About the work
Don Chisciotte alle nozze di Gamaccio is a one-act melodramma giocoso by Saverio Mercadante to a libretto by Stefano Ferrero, based on an episode from Cervantes's Don Quixote. It premiered at the Teatro Principal in Cádiz on 10 February 1830, during Mercadante's years working in Spain.
Plot
The wealthy Gamaccio is set to marry the poor Chiteria against her will, since she loves the penniless Basilio. When Basilio fakes a suicide attempt at the wedding feast, Don Quixote, in his role as a knight errant, persuades Chiteria to give the dying man her hand — whereupon Basilio reveals himself to be perfectly healthy, and Gamaccio accepts his loss.
Cultural significance
In the score, Mercadante weaves Spanish folk melodies into a Neapolitan bel canto idiom, an echo of his years working in Spain. The score was long believed lost until it was rediscovered in 2005 at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatory in Naples; its first modern performance followed in Rome in 2006.