In 1902 the young Pizzetti took part in the Fourth Sonzogno Competition for new operas with Il Cid. The jury, presided by Jules Massenet and composed of Breton, Campanini, Cilea, Hamerik, Humperdinck and Amintore Galli, could only exclude the score from the Competition since the last scene was missing.
Il Cid was never staged, but Pizzetti joined the composers of the Sonzogno music publishing house with his second opera, Fedra. Presented with great success at the Teatro alla Scala in 1918, under the direction of Gino Marinuzzi, Fedra perhaps represents the most successful example of an artistic collaboration between an Italian musician and Gabriele D’Annunzio, author of the libretto and of the original drama on which it is based. Subsequently Pizzetti passed to Ricordi, joining the composers of the so-called “Eighties Generation”.
Fedra was frequently performed until the 1960s, and a number of great sopranos are numbered among the interpreters of the title role: Salomea Krusceniski, Giulia Tess, Iris Adami Corradetti, Giuseppina Cobelli and Iva Pacetti. More recently it has been staged by the Rome Opera House (1966, conducted by Bruno Bartoletti) and the Teatro Massimo of Palermo (1988, under Maurizio Arena).
The first edition of the score of Fedra (1915)
The first edition of the libretto of Fedra (1915)
Illustrations dedicated to Fedra, taken from a calendar of 1916
Two great interpreters of the role of Fedra: Salomea Krusceniski and Iva Pacetti
Fedra at the Politeama Garibaldi of Palermo (1988, designer Gianfranco Padovani)