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Francesco
Cilea (1866-1950)
 The
musical movement in opera known as verismo
(realism) went from 1875 (Bizet’s Carmen)
to about 1900 and possibly even later,
depending how your local music critic feels
about Puccini. In any event, Francesco Cilea
is one of Puccini’s contemporaries who
composed in that period. He is best
remembered, no doubt, for Adriana
Lecouvreur. It is not the only thing
he wrote, but that is what comes to mind. In
that respect, he shares the fate of other
Puccini contemporaries such as Ruggero
Leoncavallo (Pagliacci)
and Umberto Giordano (Andrea Chénier and Fedora)—all
remembered
for
only
one or two operas.
Cilea was born in Palmi in Calabria. He was
musically precocious and was sent to the San Pietro a Majella
conservatory in Naples. He was an
“honors” student, and his first opera—his
“graduate
thesis” at the conservatory, as it were—
was
Gina.
It was performed in 1889 at the conservatory
theater and attracted attention from a
publisher, who then commissioned a verismo
piece from Cilea. His career had begun. That
opera was La
Tilda. It played in 1892 in various
Italian venues and abroad in Vienna, but has
since become totally obscure; even the score
has been lost, so it cannot be accurately
recreated.
Other early works were performed elsewhere in
Italy (not Naples), including L’Arlesiana
in November of 1897 at the Milan Lyric
Theater. The libretto was by Arturo Leopoldo.
It includes the aria, il Lamento di
Federico, sung for the first time by
Enrico Caruso. The opera was not performed at
San Carlo in
Naples until 1930. That single aria from L’Arlesiana
is still popular and is often performed by
itself in concert. Adriana Lecouvreur, itself,
with libretto by Arturo Colautti, premiered in
Milan at the Teatro Lirica in November of
1902. Cilea’s last opera was Gloria,
with libretto by Arturo Colautti; it premiered
at La Scala
in Milan in April, 1907, directed by Arturo
Toscanini.
Cilea composed some instrumental music,
including a symphonic poem with text (1913)
dedicated to Verdi as well as a number of
works for the piano. After his last opera, he
became director of the Bellini conservatory in
Palermo and then the San Pietro a Majella
conservatory in Naples, a post he held until
he retired in 1936. Cilea appeared in public
even late in life; in February of 1950 he
received a grand ovation at the performance of
his Adriana
Lecouvreur at the San Carlo in
Naples. He
died in November, 1950 in Varazza in Liguria.
The conservatory in the city of Reggio
Calabria, not far from his home town, is named
for him.
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