IL FURIOSO NELL’ISOLA DI S. DOMINGO

Cast

Conductor Alessandro Palumbo
Director Manuel Renga
Set and costume designer Aurelio Colombo
Lighting designer Emanuele Agliati
Assistant director Sara Dho
Assistant set and costume designer Valeria Vago

Characters and performers

Cardenio Paolo Bordogna
Eleonora Nino Machaidze
Fernando Santiago Ballerini
Bartolomeo Valerio Morelli
Marcella Giulia Mazzola
Kaidamà Bruno Taddia

Donizetti Opera Orchestra
Maestro at the fortepiano Hana Lee
Accademia Teatro alla Scala Chorus
Chorus Master Salvo Sgrò

New production by Fondazione Teatro Donizetti

Synopsis

On the island of San Domingo, Cardenio has been living for some time. He has gone mad because of the infidelity of his wife Eleonora. He is cared for by a few islanders: Bartolomeo, his daughter Marcella and, albeit with great fear, the servant Kaidamà. Bartholomew is worried: Cardenio wanders around in violent fits of rage. Marcella, moved to pity, would like to give the unhappy man a basket full of food. But Kaidamà Bartolomeo's handyman servant, tries to dissuade her by telling her that he has just been attacked by the ‘furious’, who has mistaken him for his wife's seducer. At that juncture, Cardenio arrives, his beard unkempt, his clothes torn and his gaze lost in emptiness. Wandering, he recalls the pain of Eleonora's betrayal, just as she, who has been searching for her husband for years, is shipwrecked on the island by a storm. Fernando, Cardenio's brother, also disembarks in San Domingo, just in time to save Eleonora, whom the ‘furious’ tried to attack in an access of fury when he recognised her. The sight of Eleonora has awakened the demons lurking in Cardenio's conscience, who then, horrified by his own violent gesture, attempts to throw himself off a cliff. Fernando pursues him and saves him too. At this point the unpredictable happens. The strong emotions aroused by the encounter with his brother, the reappearance of Eleonora, the attempted murder and the foiled suicide have the effect of a shock: Cardenio comes to his senses, even though he still cannot forgive Eleonora; to put an end to all this suffering, he proposes that they die together; he forces Kaidam to hand over his pistols; he aims his own at his chest but is quickly disarmed. Eleonora then insists on suicide: if she cannot obtain Cardenio's forgiveness, she might as well die. He points the gun at himself and is about to pull the trigger when Cardenio, suddenly relieved of the oppressive pain that has been dominating him, convinced at this point by his wife's sincere repentance, approaches her, embraces her and declares himself ready to give her back all the love and serenity she once had.