premiere at the Bolshoi (Kamennyi) Theatre: 19 October 1839, Imperial Russian Opera Company, Saint Petersburg
Premiere of this production: 6 February 2024
Running time: 3 hours
The performance has one interval
"To make the listener 'weep, shudder, die' – this is how Vincenzo Bellini defined the essence of opera singing to the libretto Carlo Pepoli. In 1834 in Paris two Italians – a young ambitious composer and an emigrant poet – collaborated on the text for the opera I Puritani, drawing inspiration from the recently staged play by François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Boniface (known as Scribe), Têtes rondes et Cavaliers. This opera would become the final triumph of the prematurely departed bel canto master. On January 24, 1835 at the Italian Theatre in Paris, as Bellini wrote, 'the whole audience went mad, such noise, such shouts, it was astonishing to witness the temperament of the public.' This marked the start of I Puritani's stage history with a performance in St Petersburg as early as 1840.
I Puritani has everything to captivate the Parisian audience. The plot unfolds against a colorful historical backdrop: mid-17th century England during the civil war, where republican Protestants clash with Catholic royalists. The leading love pair comprises representatives of the warring factions: a soprano – a Cromwell supporter, and a tenor – a Stuart sympathizer. Their happiness hangs by a thread, the path to it thorny: alleged betrayal, escape, madness, arrest, death sentence, a storm; yet, in the nick of time, the authors rescue their protagonists, culminating in a happy ending. A brief synopsis of I Puritani brings to mind Bellini's famous aphorism: 'A good musical drama is something that makes no sense.' I Puritani is an excellent musical drama, where the plot provides the composer with emotionally intense situations. The music of I Puritani not only equals Bellini's previous masterpieces but also takes a step forward, touching upon the new genre of French grand opera. It features not only sublime vocal beauties but also a luxurious differentiated orchestra, powerful choral scenes, and continuous dramatic scene development. I Puritani is one of the most challenging operas to perform in the entire history of the genre. Composed for great voices, for the celebrated 'Puritan quartet' of Giulia Grisi, Giovanni Rubini, Antonio Tamburini, and Luigi Lablache, this music still demands from vocalists extraordinary virtuosity, mastery of the technique of Italian bel canto, and a vast range – just consider the extremely high notes of D and F for the tenor in the third act. The Mariinsky troupe has already demonstrated its prowess in other Bellini works – the operas I Capuleti e i Montecchi, La Sonnambula, Beatrice di Tenda, and Norma, performed in recent years at the Concert Hall of the theatre. Now, with I Puritani on the playbill, another major gem will adorn the Bellinian collection." – Khristina Batyushina
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