Germania

Germania is an operatic dramma lirico consisting of a prologue, two acts, an intermezzo and an epilogue by Alberto Franchetti to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. The opera premiered on 11 March 1902 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Illica, known for penning the librettos for some of Giacomo Puccini's best loved operas, originally gave the libretto for Tosca to Franchetti after the latter had obtained the rights to the Victorien Sardou play on which it was based. However, after Puccini expressed interest in it, Franchetti relinquished his rights, and Illica gave the composer Germania instead. The composer and librettist, who were long-time close friends, had previously collaborated on the opera Cristoforo Colombo (1892). The plot of the libretto, which was written in grand opera style, was set during Napoleonic times and involves a love triangle among students who are working secretly underground for the liberation of a Germany then under occupation by France. In composing the music, Franchetti quoted widely from German and student's popular songs and from the work of several German composers in order to create a German color to his work. Germania premiered under the baton of Arturo Toscanini and featured famed tenor Enrico Caruso, who sang the aria "Studenti udite" on his first recording, in the role of the student Federico. The opera would go on to become Franchetti's most successful work.