T56
Rodrigues, David Rizzio
overture
Original Work: Jacob-Hippolyte Rodrigues (1812-1898), David Rizzio, opera in three acts (1873: in four acts in 1883). Rodrigues, Bizet’s wife’s uncle on her mother’s side, wrote the words and the music, and although the libretto was published many times between 1866 and 1883, the opera was not performed, except possibly as a play, and the music has not otherwise survived. Rodrigues was a stockbroker and a voluminous writer of stories and essays. He also composed piano pieces and songs.
Transcription: The libretto was written by 1866. Whether Bizet orchestrated any more of the opera than the overture is not known.
Autograph Score: Hotel Drouot, Paris, sale at an unknown date. The catalogue describes it as an autograph manuscipt, signed, of 24 and a half pages in folio. The binding is inscribed: ‘Ouverture de David Rizzio’. The title page and first two pages are shown in facsimile.