Cappelli (ed. Crawford) - Capriccio sull' Opera Foscari for E-flat Clarinet and Piano

Giuseppe Cappelli - Capriccio sull' Opera Foscari for E-flat Clarinet and Piano, edited by Elizabeth Crawford. Capriccio sull’ Opera Foscari is Giuseppe Cappelli’s fantasy on themes from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera I due Foscari, a three-act lyric opera set to a libretto by Franceso Maria Piave and adapted from Lord Bryon’s five-act play The Two Foscari. The first performance took place on November 3, 1844, a the Teatro Argentina in Rome.

Opening music from Giuseppe Capelli’s Capriccio comes from the agitated string tutti of Act I, Scene 2, interspersed with cadenzas in the Eb clarinet. At measure 9, the Eb clarinet solo is a direct statement of Lucrezia’s plea to God for comfort, Ah, si confronto ai miseri! Lucrezia’s aria at bar 18, Tu pur lo sai, occurs in the Finale to Act I. Here she pleads with the Doge to do something to stop her beloved Jacopo from being condemned. His impassioned reply at bar 35, Oltre ogni umano cedere, begs her to console him in his misery for there is nothing he can do. Their duet from bar 50 concludes the andante section with Lucrezia’s role played by the E-flat clarinet and the piano contributing the voice of the Doge. Closing music to Cappelli’s Capriccio is a large choral number taken from Act III, Scene 1 where the piano is the voice of Jacopo as he bids farewell to his wife and father. The work concludes with original music by Cappelli. Published by Potenza Music.