Stiffelio was based on the play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois and was originally censored due to it involving as it does a Protestant minister of the church with an adulterous wife.
Director: Tiziano Mancini
Conductor: Andrea Battistoni
Stars: Roberto Aronica, Yu Guanqun, Roberto Frontali, Gabriele Mangione.
15th Verdi opera.
Premiere 1850, Teatro Grande, Trieste
Place: Count Stankar's castle by the River Salzbach, Germany
Time: Early 19th Century
Filmed at Teatro Regio di Parma
This benefits from my dislike of the only other performance I've seen (Met on Demand, '93 prod w/P.Domingo and a hefty soprano who stretched the plot point of being unfaithful to PD just too far for me.) Yu Guanqun as Lida and Roberto Aronica as Stiffelio were excellent, as was Roberto Frontali as her father.
Costumes were very plain (almost Quaker) but appropriate to the period, and consistent, except perhaps Raffaele's red suit. We wouldn't have been able to spot him in the crowd without it, but it seemed much too flashy for this community. But when he changed to a simpler outfit, we had to recognize his face.
Sets were also simple, but the story is in a simple community.
Lida always dressed and acted modestly, so you don't really blame her for attracting the lothario. She's young enough that you can imagine her becoming vulnerable after so many months of her husband's absence.
I can't say I paid enough attention to get all the details. I think Raffaele and Lida's father had a pre-duel fight scene, not the actual duel. I believe it's written to have the duel offstage; at least that's what I remember it from '93. It almost feels tacked on that Raffaele dies.
The Great Course does mention this opera: censorship troubles, poor reception by the public; reworked later as Aroldo.
Per the 2012 featurette, without naming the source of world-wide most-performed rankings, this is 19th among Verdi's operas, 303rd among all operas. (another source-less list of the top 100; Operabase Statistics). They claim that Verdi "invented" the dramatic tenor here(?), later using it to great effect in Otello.
Unitel, cond. Battistoni; 8-
