| Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari |
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Operas
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I quatro rusteghi (The Four Curmudgeons, usually given as School for Fathers) is a comic opera in three acts, music by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari to a text by Luigi Sugana and Giuseppe Pizzolato based on Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century play I rusteghi. The opera is in Venetian dialect.
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The opera was first performed at the Hoftheater in Munich on March 19, 1906. The work was first performed in the United States by the New York City Opera on October 19, 1951. Wolf-Ferrari's most successful full-length work, it is still regularly performed.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast[1] 19 March 1906 (Conductor: Felix Mottl) |
|---|---|---|
| Lunardo | bass | Georg Sieglitz |
| Margarita | mezzo-soprano | Margarethe Preuse-Matzenauer |
| Lucietta | soprano | Ella Tordek |
| Simone | bass | Paul Bender |
| Marina | soprano | |
| Maurizio | bass | Josef Geis |
| Filiperto | tenor | Hans Koppe |
| Cancion | bass | Alfred Bauerberger |
| Felice | soprano | Hermine Bosetti |
| Riccardo | tenor | Raoul Walter |
The action takes place in 18th century Venice.
Four curmudgeonly husbands vainly attempt to keep their women in order. The women decide to teach their menfolk a lesson by allowing Lunado's daughter Lucieta to see Filipeto, the son of Maurizio, before their pre-arranged marriage, even though the men have forbidden this.