Le due versioni del Finale II nell’«Elisa ou Le voyage aux glaciers du Mont (St.) Bernard»

The aim of this contribution is to present the principal differences between the autograph score and the printed version of Luigi Cherubini’s opéra-comique Elisa ou Le voyage aux glaciers du Mont (St.) Bernard. First performed in 1794, this opera staged a common love story situated in an unusual context: the alpine landscape, with a strong visual and emotional impact. The protagonist, the landscape painter Florindo, travels to Mont St. Bernard to forget his beloved Elisa, who pursues him and saves him from suicide. When Elisa finally finds her beloved, an avalanche sweeps him away. The friars manage to dig him out and the story concludes happily. Among the differences between the two versions, the most relevant is in the Finale of second act, in which the avalanche and Florindo’s rescue are staged. The printed score (without dating) presents an abridged version: the avalanche scene (first part of the Finale II) is the same as in the autograph but the rescue scene (second part) amounts only of 161 measures in print, against the 438 measures of the autograph. Moreover, the printed version is more regular in form; by the contrary, the autograph version presents an unusual free articulation that follows the action systematically. Its result is that in the printed and definitive version the Finale II is musically and dramaturgically less interesting; a possible explanation is the employment of the score in secondary theaters, which could not afford too elaborated productions.