La tragedia 'Axel e Valborg' di Adam Oehlenschläger nella riscrittura per musica di Alessandro De Stefani ('La Cattedrale', 1938)

Adam Oehlenschläger’s Tragedy 'Axel and Valborg' adapted as a Libretto by Alessandro De Stefani ('La Cattedrale', 1938). Adam Oehlenschläger’s tragedy 'Axel and Valborg' was used as a source for an Italian opera libretto by Alessandro De Stefani, 'La Cattedrale' (The Cathedral), published and staged in 1938. This is a unique case of adaptation in the scanty history of the Danish poet’s reception in Italy. The aim of this contribution is to study how the source text was manipulated in order to make it suitable for its new function and new context. De Stefani, who did not know Danish and used David Solti’s French translation, abridged the text focusing primarily on the unhappy love plot. However, his most important changes concern the character of monk Knud and the finale.