LA CIOCIARA (Tutino) Cagliari 2017 Antonacci, Machado, Scandiuzzii

LA CIOCIARA by Marco Tutino
Teatro Lirico di Cagliari
November 24, 2017

CAST

Cesira: Anna Caterina Antonacci
Rosetta: Lavinia Bini
Michele: Aquiles Machado
Giovanni: Sebastian Catana
Fedor von Bock: Roberto Scandiuzzi
John Buckley: Nicola Ebau
Pasquale Sciortino: Gregory Bonfatti
Maria Sciortino/Una popolana: Lara Rotili
Lena/Una donna fuori scena: Martina Serra
Un ragazzo del popolo/Un uomo fuori scena: Enrico Zara
Tre soldati marocchini: Francesco Leone, Nicola Ebau, Michelangelo Romero
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Conductor: Giuseppe Finzi
Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari
Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari
Chorus Master: Donato Sivo
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Stage Director: Francesca Zambello
Stage Designer: Peter Davison
Costume Designer: Jess Goldstein
Lighting Designer: Mark McCullogh
Choreographer: Luigia Frattaroli
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La ciociara is an Italian opera in two acts by Marco Tutino (music) with a libretto by Marco Tutino and Fabio Ceresa, based on a story by Luca Rossi and the novel La ciociara by Alberto Moravia, which was made into a  famous film in 1960 with Sophia Loren in the leading role
It premiered on June 13, 2015, at the San Francisco Opera under the English title Two Women.

Plot
The opera takes place in Rome and the surrounding area during the last months of the Second World War .

First Act
First picture: Cesira’s shop in Trastevere , Rome

During the Allied siege, the widow Cesira and her sixteen-year-old daughter Rosetta are serving a few customers in their small shop, whom they have to convince of the increased prices. The black market dealer Giovanni brings new goods. He also demands more money, but is accommodating to Cesira and flirts with her. She asks him to help her escape to her homeland, the Ciociaria . Then a bomb scare sounds. Rosetta takes refuge in the cellar. Cesira tells Giovanni to follow her there, but he stops her and attacks her. He then forgoes part of his payment and promises to pick up the two women the next day in a car and take them to Fondi. They have to complete the rest of the journey on foot. When Rosetta returns, Cesira keeps quiet about what happened and instead raves about the good life in the countryside. She explains her tears by saying that they have to leave Rome.

Second picture: Sant’Eufemia

The two women arrive in Cesira’s home village of Sant’Eufemia in the mountains. Since the village square appears deserted, they take the opportunity to wash themselves in the fountain. The intellectual Michele, an anti-fascist and pacifist who has also fled to the mountain village, introduces himself to them. When he learns that the two have no shelter yet, he calls the villagers. At first, they refuse any help. But when Cesira lets it be known that she is wealthy, the young mother Lena offers them a room. The villagers complain about the hardship of life during the war. American bombers appear in the area, and everyone fears for their possessions and their lives. Michele points out that this is the price of their freedom. Rosetta sings a prayer for peace, which the others join in.

Third picture. The mountain

The villagers are gradually running out of supplies. Michele and Cesira have become friends. A wounded American soldier, Lieutenant John Buckley, seeks help in the village while fleeing the Germans. Most of the residents fear retribution for helping an enemy. They retreat. Only Michele, Cesira, and Rosetta are undeterred. They tend to John’s wounds and give him something to drink. John considers the three of them family. He, too, has a sixteen-year-old daughter back home. In case anything should happen to him, he gives them his watch and a letter as proof that they are his friends. After he has moved on, Cesira and Michele think of his words. They realize that their bond goes beyond friendship and kiss. Giovanni, now working for the Fascists, has followed the two women to Sant’Eufemia and witnesses the kiss. He threatens Michele and demands that Cesira return to Rome with him. A scuffle ensues, during which Cesira manages to wrest Giovanni’s weapon. A group of German soldiers arrives. Cesira and Michele manage to escape. However, Michele has to leave behind his backpack containing John’s letter and the watch. Giovanni takes it. He can then accuse his rival of treason.

Second Act
First picture: A lawyer’s house in Fondi

Michele, Cesira, and Rosetta seek refuge in the house of the lawyer Pasquale Sciortino, a friend of Michele’s father. Pasquale and his mother Maria welcome the three warmly. However, the German Major Fedor von Bock, who had already been informed about Michele by Giovanni, is also staying in their apartment and presents John’s letter to him as evidence. Shortly afterwards, Giovanni himself appears with two German soldiers and confirms that he found the letter on Michele. Michele is taken away. Giovanni sits down at the table with Cesira and once again demands that she move to Rome with him. Cesira firmly refuses and leaves the house with her daughter in outrage. Maria, who had not noticed the situation, unfazedly serves the meal.

Second picture: A church in Sant’Eufemia

Cesira and Rosetta have returned to Sant’Eufemia to find Michele. The village is virtually deserted. Only Lena, ragged and near mad, remains there, mothering a pile of rags instead of her small child. After she leaves, a group of marauding Franco-Moroccan soldiers emerges from the church and rapes the two women. At the same time, Giovanni, the major, and the German soldiers bring Michele to the village. Giovanni insists on condemning his rival as a traitor and shoots him himself. The abused women are oblivious. Cesira tries in vain to calm her daughter with a lullaby.

Third picture: Sant’Eufemia

After the war, the villagers celebrate their regained freedom. A singer performs the Neapolitan song La strada nel bosco . The relationship between Cesira and Rosetta is strained, and the latter flirts openly with the singer and other men. A group of US soldiers is greeted with joy. Among them is Giovanni, who has switched sides in time. When Cesira rejects him again, he tries to win Rosetta’s favor, who gladly accepts his gifts. Cesira intervenes and argues bitterly with her daughter, who now only wants to follow her own will and leaves with the singer. Deeply outraged, Cesira gives a speech in which she recalls her terrible experiences, accuses the villagers of cowardice, and compares them to Michele, who risked his own life to help others. Giovanni mockingly tells her that Michele was executed long ago. After Cesira has come to terms with this shock, she publicly accuses Giovanni of collaborating with the Fascists. He justifies himself by citing John’s letter, of all things, to prove that he saved an American soldier. At that moment, John himself appears and explains that it was not Giovanni, but Michele, Cesira, and Rosetta who saved him. The fact that Giovanni possesses the letter and his watch, however, proves that he himself murdered Michele. The mood of the angry crowd now turns against Giovanni, and he is beaten up. Cesira points out, however, that this will not bring Michele back to life and that it is time to end the horror. The villagers retreat, and John and the Americans also leave. Rosetta returns and only now learns of Michele’s death from her mother. She collapses in despair. Some children appear in the square to play war. Cesira and Rosetta reconcile and fall into each other’s arms.

Quoted from Wikipedia