Recitativo e Duetto Se vederla a me non lice... Esquito in Venezia dalla Siga. Vial e dal Sigr. Salvatori Nella Tragedia lirica di S. Cammarano Belisario ... F.3 Gr.50. [Piano-vocal score]

Napoli: B. Girard e Ci. [PN 3068], 1836. Oblong folio. Sewn. 11 pp., [1] (blank). Engraved.

Inscriptions to title in three hands: "Sr. Palombis [?]" in faded black ink, "N[?] Spada" in blue ink, "eseguito il 3 ottobre 1858" in brown ink.

From the collection of Italian conductor, vocal coach, and close associate of Puccini and Mascagni, Luigi Ricci (1893-1981).

Spine reinforced with contemporary paper tape, partially split. Edges slightly frayed and with small tears; several corners creased; minor foxing and staining throughout. From the first Naples edition. Inzaghi IN. 56, pp. 175-7.

Belisario was composed to a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano after Luigi Marchionni's adaptation of Eduard von Schenk's Belisarius (1820). It premiered at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice on February 4, 1836.

The duet "Se vederla a me non lice" is from the finale of Act 2, in which Irene prepares to lead her blinded father Belisarius into exile. The premiere was sung by Celestino Salvatori and Antonietta Vial. "The tenderness and intensity of their duet ... prefigures another Verdi speciality, the father-daughter duet." William Ashbrook in Grove Music Online.

Ricci was an important figure in the transmission of 19th century traditions passed on to him by noted baritone Antonio Cotogni (1831-1918), whom he accompanied from the age of 12. He was active as a vocal coach at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, where he taught (amongst many others) Sesto Bruscantini, Anna Moffo, Rosalind Elias, Ezio Flagello, Peter Lindroos, and Martti Wallén.