A comic opera in 2 acts written by Aldo Brizzi – Recorded in Alessandria (Italy) in September 2021.
Jelin, a shepherd, is led by a star to the stable where a couple, Mary and Joseph, are tending to their baby, who has just been born. Fear seizes everyone when they learn that King Herod wants to kill all newborn children... The character of Jelin appeared in the 15th century in the first “mystery plays”, staged at Christmas time outside churches in Savoy. This art of popular sacred theatre, sometimes performed in French, sometimes in Latin, sometimes in the Piedmontese patois, emerged within the Franco-Piedmontese culture long before the creation of modern Italy in the 19th century.
Like the characters from commedia dell’arte, such as Pulcinella or Harlequin, in other regions of Italy, Gelindo/Jelin has always existed within the popular culture of Piedmont. The name is even linked to an expression designating a man incapable of making a decision, like our hero, drawn into the great biblical story and yet caught up in his daily duties.
These well-attended and highly popular performances took place up until the 20th century in Piedmont, and many people remember being taken to them as children. Umberto Eco himself talks about attending these comical shows. And it was precisely the meeting between Eco and Brizzi in 2004 that served as the trigger for Also Brizzi’s opera, which faithfully respects Jelin’s resolutely popular DNA.
The music of the opera finds its inspiration in the popular music of Piedmont, such as the barcarole and the Habanera. The libretto, meanwhile, respects the narrative tradition linked to Jelin, the first shepherd to discover Jesus in Joseph and Mary’s humble stable. The comic dimension of the character of Jelin, torn between the call of the divine and the everyday problems of his secular life, is at the heart of the project. It should also be remembered that the sacred mysteries, which were originally sung both inside and in front of churches, can be seen as the direct ancestors of the oratorio in opera.
