Koukourgi Explained
Koukourgi is a 1792 French-language comic opera by Luigi Cherubini to a libretto by Mélesville père, which was not performed in Cherubini's lifetime. The music was laid up for nearly forty years till four numbers were re-used in Ali Baba; ou, les Quarante Voleurs of 1833, to a libretto by Mélesville fils, Eugène Scribe, and with additional new music by the then elderly Cherubini.[1] [2] The opera was reconstructed and premiered in celebration of the composer's 250th anniversary at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt in 2010.
Recording
- DVD sung in French, with dialogues in German : Stefan Cerny, Cigdem Soyarslan, Leonardo Galeazzi, Daniel Prohaska, Peter Edelmann, Kärtner Sinfonieorchester, Peter Marschik, directed Josef E. Köpplinger. Arthaus Musik, 2010
Notes and References
- Revue de musicologie 1994 - Volume 80 - Page 214 "For the reworking of four numbers from Cherubini's Koukourgi as Ali-Baba see Arnold Jacobshagen, « Koukourgi (1792-1793) : à propos d'un opéra comique inconnu de Luigi Cherubini », Revue de musicologie, 78 (1992), 257-287. 16."
- Dictionnaire lyrique ou histoire des opéras Félix Clément, Pierre Larousse - 1869 ALI-BABA ou LEs QUARANTE voLEURs, opéra en quatre actes précédé d'un prologue, paroles de Scribe et Mélesville, musique de Cherubini, représenté à l'Académie royale de Musique, le 22 juillet 1833
