Fra Diavolo

Composer: AUBER, Daniel-François
  • The opera Fra diavolo was composed in 1830, with a libretto by Auber’s frequent collaborator Eugène Scribe (1791-1861) 1
  • Fra Diavolo combines drama (brigands, murder, star-crossed love) & comedy (bumbling sidekicks, goofy tourists)2
  • Story: exploits of bandit Fra Diavolo (“Brother Devil”) coincide with a star-crossed love story of peasant girl Zerline, and Lorenzo, the poor officer pursing Diavolo.3
  • Character of Fra Diavolo was based Michele Pezza, a real Italian robber who was legendary in Auber’s time.4

Sources

  1. Herbert Schneider, “Auber, Daniel-François-Esprit,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed July 11, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000001489.
  2. Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, Fra Diavolo, ed. Robert Ignatius Letellier (Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, 2011), ix, accessed July 11, 2019, https://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/58460.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Ibid.

Cut IDs

14685 40543