Rossini Le Comte Ory
Plot Synopsis and Cast of The Count Ory, French Two-Act Comic Opera
Nov 14, 2007
Gioachino Rossini's opera Le Comte Ory (The Count Ory), a comic opera in two acts, is Rossini's last farsa comica (comic opera). It is inspired by medieval ballad in which knights end up seducing nuns.
- Composer: Gioachino Rossini (February 29, 1792 – November 13, 1868)
- Libretto: Eugène Scribe and Charles Gaspard Delestre-Poirson. Based on a one-act play, derived from a medieval legend set down by Pierre Antoine de la Place.
- Language: French
- First Performance: Paris, Opéra, August 20, 1828.
- Setting: France, circa 1200.
Originally, Eugène Scribe and Charles Gaspard Delesstre-Poirson offered Rossini a one-act play in which a knight dresses as a nun to seduce a countess. Rossini asked for another act to be added, producing this two act opera. Le Comte Ory was popular, being accounted to wonderful and entertaining arias and choruses.
Characters in Le Comte Ory ('The Count Ory')
- Raimbaud, the Count's friend (bass)
- Tutor of the count (bass)
- Count Ory, a noble French (tenor)
- Adèle, Countess of Formoutiers (soprano)
- Isolier, the Count's Page (mezzo)
Plot Summary (Synopsis) of Le Comte Ory ('The Count Ory')
Act 1
Scene: Countryside before the castle of Formoutiers
The lords and men of the Formoutiers were away on a crusade. Count Ory, who is in love with the countess Adèle, takes advantage of the situation. Hoping to win her hand, he disguises himself as a hermit aided by Raimbaud, his friend. Raimbaud announces that a wise hermit will visit the village to offer advice on matters of the heart. The castle is filled with women waiting for their husbands to return from the crusades. Ory's page Isolier is in love with the countess. Isolier confides his love to the "hermit" (Count Ory in disguise) and explains his plan to sneak into the castle disguised as a female pilgrim.
The countess consults the hermit about a cure for her melancholia. He proposes that she falls in love, which she promptly does, with Isolier. The "hermit" warns her not to trust the page. Everyone is shocked when the Tutor reveals Ory's identity. The countess receives a letter announcing her brother's return.
Act 2
Scene: A large room in the castle
The countess and her attendants admit a group of female pilgrims awaiting for their husbands' return from the crusade. This time the pilgrims are actually Ory and his men in disguise. Ory's new disguise is as "Sister Colette." Missing something to drink with dinner, Raimbaud breaks into the castle wine cellar and returns with enough for everyone. They toast the countess's absent brother. Isolier recognizes Ory and reveals to Adèle about him. Isolier also tells the women waiting for their husbands that they will be back by midnight.
After everyone is in bed, Ory enters countess Adèle's room. He woos her, not realizing in the dark that it is Isolier's hand he is holding. The men return from the crusade. Isolier reveals himself and helps Count Ory escape out of the castle.
Operas by Rossini
- Tancredi
- L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers)
- Il Barbieri di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)
- Guillaume Tell (William Tell)
- Il Signor Bruschino (Mister Bruschino)
- La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)
- Armida
- Mosè in Egitto (Moses in Egypt)
- Semiramide
Sources:
Opera by Alan Riding and L.D. Downer, DK (2006)
The Da Capo Opera Manual by Nicholas Ivor Martin (1997)
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