History Enchanted in Music – Historical Verism in Ruggero Leoncavallo’s I Medici Agata Czemerys

My study of the historical opera I Medici focuses on an analysis of the work’s dramaturgy. In my opinion, the libretto is the key to understanding operatic dramas; it constitutes their primary foundation, on which the subsequent semantic layers of this naturally syncretic musical genre are constructed. In my paper I have therefore analysed the individual components of the libretto, with special emphasis on the persons of the drama, their personality traits, as well as their musical representations in Leoncavallo’s work. Analysis of the dramaturgical aspects of the opera is an essential first step to a consideration of the musical layer, which lies at the heart of my research. In my paper, I have followed the path mapped out by musicologist Luca Zoppelli; however, his work is only the starting point for a more detailed study of the opera’s expressive qualities and the procedures applied for the musical representation of veristic ideas. Verity – not only in the historical sense – becomes a leading category which unifies the opera at every level, from its original source recorded in the chronicles to the composer’s presentation of the story.