The University of Cape Town in South Africa is set to make history with the world premiere of Gaetano Donizetti’s long-lost opera, “Dalinda”. The venue is the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town. The opera will run from September 4 to 8.
Composed in 1838, “Dalinda” was initially thought to be another version of Donizetti’s “Lucrezia Borgia”. It was later revealed to be an original. It had faced censorship in Naples before the disappearance of its manuscript. Last year, a concert version of the opera was presented in Berlin. The upcoming Opera UCT production, directed by Jeremy Silver, will be the first fully staged performance.
The event will mark the first full performance of the opera, which was rediscovered in 2019 and reconstructed.
It won’t be Silver’s first time working on a Donizetti, as he is well-known for conducting lesser-known Donizetti.
“We are incredibly excited and deeply grateful to have been selected to present the first full staging of Donizetti’s ‘Dalinda’,” he said. ‘This performance is not only an honour for us as an opera company but for the country too.’
The opera has some resonance with contemporary issues, as it delves into the tension between the private and public life of the eponymous character. The synopsis provided by the producers says, in part: “The infamous wife of a feared Muslim leader, daughter of an assassin-lord, and estranged mother to a Christian knight, she must use all her cunning to maintain the fragile peace while dealing with the consequences of her own desires.”
Donizetti’s works have been used and adapted on film and TV. And the composer himself was the subject of a 1947 biopic, The Life of Donizetti.
In Cape Town, the production of “Dalinda” will feature Molly Dzangare, Nontobeko Bhengu, and others, alongside the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. William Costabile Cisco assumes directing duties.
The producers of the opera are offering free seating to audience members under the age of 18.
