La cifra
La cifra is an opera by Antonio Salieri in two acts, set to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte.
The work, a dramma giocoso, is set in Scotland, and was written for Adriana Ferrarese del Bene, the first Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte.
Performance history
The opera was first performed in Vienna on 11 December 1789. This was followed by a production in Dresden on 13 October 1790. It went on to receive several productions both in Germany and Austria between 1789 and 1805.La cifra received a recent performance in Cologne in June 2006, in a production conducted by Martin Haselböck and directed by Christian Stückl.
In August 2018, Dell’Arte Opera Ensemble performed La Cifra at La Mama as part of that summer's Mozart and Salieri Festival. It was the opera's North American premiere, conducted by Catherine O'Shaughnessy and directed by Bea Goodwin
Roles
There are two cast lists written in different handwriting for the 1789 premiere of La cifra, one written at the end of the overture, and one written at the end of Salieri's commentary on his score. Both lists include a character, Gualtiere, who does not appear in the opera and a performer, Paolo Mandini, who was no longer with the company. Contemporary newspaper accounts list different performers in some of the roles.| Cast | Voice type | Cast list at end of overture | Cast listed at end of score | Cast per newspaper accounts |
| Eurilla | soprano | Adriana Ferrarese del Bene | Adriana Ferrarese del Bene | Adriana Ferrarese del Bene |
| Lisotta, the daughter of Rusticone | soprano | Bettina Colombati | Bettina Colombati | Dorothea Bussani |
| Rusticone, mayor and hotel owner | bass | Francesco Benucci | Francesco Benucci | Francesco Benucci |
| Milord Fideling | tenor | Francesco Bussani | Francesco Bussani | Vincenzo Calvesi |
| Leandro, friend of Milord Fideling | tenor | Girolamo Cruciati | Nicolò Del Sole | |
| Sandrino, the future groom of Lisotta | bass | Paolo Mandini | Girolamo Cruciati | |
| Gualtiere | Nicolò Del Sole | Paolo Mandini | ||
| - | - | - | - |
Synopsis
[Image:Adriana Ferrarese Kings Theatre 1785.jpg|thumb|192px|right|Adriana Ferrarese del Bene who created the role of Eurilla in La cifra]Fideling, a Scottish lord, is seeking a lost noblewoman with whom he had fallen in love. Lisotta, the daughter of the town's mayor, is betrothed to Sandrino, but is in love with Fideling and believes herself to be the woman he is searching for. Eurilla also loves Fideling but despairs because she is a mere shepherdess. In Act II, before her true identity is revealed, she sings 'Alfin son sola... Sola e mesta' . It finally emerges that Eurilla is in fact the daughter of a nobleman. She and Fideling are reunited and all ends happily in the finale.
Recordings
There is no known studio recording of the complete opera, However, The Salieri Album, has two excerpts:- 'E voi da buon marito... Non vo’ gia che vi suonino'
- 'Alfin son sola... Sola e mesta fra tormenti'