Maria egiziaca

 ( Operas By Ottorino Respighi ) 

Maria egiziaca ( Saint Mary of Egypt) is an opera in a single three-episode act by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. The libretto, by Claudio Guastalla, is based on a medieval life of Saint Mary of Egypt, contained in the translation into the vernacular of the Vitae Patrum written by Domenico Cavalca.

The work was originally intended as a concert piece although it has been fully staged in some revivals. It was first performed at Carnegie Hall, New York City, on 16 March 1932. The first stage performance was at the Teatro Goldoni in Venice on 10 August 1932. Both the language of the libretto and the music employ archaism; Respighi's score contains stylistic echoes of Gregorian chant, Renaissance music and Monteverdi.

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Roles

+ !Role !Voice type !Premiere cast, 16 March 1932 Conductor: Ottorino Respighi
Maria	soprano	Charlotte Börner
Abbate Zosimo (Abbot Zosima)/Pilgrim	baritone	Nelson Eddy
Sailor	tenor	Alfredo Tedeschi
The leper	tenor
Second companion/Poor man	contralto	Myrtle Leonard
First companion/Blind woman/Voice of an angel	soprano	Helen Gleason

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Instrumentation Maria egiziaca is scored for the following instruments:

flute, oboe, 2 , bassoon, 2 French horn, trumpet, 2 , harpsichord (or piano), String section.

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Synopsis The prostitute Mary suddenly feels an overwhelming longing to travel to Jerusalem. Here she repents her sins and an angel tells her to go to the desert where she lives in prayer until old age. She is found dying by Saint Zosimas, who digs her grave with the help of a lion.

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Recordings

1980	Javora Stoilova, Nazzareno Antinori, Carlo Desideri	Ottavio Ziino, Orchestra and Chorus of Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia (Live recording at Respighi Festival, Assisi)	CD: Bongiovanni Cat: GL 2008-2 (published 1999)
1989	Veronika Kincses, Janos Nagy, Lajos Miller	Lamberto Gardelli, Choir of the Hungarian Radio and Television and Hungarian State Orchestra	CD: Hungaroton Cat: HCD 31118

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Further reading

• Del Teatro
• Waterhouse, John C. G., " Maria egiziaca", in Holden, Amanda (ed.) (2001), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. p. 742.

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