The four rascals

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Work data
Title: The four rascals
Original title: I quatro rusteghi
Theater des Westens, Berlin 1906

Theater des Westens , Berlin 1906

Shape: Musical comedy in three acts
Original language: Venetian
Music: Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Libretto : Luigi Sugana , Giuseppe Pizzolato
Literary source: I rusteghi
by Carlo Goldoni
Premiere: March 19, 1906
Place of premiere: Bavarian State Opera , Munich
Playing time: approx. 2 ¾ hours
Place and time of the action: Venice, around 1800
people
  • Lunardo , antique dealer ( bass )
  • Margarita , his second wife ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Lucieta , Lunardo's daughter from his first marriage ( soprano )
  • Maurizio , businessman (bass or bass baritone )
  • Filipeto , his son ( tenor )
  • Marina , Filipeto's aunt (soprano)
  • Simon , businessman, her husband (bass-baritone or bass)
  • Cancian , a rich citizen (bass)
  • Felice , his wife (soprano)
  • Conte Riccardo , foreign nobleman (tenor)
  • Young Maid Marinas (mezzo-soprano or soprano)

The four ruffians (Italian: I quattro rusteghi , original spelling : I quatro rusteghi ) is the title of a comic opera (original name: "Musical Comedy ") in three acts by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari , which is based on a comedy by Carlo Goldoni . The libretto was written in the Venetian dialect and comes from Luigi Sugana and Giuseppe Pizzolato , the German version by Hermann Teibler . The German-language version of the work premiered on March 19, 1906 at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Felix Mottl conducted it .

The opera is the composer's most frequently performed work.

Characteristic

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is considered a representative of anti-modernism and a protagonist of classicism in music. He chose a subject beyond the present and with his pre-romantic tonal language at the time of the premiere - after Pelléas et Mélisande (premiere in 1902), Siberia (1903), Jenůfa (1904) and Salome (1905) - was downright anachronistic. The plot is set in Venice from 1800, which had long since lost the glamor of the old days, and was covered by Wolf-Ferrari "with transfigured, transparent music of exquisite beauty and lyrical melody". The intonation avoids any satire and any grotesque, but turns out to be virtuoso and lively, is consistently anti-romantic, "occasionally a little sentimental". The role models of man and woman, critically questioned by Goldoni, are musically affirmed here. The terse arias make use of "Buffonese jokes in the style of a later Rossini". The stage effectiveness of the Schwank is beyond doubt, Wolf-Ferrari is trying to revive the opera buffa , a lost genre. The search for the ideal world, which the composer settles around 1800, finds its correspondence in the vita of the composer, who does not understand and endure the war.

action

first act

First picture: In Lunardo's house

Margarita and Lucieta complain about the boredom in the house, because the head of the family does not allow them any pleasure or entertainment. Lunardo appears and announces an invitation from three friends and their wives. The two women are not happy about this, as they consider the three to be even bigger rascals than Lunardo. The latter sends his daughter out of the room and tells his wife that he will marry Lucieta to Filipeto, Maurizio's son. The two should not meet each other. Lunardo replied gruffly to Margarita's objections. Maurizio enters and the two men quickly agree on the amount of the dowry. Lunardo extends the invitation to dinner.

Second picture: terrace in Simon's house

Filipeto complains to his aunt Marina of his suffering. His father wants to force him to marry a girl he doesn't know. Marina promises her help to the nephew. Then Marina's husband appears, Simon, and announces the invitation to dinner. Marina would rather go to bed than to eat. Enter Felice, her husband Cancian, and Conte Riccardo. Simon is not happy about the constant visits and forbids his wife to receive guests. Marina lets Felice in on her nephew's problems and the two decide to stand by the young man's side.

Second act

Third picture: Room in Lunardo's house

Lucieta and her stepmother Margarita have dressed up, Lucieta is wearing a pearl necklace. Lunardo appears and orders his wife and daughter to take off their jewelry. Enter SIMON and MARINA. The men send the women out and complain about the decline in morals. Felice and Cancian arrive. Felice is also sent out so that the three men can talk undisturbed. The three of them sing about the good old days when women were humble and obedient.

Fourth picture: Adjoining room in the Lunardos house

The women let Felice in on their plan. Filipeto should come into the house in women's clothes and get to know his bride. Conte Riccardo comes in with the Filipeto in disguise and the two young people enjoy each other. When the men suddenly appear, the women manage to hide the Conte and Filipeto with great difficulty. Lunardo solemnly announces to his daughter that she will celebrate her engagement today. Maurizio storms in and reports that his son has disappeared with a certain Conte Riccardo. Cancian begins to rant loudly about the Conte. This then comes out of hiding, as well as Filipeto, now in men's clothing. Maurizio starts a hunt for his son and in the general commotion the curtain falls.

Third act

Piano reduction of the opera

Fifth image: Lunardo's antique shop

The rascals have withdrawn to advise the situation and how the insubordinate women can be most severely punished. Before the gentlemen can come to an agreement, Felice appears. She is not afraid of the domestic tyrants and gives them a lecture with tongue in cheek. The ruffians are speechless. Then the other women come and they too ask their husbands to apologize. The young people are introduced to each other and hide the fact that they already know each other. The company goes to the meal with pleasure. Lucieta and Filipeto stay behind. The bride expects an engagement kiss, but the young man does not dare. Lucieta runs away laughing. Filipeto rushes after her and catches up on what has been missed. The curtain falls slowly.

Instrumentation

The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:

Work history

Occupations in Munich and Milan

role Pitch First performance
Munich, March 19, 1906 		Italian premiere
Milan, June 2, 1914
Lunardo bass Georg Sieglitz Antonio Pini-Corsi
Margarita Mezzo-soprano Margarethe Preuse-Matzenauer Guerrina Fabbri
Lucietta soprano Ella Tordek Sarah Fidelia Solari
Simone bass Paul Bender Ugo Cannetti
Marina soprano Miter Giulietta Tess
Maurizio bass Josef Geis Carlo Rossi
Filiperto tenor Hans Koppe Pio Scopinich
Cancian bass Alfred Bauerberger Silvio Queirolo
Felice soprano Hermione Bosetti Ebe Boccolini-Zacconi
Conte Riccardo tenor Raoul Walter Guido Ciccolini
conductor Felix Mottl Ettore Panizza

Sources for the occupations: March 19, 1906: "I quatro rusteghi". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia .

To the performance history

Performance for the Nazi community Kraft durch Freude , Weimar 1941

The Munich world premiere was also shown in Berlin. Between February 1934 and April 1948 , The Four Ruffians were given in a total of 64 performances at the Vienna State Opera . In 1938 the opera was on the program of the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. During the Nazi era, the work was shown frequently in Germany; it fitted well into the escapist program of the repertoire at German opera houses. In 1967 the Hessisches Staatstheater presented a new production in Wiesbaden. In 1977 Günther Rennert staged the work at the Württemberg State Opera in Stuttgart. In 1990 the Bavarian State Opera brought out an opulent new production in an Italian version under the direction of Heinrich Bender . In 2002 the Zurich Opera presented the opera , staged by Grischa Asagaroff and conducted by Nello Santi .

On June 2, 1914, the Italian premiere took place in Milan's Teatro Lirico , conducted by Ettore Panizza . The Lunardo was sung by the famous bass Antonio Pini-Corsi . In the same month the production moved to the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The opera was very popular in Italy and was played in a number of smaller and larger houses, in 1914 in Bergamo, 1921 in Trieste, Bologna and Parma, 1923 in Venice and Rome, 1925 in Turin, 1927 in Naples, 1941 in Florence. The opera was particularly popular in Venice and was played over and over again until the 1980s. The spontaneity and liveliness of the opera were particularly praised. However, there have been no further performances of the work in Italy since the 1960s - with the exception of Venice, where the last was in 2006.

On June 7, 1946, the opera was released at London's Sadler's Wells . The US premiere took place on October 18, 1951 at the New York City Opera . The English versions of the opera's title vary: The Four Churls , The Four Curmudgeons or The Four Ruffians , but occasionally the opera was also performed under the title School for Fathers . There were also performances in Madrid and Nice.

Today the work is only performed very rarely. The four ruffians are still in the repertoire of the Moscow Chamber Opera .

Recordings

The following recordings are titled I Quatro Rusteghi and were recorded in the Italian version.

  • 1953: Alfredo Simonetto (conductor) - Orchestra della RAI di Milano - Fernando Corena (Lunardo) , Agnese Dubbini (Margarita) , Gianna Perea Labia (Lucieta) , Pasquale Lombardo (Maurizio) , Mario Carlin (Filipeto) , Alda Noni (Marina) , Carlo Ullvi (Simon) , Cristiano Dalamangas (Cancian) , Ester Orell (Felice) , Manfredi Ponz de Leon (Conte Riccardo) - Fonit Cetra
  • 1954: Unofficial live recording from June 2, 1954 from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Conductor: Antonino Votto - Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano - Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (Lunardo) , Cloe Elmo (Margarita) , Rosanna Carteri (Lucieta) , Silvio Maionica (Maurizio) , Cesare Valletti (Filipeto) , Ilva Ligabue (Marina) , Marco Stefanoni (Simon) , Melchiorre Luise (Cancian) , Silvana Zanolli (Felice) , Giuseppe Zampieri (Conte Riccardo) , Luisa Mandelli (Serva) - Fonit Cetra
  • 1967: Live recording from the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. Conductor: Bruno Bogo - Orchestra del Teatro la Fenice di Venezia - Giorgio Tadeo (Lunardo) , Rena Garazioti (Margarita) , Adriana Martino (Lucieta) , Alfredo Mariotti (Maurizio) , Ugo Benelli (Filipeto) , Edda Vincenzi (Marina) , Alessandro Maddalena (Simon) , Paolo Pedani (Cancian) , Silvana Zanolli (Felice) , Mario Guggia (Conte Riccardo) - Mondo Musica
  • 1969: Live recording from the Teatro Comunale di Torino. Conductor: Ettore Gracis - Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Comunale di Torino - Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (Lunardo) , Fedora Barbieri (Margarita) , Mariella Adani (Lucieta) , Alfredo Mariotti (Maurizio) , Agostino Lazzari (Filipeto) , Edda Vicenzi (Marina ) , Alessandro Maddalena (Simon) , Renato Cesari (Cancian) , Magda Olivero (Felice) , Mario Carlin (Conte Riccardo) - Gala
  • 1994: Live recording from Milan. Conductor: Daniele Callegari - Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano - Antonio Abete (Lunardo) , Alessandra Palomba (Margarita) , Donatella Lombardi (Lucieta) , Mattia Nicolini (Maurizio) , Gianluca Sorrentino (Filipeto) , Graziella Merrino (Marina) , Mateo Peirone (Simon) , Davide Baronchelli (Cancian) , Marina Fratarcangeli (Felice) , Antonio Lemmo (Conte Riccardo) - Arkadia

literature

  • James Anderson: The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta. Wings Books, New York 1993, ISBN 0-517-09156-9 .
  • Andrea Sessa: Il melodramma italiano 1861–1900. Dizionario bio-bibliografico dei compositori. Olschki, Florence 2003, ISBN 978-88-222-5213-5 .

Web links

Commons : I quattro rusteghi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Tamino Klassikforum: Wolf-Ferrari: The Four Ruffians , accessed on December 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ Manuela Schwarz: The four ruffians. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 6: Works. Spontini - Zumsteeg. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-492-02421-1 , p. 755.
  3. ↑ Archive of the Vienna State Opera : Search results for new productions “Die vier Grobiane (I quattro rusteghi)” , accessed on December 19, 2016.
  4. ↑ a b Klaus Ulrich Spiegel: Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876 - 1948): The Four Ruffians , accessed on December 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ a b Franklin Mesa: Opera: An Encyclopedia of World Premieres and Significant Performances, Singers, Composers, Librettists, Arias and Conductors, 1597-2000 , McFarland 2007, p. 231, entry 1098, online at [1] . December 2016.
  6. ↑ OperaBase: Query about performances of works by Wolf-Ferrari from 2014 , accessed on December 19, 2016.
  7. ↑ Opera Class: Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari - I quattro rusteghi - Alfredo Simonetto (1953) , accessed on 20 December 2016th
  8. ^ Website Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari: Recordings: I Quatro Rusteghi , accessed on November 23, 2016.
  9. ↑ Opera Class: Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari - I quattro rusteghi - Bruno Bogo (1967) , accessed on 20 December 2016th
  10. ↑ OperaClass: Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari - I quattro rusteghi - Ettore Gracis (1969) , accessed on December 20, 2016.
  11. ↑ Opera Class: Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari - I quattro rusteghi - Daniele Callegari (1994) , accessed on 20 December 2016th