Rossini’s carefree opera “Le comte Ory” is full of esprit and musical magic. The new production in January in Zürich is the first to use the critical edition from the complete works “Opere di Gioachino Rossini”.

Rossini’s penultimate opera, his last comedy, has always seemed a remarkable piece. Written not for the Opéra-Comique, but for the Opéra (hence sung from beginning to end), it was a petit opéra, without ballet, but allowing for the performance of an independent ballet on the same evening. That Le comte Ory is in part (mostly in Act I) dependent on compositions borrowed from Il viaggio a Reims has long been known, although the nature of that derivation has been uncertain, but Rossini inserted these pieces brilliantly in the new context. In any form, however, Le comte Ory is a masterwork of Gallic charm and musical wizardry. It was regularly performed for some forty years at the Opéra.

The story takes place near and in the castle of Formoutiers in the Touraine region of France. The knights of the castle, including the brother of the beautiful Countess (soprano), have been gone for five years at a crusade in Palestine. During that time, the women vowed not to allow any man access to their home. They failed to take into account the persistence of the notorious Count Ory (tenor). In Act I Ory and his followers pretend to be hermits and Ory tries to gain access to the Countess. But his plot is foiled because of the protests of Ory’s preceptor (bass) and his page, Isolier (mezzo-soprano). Isolier, himself in love with the countess, reveals to the “hermit,” whom he at first does not recognize, a plan to gain access to the castle: the knights should dress as women pilgrims and beg entrance. In Act II they attempt this ruse, and they turn themselves from knights to women pilgrims and back again (one of Ory’s followers, Raimbaud, in particular, discovers a cache of wine bottles). Finally, as “Sister Colette,” Ory assails the virtue of the Countess, but he is prevented by Isolier. The Trio in which a man (Ory), dressed as a woman, thinks he is making love to a woman (the Countess), but is actually making love to a woman dressed as a man (Isolier) is particularly delicious. The opera concludes with the return of the crusaders and the departure of Ory and his men.

All editions of Le comte Ory available until this preliminary new edition, prepared by the French scholar, Damien Colas, were made from the terrible edition of the opera published by Troupenas in Paris in 1828. Although Troupenas was Rossini’s publisher he did a miserable job in producing scores of the composer’s operas. With Guillaume Tell, for example (as Elizabeth Bartlet demonstrated in her critical edition), Troupenas mixed up various layers of the work and produced a monster that was neither what Rossini had written nor what was performed at the Opéra. In Le siège de Corinthe, Troupenas confused several states of the opera, so that the chorus of Greeks sing at one point, although they are already dead!

With Le comte Ory, Troupenas’s score is filled with mistakes. Many have to do with performance practice: the new edition will include metronomic indications taken from early manuscript copies, drastic dynamic changes, and accurate articulation. The critical notes will include early ornamentation found in parts for the Count and the Countess. But Troupenas seems to have intended his score for a provincial opera house that couldn’t perform the music Rossini wrote. The publisher saved additional money by reusing the same plates where he could, even if this meant compromising Rossini’s ideas.

How do we know this? The new edition, of course, uses the only surviving autograph manuscripts (the opening orchestral introduction and a sketch for it and the Trio), and consults the critical edition of Il viaggio a Reims for pieces borrowed from that opera. Mostly, however, the edition is based on original performing materials: the score located in the archives of the Opéra is its primary source (Rossini personally wrote several things into this score); ultimately this score will be checked carefully against all individual performing parts and against the Troupenas score (for there are copying mistakes in the Opéra manuscript). The version of this edition is the version Rossini himself prepared and performed at the Opéra in 1828. This is also the only edition to integrate stage directions from the original printed libretto and to pay close attention to the words (particularly important where different groups must use different texts.)

We have included music cut in performances in Paris (no one knows for certain when these passages were cut). This music is always marked with “Vi-de”s in the new edition and can be eliminated if so desired: the “Vi-de”s are clearly marked in the score, and alternative versions within orchestral parts allow the cuts to be made.

In the published score, a series of Appendices will feature: 1) the elaborate sketch Rossini prepared for the Act II “Trio”; 2) several passages Rossini cut or modified before fully orchestrating them; 3) additional stage effects added for the performances at the Opéra in 1828, probably not by the composer; 4) two passages whose “revised” versions could not be accommodated by “Vi-de”s: the Finale I (as published by Troupenas with a smaller number of voices) and the repetition of the cabaletta theme in the Duet for the Count and the Countess; 5) a different Cavatina for the Countess, taken from Rossini’s Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra, introduced subsequently by various singers.

The most important structural changes are the following.

N. 1. INTRODUZIONE
Measures 1-170 are based on Rossini’s autograph manuscript. The remainder of the Introduzione, borrowed from Il viaggio a Reims, is not altered structurally. Count Ory’s companion, Raimbaud, is known as Robert in this scene, since he is in disguise, as is the Count.

N. 2. Air du Gouverneur
Rossini originally planned to use as the first section of this aria the first section of the Aria Milord in Il viaggio a Reims, then decided to compose new music for Le Gouverneur. Every edition has the revised first section. The published score of this edition will include the version derived from Il viaggio a Reims in Appendix 2.
Several passages in the first section were cut early in the  history of the opera. They are marked “Vi-de” in the new score. In the tempo di mezzo, Rossini originally included mm. 169-202 of Le comte Ory, taken directly from Viaggio. Later (but we do not know when) it was decided to omit these measures in Le comte Ory. This passage, too, is marked “Vi-de” in the new score.
At some point the entire tempo di mezzo and cabaletta were omitted at the Opèra, but they were later reintegrated. We do not recommend this cut.

N. 3 Récitatif après le Duo

Notice the new text and vocal music added at mm. 2-7 for Raimbaud, with a brief response by Ory. Some of this music was entered in our primary source by Rossini himself.

N. 4. Air Comtesse

Rossini originally derived this Air from Il viaggio a Reims. In Paris an alternative air (see Appendix 5) was regularly sung, derived from Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilerra (Mathilde’s Cavatina, “Sento un interna voce”). A second alternative air was derived from Matilde di Shabran, but it had a more limited life span.
Originally Rossini employed more of his original Aria Folleville from Il viaggio a Reims for the Air Comtesse in Le comte Ory. It was then decided (perhaps by Rossini, perhaps by others) to abbreviate the piece. Two cuts were made: 41-67 and 73-123. The first passage is here marked with “Vi-de”s; the second cut is destructive and is not recommended.

N. 5. Final

There are significant changes in the vocal scoring. As Dr. Colas was able to demonstrate, Rossini derived this piece more directly from the famous Gran Pezzo Concertante for fourteen solo voices in Il viaggio a Reims, using thirteen solo voices throughout and adding two choruses (a male chorus for the Count, a mixed chorus for the Countess). This is essentially the form in which the Act I Final was sung in Paris. Troupenas reduced Rossini’s vocal scoring to seven soloists, probably to make the piece easier to perform in the provinces. This edition provides the reduced version as Appendix 4.


Act II: N. 6. Introduction

There are no structural changes, but there is one vocal-scoring problem. In the Troupenas edition, the Comtesse sends Ragonde to open the door for the “pilgrims”; from there until the end of the piece, the second solo part is sung by a Coryphée, but in the Paris score Ragonde continues to sing. She cannot both go to open the door and sing. We suggest that Ragonde continue singing and a member of the female chorus be sent to open the door. Appendix 3 includes stage effects for the storm in this Introduction from a performing part, but probably not by Rossini


N. 7. Duo

This piece is borrowed from Il viaggio a Reims (the duet for Corinna and the Cavalier Belfiore). Originally, it began with a strophe for the Countess (A), repeated immediately by Ory (A). In the repetition, the passage was repeated exactly, with the Countess adding a counterpoint to Ory’s repetition. At some point it was decided to shorten this repetition, with only a single statement of the theme, by the Countess, with Ory adding a counterpoint. This shortened version is given in Appendix 4.


NN. 8-11

All this music is new to Le comte Ory. Some Parisian cuts are marked with “Vi-de”s. In the principal source, Rossini entered several indications in his own hand in the Chœur (N. 8).


N. 12. Final

This piece has frequently been criticized because it is very short. We now know that, as Rossini originally planned it, the Final was longer by some 60 measures. The full version of the piece is presented in this edition, a notable change in the score. This original version was discovered and completed by Dr. Colas (not all parts from the longer version survive), but the shorter version can be performed by observing a lengthy “Vi-de.”

Philip Gossett
from [t]akte 2/2010