The Pirates (opera)

The Pirates is an opera by composer Stephen Storace with an English libretto by James Cobb. The work was partly adapted from Storace's 1786 opera Gli equivoci and is remarkable as affording one of the earliest instances of the introduction of a grand finale into an English opera.^[1] The work premiered at the Haymarket Theatre on November 21, 1792.^[2] The opera became a huge success and is considered by many music critics to be Storace's best composition. It was chosen as the starring prima buffa to be performed for King George III at the King's Theatre, London on 16 May 1794.^[3]

Roles^[4]

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, November 21, 1792
Don Altador	tenor	Michael Kelly
Don Gasparo	-	Richard "Dicky" Suett
Don Guillermo	-	Mr. Sedgwick
Blazio	-	John Bannister
Genariello	tenor	Charles Dignum
Sotillo	-	Ralph Wewitzer
Captain of the Guard	-	Mr. Cook
Cosmino	-	Mr. Phillimore
Captain of the ship	-	Mr. Benson
Donna Aurora	-	Anna Maria Crouch
Fidelia	-	Maria Bland
Fabulina	soprano	Nancy Storace
Marietta	-	Adelaide Du Camp

Musical numbers^[4]

Act I

"Overture" – The Orchestra
Chorus: "Thanks to the brisk and fav'ring gale" - chorus of sailors and lazzaroni
Air: "Of a vile lack of honesty Grumblers complain" - Genariello
Air: "Some device my aim to cover" - Altador
Duet: "Signor! Signor!" - Fabulina and Altador
Air: "Oh! the pretty creature!" - Blazio
Air: "Love, like the opening flower" - Aurora
Trio: "Past toils thus recompensing" - Guillermo, Aurora, Altador
Finale: "Peaceful slumb'ring on the ocean"

Act II

Trio: "To hear our suit do not refuse" - Aurora, Fabulina, Gasparo
Air: "There, the moon-silver'd waters roam" - Guillermo
Air: "A saucy knave who pass'd the door" - Fabulina
Air: "Oh dear! What shall I do?" - Blazio
Glee: "Let mirth and joy appear" - Fabulina, Marietta, etc.
Air: "Memory repeating" - Altador
Air: "In childhood's careless happy day" - Fidelia
Second Finale: "Unhand me, cowards, give me way" - Altador, etc.

Act III

Chorus: "To the vineyard's praise, the chorus raise" - chorus of vintagers
Air: "My rising spirits thronging" - Fidelia
Air: "As wrapt in sleep I lay" - Aurora
Air: "No more his fears alarming" - Fabulina
Chorus: "Our faith thus pledg'd, join hand to hand" - chorus and Guillermo
Air: "Scarcely had the blushing morning" - Altador
Duet: "The jealous Don won't you assume when you marry?" - Fabulina and Blazio
Air: "Careful the winding path explore" - Marietta
Trio: "We the veil of fate undraw" - Fabulina, Fidelia, and Altador
Trio: "Oh! softly flow thou briny tide - Fabulina, Fidelia, and Altador
Finale: "Now constancy its meed shall gain" -

Storace reused some of the music from his 1785 opera Gli sposi malcontenti in The Pirates.^[5]

Later productions

On 29 November 1827, the opera was revived at Drury Lane with the title Isidore de Merida. Most of Storace's music was retained but set to a new libretto, probably due to the original libretto's lack of publication.^[6]

References

^ Stephen Storace
^ Stephen Storace
^ Comprehensive Performances List
^ ^a ^b Cobb 1792.
^ Girdham, Jane (1997). English Opera in Late Eighteenth-Century London: Stephen Storace at Drury Lane. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-816254-5.
^ Girdham 2002.

Works consulted

Cobb, James (1792), The Songs, Duets, Trios, Chorusses, &c. In The Pirates, An Opera, In Three Acts, London: E. Cox
Girdham, Jane (2002), "Pirates, The", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press