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© Teatro di San Carlo
The Secret Marriage
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 March 2026 | ||||||
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Dramma giocoso in two acts
Music by Domenico Cimarosa
Libretto by Giovanni Bertati, after the play The clandestine marriage by George Colman The Old and David Garrick
Synopsis
We are in the household of Geronimo, a wealthy citizen of Bologna; he has two daughters, Elisetta and Carolina, and a sister Fidalma, who runs the household. He also has a young secretary, Paolino, who is secretly married to the younger daughter, Carolina. The time is the early eighteenth century.
Act 1
Paolino is working to arrange a marriage contract between Elisetta and his patron, Count Robinson, hoping that as soon as Geronimo's older daughter is well married, his marriage to the younger one will be acceptable. Count Robinson has written a letter expressing interest – tempted by Elisetta's substantial dowry – and Geronimo is thrilled to think that his daughter will be a Countess ("Udite, tutti udite"). Fidalma confesses to her niece that she is in love, too, but only reveals in an aside to the audience that she has her eye on Paolino ("È vero che in casa").
When the Count arrives he is disappointed to find that it is not Carolina who has been offered to him ("Senza tante cerimonie"). He tells Paolino that he will be content with a smaller dowry and sends him off to arrange the match. Carolina does not dare tell the count that she is married, so when she admits she has no lover it excites him further; she tries to convince him she has no desire or qualification to be a countess ("Perdonate, signor mio"), but he continues to pursue her. Elisetta accuses them both of betraying her, and the commotion attracts Fidalma who joins Carolina in trying to calm Elisetta ("Lasciatemi, signore"); everyone tries at once to explain his or her feelings to the confused and exasperated Geronimo ("Orsù, saper conviene").
Act 2
Geronimo insists that the Count must honor his contract and marry Elisetta, but the Count refuses. When he offers to accept a smaller dowry with Carolina's hand instead, Geronimo is delighted to save face and money – as long as Elisetta agrees.
Paolino is distraught, and throws himself on Fidalma's mercy, but is stunned to find that she hopes to marry him; he faints, giving her the idea that she returns his emotion and making Carolina think she has been betrayed, but he promises that they will leave the house at dawn and take refuge in the house of a relative.
The Count tells Elisetta all his bad habits and physical defects, hoping she would reject him, but she stands firm – and he finally confesses that he cannot abide her. Geronimo can not persuade her either. Fidalma suggests sending Carolina to a convent, and Geronimo agrees. Carolina is broken-hearted and tries to confess her predicament to the Count, but they are interrupted by her sister, her aunt and her father who are gleeful at having caught them together, and Geronimo sends Paolino off with a letter to the Mother Superior.
After a brilliant and farcical finale Paolino and Carolina finally confess they have been married for two months; Geronimo and Fidalma are furious, but the Count and Elisetta advise them to forgive the newlyweds, adding that they (the Count and Elisetta) will marry after all.
Program and cast
Sung in Italian, with Italian and English surtitles
Running time: approx. 3 hours, with interval
Conductor | Francesco Corti♭
Stage Direction and Set Design| Stéphane Braunschweig♭
Costumes Design | to be announced
Lighting Design | to be announced
Cast
Geronimo | Sebastià Serra (11, 13, 15) / Yunho Kim (12, 14, 17)
Elisetta | Désirée Giove (11, 13, 15)/ Tamar Otanadze (12, 14, 17)
Carolina | Maria Knihnytska (11, 13, 15)/Anastasiia Sagaidak (12, 14, 17)
Fidalma | Antonia Salzano (11, 13, 15)/ Sayumi Kaneko (12, 14, 17)
Il conte Robinson | Maurizio Bove (11, 13, 15) / Antimo Dell’Omo (12, 14, 17)
Paolino | Francesco Domenico Doto(11, 13, 15) / Sun Tianxuefei(12, 14, 17)
♭ debut at Teatro di San Carlo
Soloists of Accademia di Canto lirico del Teatro di San Carlo
Orchestra of Teatro di San Carlo
New Production of Teatro di San Carlo
Teatro San Carlo Naples Italy
Teatro di San Carlo Napoli; San Carlo Opera House; Real Teatro di San Carlo Naples.
The Real Teatro di San Carlo (Royal Theatre of Saint Charles), its original name under the Bourbon monarchy but known today as simply the Teatro di San Carlo, is anopera house in Naples, Italy. It is located adjacent to the central Piazza del Plebiscito, and connected to the Royal Palace.
It is one of the oldest continuously active venue for public opera in the world, opening in 1737, only five years after the Manoel Theatre in Malta and decades before both the Milan's La Scala and Venice's La Fenice theatres.
The opera season runs from late January to May, with the ballet season taking place from April to early June. The house once had a seating capacity of 3,285.but nowadays has been reduced to 1414 seats.[3] Given its size, structure and antiquity was the model for the following theatres in Europe.
History of the opera house
Commissioned by the Bourbon King Charles VII of Naples (Carlo VII in Italian), Charles wanted to endow Naples with a new and larger theatre to replace the old, dilapidated, and too-small Teatro San Bartolomeo of 1621, which had served the city well, especially after Scarlatti had moved there in 1682 and had begun to create an important opera centre which existed well into the 1700s.
Thus, the San Carlo was inaugurated on 4 November 1737, the king's name day, with the performance of the opera Domenico Sarro's Achille in Sciro, which was based on the 1736 libretto by Metastasio which had been set to music that year by Antonio Caldara. As was customary, the role of Achilles was played by a woman, Vittoria Tesi, called "Moretta"; the opera also featured soprano Anna Peruzzi, called "the Parrucchierina" and tenor Angelo Amorevoli. Sarro also conducted the orchestra in two ballets as intermezzi, created by Gaetano Grossatesta, with scenes designed by Pietro Righini. The first seasons highlighted the royal preference for dance numbers, and featured among the performers famous castrati.
In the late 18th century, Christoph Willibald Gluck was called to Naples by the impresario Tufarelli to direct his 1852 Clemenza di Tito at the theatre, and Johann Christian Bach in 1761-62 brought two operas, Catone in Utica and Alessandro nell'Indie.
1737: Construction of the Teatro di San Carlo
The new opera house was designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano, a military architect, and Angelo Carasale, the former director of the San Bartolomeo. The horseshoe-shaped auditorium is the oldest in the world. It was built at a cost of 75,000 ducats. The hall was 28.6 meters long and 22.5 meters wide, with 184 boxes, including those of proscenium, arranged in six orders, plus a royal box capable of accommodating ten people, for a total of 1,379 seats. Including standing room, the theatre could hold over 3,000 people. The fastidious composer and violinist Louis Spohr reviewed the size and acoustic properties of this opera house very thoroughly on 15 February 1817 and concluded that:
there is no better place for ballet and pantomime. Military movements of infantry and cavalry, battles, and storms at sea can be represented here without falling into the ludicrous. But for opera, itself, the house is too large. Although the singers, Signora Isabella Colbran, [Prima Donna of the Teatro San Carlo opera company and Rossini's future wife], and the Signori Nozzari, Benedetti, etc., have very strong voices, only their highest and most stentorian tones could be heard. Any kind of tender utterance was lost.
Much admired for its architecture, its gold decorations, and the sumptuous blue upholstery (blue and gold being the official colours of the Bourbons), the San Carlo was now the biggest opera house in the world.[6] In relation to the power of the existing Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Beauvert notes that the design of the house, with its 184 boxes lacking any curtains was so that "no one could avoid the scrutiny by the sovereign" who had his private access from the Royal Palace.
In 1809 Domenico Barbaia was appointed manager of the royal opera houses in Naples and remained in charge until 1841. He soon established a reputation for innovative and dazzling productions, which attracted both the public and leading singers to the opera house.
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