La donna serpente is a fable byCarlo Gozzi which premiered at theTeatro Sant'Angelo, Venice, in 1762. The play was adapted as a children's TV film, broadcast Rete 1, 26 March 1976, directed byit:Alessandro Brissoni, starringAve Ninchi,Carlo Bagno, Enrico Osterman and Gianni Bortolotto.[1]
The plot concerns afairy princess, Cherestani, whose marriage to a mortal Farruscad was opposed and given a curse-like condition by her father the fairy king Demogorgon. Farruscad is made to swear never to curse his wife Cherestani, no matter what she does. If he does, she will be transformed into a snake for 200 years.[2]
The fable was the basis for Wagner'sDie Feen (1833) and Casella'sLa donna serpente (1932), but not—as sometimes incorrectly reported—Friedrich Heinrich Himmel's 1806 operaDie Sylphen, which is based on another Gozzi fable,La Zobeide.[3]
Wagner's interest in Gozzi was probably influenced by his uncle Adolph Wagner's translation of another Gozzi fableIl corvo in 1804. Wagner altered and selected from Gozzi's plot, changing the names of Princess Cherestani and Farruscad to Ada and Arindal. The influence of other sections ofLa donna serpente not used by Wagner inDie Feen on the second act of Wagner'sParsifal has been noted.[4]
Casella likewise changed the names of the protagonists to Miranda and Altidòr.
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