Il campanello or Il campanello di notte (The Night Bell) is a melodramma giocoso, or opera, in one act by Gaetano Donizetti. The composer wrote the Italian libretto after Mathieu-Barthélemy Troin Brunswick and Victor Lhérie's French vaudeville La sonnette de nuit. The premiere was on June 1, 1836.
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The opera was presented in Italian at the Lyceum Theatre in London on 6 June 1836 and in English on 9 March 1841. It was also given in in English in 1870. It was first performed in Italian in the US in Philadelphia on 25 October 1861; this production went on to New York three days later. An English translation was seen in that city on 7 May 1917.[1]
Today, it is very rarely presented.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 1 June 1836 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Serafina, a young bride | soprano | Amalia Schütz |
| Don Annibale di Pistacchio, an apothecary, her husband | bass | Raffaele Casaccia |
| Spiridione, Don Annibale's servant | tenor | |
| Madama Rosa, Serafina's aunt | mezzo-soprano | |
| Enrico, Serafina's cousin | baritone | Giorgio Ronconi |
Don Annibale Pistacchio, an old apothecary, has just married the young Serafina. Enrico, Serafina's former lover, constantly interrupts the wedding night by showing up in several disguises and calling at Pistacchio's drugstore by ringing the night bell, asking the unfortunate groom to fill a preposterous list of prescriptions.