Anna Netrebko as Adriana and Piotr Beczala as Maurizio
Adriana Lecouvreur is a four-act opera by Francesco Cilea, set to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, and based on the play Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. It premiered in November 1902 at the Teatro Lirico in Milan.
Based on the life of the French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, the opera is more well-known for being very convoluted and confusing, with a very superficial plot, but its strengths lie in its music and arias. It follows the real-life romance between Adriana and Maurizio, the Count of Saxony, her rivalry with the Princess de Bouillon, and her sudden and mysterious death.
While the opera has never been incredibly popular, it has seen some revivals in recent times, with the title role becoming a favourite for divas in their prime. Some of the famous Adrianas of the 20th century include Montserrat Caballé, Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Mirella Freni, and Joan Sutherland, while famous 21st century performers of Adriana include Anna Netrebko and Angela Gheorghiu.
This work provides examples of:
- Adaptation Name Change: The opera changes the characters’ names to their Italian variants, namely Adrienne to Adriana and Maurice to Maurizio.
- Alto Villainess: The Princess de Bouillon is a mezzo-soprano role.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: The Princess de Bouillon, again.
- Big Brother Mentor: How Adriana sees her stage manager, Michonnet.
- BSoD Song: “Poveri fiori”, Adriana’s Act IV aria, can count as one.
- Cassandra Truth: Michonnet tries to warn Adriana not to meddle in the affairs of the nobles, which obviously goes unheeded.
- Cat Fight: Not necessarily a physical fight, but Adriana and the Princess de Bouillon sing a pretty vicious duet in Act III, which culminates in Adriana insulting the Princess when reciting a scene from the play Phèdre.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Prince de Bouillon is said to be keeping a powerful poison at the request of the government. Guess how Adriana dies in the end?
- Clingy Jealous Girl: The Princess is a major one.
- Costume Porn: Being set in 18th-century France, you can expect to see some
◊ pretty◊ gorgeous costumes◊, especially in traditional productions. - Died in Your Arms Tonight: Adriana dies in Maurizio’s arms in Act IV.
- Downer Ending: Of course. Adriana dies after being poisoned by the violets that the Princess de Bouillon gave her.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Played straight with the Princess de Bouillon, a mezzo-soprano role. Averted with Michonnet, a baritone, who is more bumbling and awkward.
- Flat Character: One common criticism is that the characters are quite stereotypical and not well-developed; ultimately, the success of a production of this opera relies on the singers.
- Flowers of Romance: Adriana gives Maurizio some violets as a token of romance.
- Historical Domain Character: Adrienne Lecouvreur, Maurice de Saxe, and Louise Henriette Françoise de Lorraine, who is simply called the Princess de Bouillon in the opera.
- Hope Spot: Adriana and Maurizio reunite in Act IV, the latter even expressing his desire to marry her. Of course, it’s at that moment when they discover that Adriana has been poisoned, and she dies in Maurizio’s arms.
- "I Am" Song: Adriana’s Act I aria “Io son l’umile ancella”.
- Ladykiller in Love: Maurizio is a playboy who is in love with Adriana, and even asks her to marry him in Act IV.
- Large Ham: Oh, so much. The title role herself is meant for sopranos with large voices, and while it has a rather low tessitura, it requires great vocal power and is quite challenging on a dramatic level, particularly during the death scene and “Recitation”; most sopranos who do take on the role only do so in their prime. Likewise, the Princess de Bouillon is quite a hammy mezzo-soprano role, requiring a pretty strong voice to sing it.
- Love Triangle: Adriana, Maurizio, and the Princess.
- Perfect Poison: Upon touching the poisoned violets, Adriana immediately feels ill, and moments after Maurizio enters her home, she shivers, becomes deranged, has a brief moment of lucidity, and then dies of the poison.
- Rags to Riches: Adriana Lecouvreur. Truth in Television, too, since she was born to peasants and became a renowned actress in Paris.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The fiery, hot-tempered Princess is the red oni to the somewhat-cooler Adriana’s blue oni.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Maurizio.
- Shout-Out: In Act III, Adriana recites a scene from Phèdre, a French tragedy by Jean Racine.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Adriana and Maurizio.
- Tenor Boy: Maurizio, though his voice is a bit more dramatic.
- Uptown Girl: Gender-inverted, with the wealthy noble Maurizio in love with peasant-born stage actress Adriana.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The whole opera is based on the life of the French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur, namely her romance with Maurice, Count of Saxony, and her mysterious death. It has been theorized that the Duchess of Bouillon (the Princess) was the one to poison her out of jealousy for her romance with Maurice, though it’s been unconfirmed in reality.
- Willing Suspension of Disbelief: Despite being part of the verismo movement, the opera is very confusing to follow, and the death-by-poisoned-violets is the least realistic plot device in verismo. It's important that one just focuses on the beauty of the music, rather than focus on the plot too much.
