Germania (opera)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Germania |
Title page of the libretto, Milan 1902 |
|
| Shape: | Opera in a prologue, two pictures and an epilogue |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Alberto Franchetti |
| Libretto : | Luigi Illica |
| Premiere: | March 11, 1902 |
| Place of premiere: | Teatro alla Scala , Milan |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ¼ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Germany, early 19th century |
| people | |
|
|
Germania is an opera (original name: "dramma lirico") by Alberto Franchetti in a prologue, two pictures and an epilogue with a libretto by Luigi Illica . It premiered on March 11, 1902 at La Scala in Milan .
action
prolog
.jpg)
In and around Nuremberg in 1806; an old mill on the Pegnitz
A group of students hides the bookseller and publisher Giovanni Filippo Palm, who is wanted by the police for distributing the anonymous book Germania . The instigators of the hunt for Palm are the occupation forces of Napoleon, who, together with some German princes, were heavily criticized in Palm's book. Philosophers, poets and students appeal to the inhabitants of the German territories to rise up against their exploitation and to unite their divided country. The students cannot agree on whether to fight with the sword or with the pen. Its leader Carlo Worms, an idealist, invokes the words of the philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte and advocates demanding human rights, freedom of speech and thought in the spirit of Friedrich Schiller . In the debate he is faced with members of a more radical group, including Federico Loewe, a friend of Carlo Worms and his opponent in more ways than one, because both love the same woman, Ricke, who is already engaged to Loewe. Worms seduces Ricke while Loewes is away. Ricke is desperate because Worms warns her that he and Loewe will have to fight the matter in a duel if she confesses her infidelity to Loewe. She promises to remain silent, even though her conscience plagues her. A young fellow, Jebbel, accepted a police bribe and revealed Palm's hiding place.
First picture
A forest ranger's hut in the Black Forest of Württemberg
Loewe, Ricke, their sister Jane, their old mother and the student Crisogono, Worm's adjutant, have fled to the Black Forest. When it became known that Worms was killed in action, Ricke was optimistic about an untroubled future with her husband Loewe. But on the day of their wedding, Worms suddenly appears, seriously injured. When he finds that the ceremony is over, he runs away. Shortly afterwards, Loewe notices that Ricke has disappeared. He finds a farewell letter from her in which she assures him of her love, but also confesses her affair with Worms. She asks for forgiveness, but Loewe vows to take revenge on Worms.
Second picture
Years later, underground meeting point of the Louisenbund against Napoleon in Königsberg
Students from all over Germany gather under the slogan “Germania!” Jebbel, meanwhile grown into a young man, appears before the tribunal of the league and confesses to having betrayed Palm to the police years ago. Many members of the league demand his execution, but Luigi Adolfo Guglielmo Lützow , one of their most respected representatives in the underground, steps aside Jebbel and calls on him to fight against Napoleon's troops. Loewe suddenly appears and swears vengeance against Worms. He challenges him to a duel. Worms is determined to end the feud by letting Loewe kill him, but before it comes to that, the Queen makes a formidable appearance. Together they declare their hope for a future Germany without tyranny. This collective vision is expressed in wild fanaticism. Worms, Loewe and the assembled volunteers embark on the battle of the Leipzig Battle of the Nations .
Symphonic intermezzo
The battle of the nations
epilogue
Leipzig plain between Rochlitz and Grimma, October 19, 1813, after the three-day battle
Ricke got caught up in events. She finds Worms dead and Loewe seriously injured on the battlefield. Without shedding tears, Ricke tenderly arranges her lover's body and lies down next to him. As dusk gathers, her head sinks onto his now silent chest as they spend their one eternal wedding night together.
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two piccolo flutes , two flutes , two oboes , two English horns , two clarinets , bass clarinet , three bassoons , double bassoon
- Brass : four horns , three trumpets , bass trumpet, three trombones , bass trombone , four tubas , bass tuba
- Timpani , percussion : snare drum , bass drum , cymbals , triangle , tam-tam
- Celesta , harmonium
- two harps
- Strings
- Incidental music : two horns, trumpet, two large drums, six small drums
Work history
The premiere on March 11, 1902 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan was conducted by Arturo Toscanini . The stage design came from Adolfo Hohenstein . The role of Federico Loewe was sung by Enrico Caruso , that of Carlo Worms by Mario Sammarco . The other singers were Oreste Gennari (Giovanni Filippo Palm), Michele Wigley (Crisogono), Amelia Pinto (Ricke), Jane Bathory (Jane), Teresina Ferraris (Lene Armuth), Bice Silvestri (Jebbel), Giovanni Gravina (Stapps), Carlo Ragni (Luigi Adolfo Guglielmo Lützow), Oreste Lombardi (Carlo Teodoro Körner), E. D'Alessandro (Weber), Adele Ponzano (Mrs. Hedvige), Ettore Gennari (Peters), Arcangelo Rossi (Chief of the German Police), Michele Sampieri ( Policeman) and Bruna Properzi (wife).
The opera was initially a success, but since the interwar period there have only been seldom rehearsals. Today the work is mainly known thanks to the recordings of two arias by Enrico Caruso (from the first performance year 1902).
The German Opera Berlin brought Germania 2006 in a production by the director Kirsten Harms (conducted by Renato Palumbo , features: Bernd Damovsky ) out, a production that was also released on DVD.
Recordings
- before 1942 - conductor unknown; with Giuseppe Agostini, Piero Pauli, Pasquale Amato , Matteo Dragoni and Amelia Pinto .
Studio shot.
IRCC CD: CD 812. - Apr. 27, 1985 - Victoria Bond (conductor), Opera Orchestra of New York.
Nathan Bahny (Giovanni Filippo Palm), Joseph Wolverton (Federico Loewe), Henry Lackowski (Carlo Worms), Robert Wachs (Crisogono), April Evans-Montefiore (Ricke), Deanna Alida (Lene Armuth), Joan Tirrell (Jebbel), David Groth (Stapps), Albert Tucker (Luigi Adolfo Guglielmo Lützow), Paula Oleska (Mrs. Hedvige).
Live from the Joan of Arc Theater, New York. - May 5, 1985 - Victoria Bond (conductor), Opera Orchestra of New York.
Cast as on April 27, 1985.
Live from the Joan of Arc Theater, New York. - October 2006 - Renato Palumbo (conductor), Kirsten Harms (staging), orchestra and choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin .
Ante Jerkunica (Giovanni Filippo Palm), Carlo Ventre (Federico Loewe), Bruno Caproni (Carlo Worms), Markus Brück (Crisogono), Lise Lindström (Ricke), Sarah van der Kemp (Jane), Ceri Williams (Lene Armuth), Jacquelyn Wagner (Jebbel), Dominik Broecker (Jebbel as a child), Arutjun Kotschinian (Stapps), Harold Wilson (Luigi Adolfo Guglielmo Lützow), Paul Kaufmann (Carlo Teodoro Körner), Hyung-Wook Lee (chief of the German police), Max Uwe Stieren (Policeman), Nicole Piccolomini (wife).
Video; live from Berlin.
Capriccio 93518 (1 DVD).
literature
- Magazine of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, No. 1, September 2006
- Richard Erkens: Alberto Franchetti - Working studies on the Italian opera of the long turn of the century , Verlag Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2011. ISBN 978-3-631-61361-0
Web links
- Germania : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Germania. Libretto (Italian), Milan 1902. Digitized in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Germania (Alberto Franchetti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Work information and libretto (Italian) as full text on librettidopera.it
Individual evidence
- ^ Egon Voss : Germania. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 2: Works. Donizetti - Henze. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-492-02412-2 , pp. 281-282.
- ↑ March 11, 1902: "Germania". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ., Accessed on March 28, 2019.
- ↑ a b c d Alberto Franchetti. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005.