03 Feb 2008
ROSSINI: Ermione
Ermione: Azione tragica in two acts.
Ermione: Azione tragica in two acts.
Music composed by Gioachino Rossini. Libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola after Jean Racine’s Andromaque.
First Performance: 27 March 1819, Teatro San Carlo, Naples
| Principal Characters: | |
| Ermione [Hermione], daughter of Menelaus and Hélène, promised to Pyrrhus | Soprano |
| Andromaca [Andromaque], widow of Hector and captive of Pyrrhus | Contralto |
| Astianatte [Astyanax], son of Andromaque | Silent |
| Pirro [Pyrrhus], son of Achille, king of Épire (Ipiros) | Tenor |
| Oreste, son of Agamemnon | Tenor |
| Pilade [Pylade], friend of Oreste | Tenor |
| Fenicio [Phoenix], tutor to Achille and then to Pyrrhus | Bass |
| Cleone [Cléone], confidante of Hermione | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Cefisa [Céphise], confidante of Andromaque | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Attalo [Attalus], servant of Pyrrhus | Tenor |
Setting: Buthrot, city of Épire (Ipiros), in a room of Pirro’s palace.
Synopsis:
After having defeated the Trojans, Pirro returns to his country with numerous prisoners among which there is Andromaca and her child, Astianatte. Pirro breaks his promise to Ermione because of his love for Andromaca. Remaining faithful to the memory of Hector, Andromaca rejects his advances. Oreste, who has been sent to Buthrote by the Greek kings to demand that Pirro fulfill his duty, declares his love to Ermione. Yet Ermione, tormented by jealousy, seeks to regain the heart of Pirro. Ermione rejects Oreste and his demand for the death of Astianatte (so as to avoid inevitable revenge). But, Pirro, in the presence of the court and Ermione, asks Andromaca to marry him. Andromaca falsely consents to the wedding, but in reality she wants only to save her child. Humiliated, Ermione induces Oreste to kill Pirro. When Oreste shows her the bloody dagger, Ermione is horrified and calls the Furies upon him. Oreste, stunned and delirious, is dragged away by his companions to a ship.