I due timidi
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| Title: | I due timidi |
| Shape: | Radio opera in one act |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Nino Rota |
| Libretto : | Suso Cecchi D'Amico |
| Premiere: | November 15, 1950 |
| Place of premiere: | Radio broadcast from the auditorium of the RAI Rome |
| Playing time: | about 50 minutes |
| Place and time of the action: | Courtyard of a large Italian apartment house |
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I due timidi (German: 'The Two Shy') is a radio opera (later also “Commedia lirica”) in one act by Nino Rota (music) with a libretto by Suso Cecchi D'Amico . The premiere took place in the form of a radio broadcast from the auditorium of the RAI (Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Rome.
action
The opera is about Raimondo and Mariuccia, two young people who are in love with each other but who do not have the courage to talk to each other. While they are casting amorous looks from their windows, Raimondo falls the defective roller shutter on the neck. When he slowly comes to his senses, he mistakenly confesses his love to his landlady Guidotti. Mariuccia faints from shock and is treated by the doctor Sinisgalli, to whom she also makes a declaration of love as in a dream. Signora Guidotti and Dr. Sinisgalli reciprocate the feelings that are supposedly shown towards them, and the two protagonists have no choice but to marry the wrong partners.
Courtyard of a large building on the outskirts of a city
Scene 1. At sunset, the narrator, a cobbler, ponders his strange life. For many years he has been sitting in this place and watching people go by. He feels that he knows them all and their secrets.
Scene 2. The maids Lucia, Maria and Lisa chat with each other. When the porter Vittorio comes by, Lucia asks him to buy her some milk. Maria and Lisa make fun of them. Mariuccia, a budding pianist, appears in another window, and her mother encourages her to practice all day. At that moment, Raimondo arrives, who has taken a room in Signora Guidotti's guesthouse.
Scene 3. The narrator informs the audience that Raimondo only quartered in this house because he wanted to be close to Mariuccia. So far, however, he has not yet found the courage to reveal his love to her. In the background, the hostess, Signora Guidotti, complains about her lazy staff.
Scene 4. Signora Guidotti, visibly annoyed by the demands of her guests (a guest complains about the lack of tap water), lets Raimondo in. She wants to give him a remote corner room so that he is not disturbed by Mariuccia's piano playing. Instead, he asks for a room facing the courtyard because he wants to hear the piano. Because he feels weakened by the heat, she opens a window and pulls up the blind.
Scene 5. The next morning, people flock to the courtyard. Raimondo and Mariuccia go to their window. Both consider how to approach each other. They smile at each other and greet each other.
Scene 6. Suddenly the blind falls from Raimondo's window and onto his neck. He's losing consciousness. The maids call for help, and Dr. Sinisgalli rushes over.
Scene 7. Mariuccia bursts into tears in shock. Her mother urges her to resume piano practice, but Mariuccia is no longer able to do so. She faints.
Scene 8. In the presence of Signora Guidotti, Dr. Sinisgalli to Raimondo, who is gradually waking up. Still dazed, Raimondo believes Mariuccia is with him and declares his love for her. The lonely Signora Guidotti relates these words to herself. She promises never to leave him. At that moment, Mariuccia's mother calls the doctor to check on her daughter.
Scene 9. Dr. Sinisgalli asks the mother to get the stethoscope from his office. In the meantime, he tenderly takes care of Mariuccia. Like Raimondo before, she too wakes up slowly and speaks of her love as in a dream. Dr. Sinisgalli is sure that she means him - he had been in love with her for a long time. When the mother returns, he explains to her that Mariuccia is not sick, but only needs his love. He tells Mariuccia that the young man has also recovered and is Signora Guidotti's lover. Mariuccia collapses into the armchair in horror.
Scene 10. The next evening, the narrator reports that Mariuccia cried all day. Raimondo, on the other hand, fell into a deep sleep.
Scene 11. Signora Guidotti takes great care of Raimondo and tells him that Mariuccia has become engaged to the doctor.
Scene 12. The narrator describes the calm that gradually returns in the courtyard in the evening. Only in the windows of Mariuccia's and Raimondo's rooms can two restlessly wandering shadows be seen.
Scene 13. Mariuccia and Raimondo each lament their unrequited love. Both are forced to reveal themselves to one another. They rush to their doors, but shyly stop.
Scene 14. Raimondo and Mariuccia meet in the stairwell while Dr. Sinisgalli is going up the stairs. Signora Guidotti calls for Raimondo, and Mariuccia's mother for her daughter. The two don't get a chance to talk.
Scene 15. The next night the maids talk about the unexpected new developments.
Scene 16. Two years later, the narrator reports that Raimondo is now running his wife's guest house. Mariuccia married the doctor, had two children and no longer had the time or money to make herself beautiful. Whenever she plays the piano, immediately call someone (Raimondo) to close the window.
layout
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (including piccolo ), two oboes (also cor anglais ), two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : two horns , two trumpets , two trombones , tuba
- Timpani , drums
- xylophone
- Celesta
- Campanelli
- Carillon
- harp
- piano
- Strings : violins 1, violins 2, violas , cellos , double basses
music
Despite the confusion reminiscent of a Farsa , Rota composed serious romanticizing music. In a Gramophone review, Andrew Mellor compared the melodic ingenuity, vocal characterization and linguistic clarity with the works of Giacomo Puccini . Only the harmonious finesse and orchestration details did not come close to this. The lyrical ensemble pieces, on the other hand, are admirable. Rota also integrated non-genre stylistic devices such as jazz at appropriate points. The harmony is largely tonal and unaffected by the various currents of New Music . Rota, however, also employs harsh melodic and harmonic twists, deliberate dissonances, or misleading rhythms.
Work history
The composer Nino Rota and the librettist Suso Cecchi D'Amico received the commission for this short opera in 1949 from the Italian radio broadcaster RAI (Radio Audizioni Italiane) . Although the title I due timidi suggests that the content is based on the vaudeville comedy Les deux timides (1860) by Eugène Labiche and this is sometimes claimed, it is a work in its own right. The composer dedicated the opera to his mother Ernesta Rota Rinaldi.
The premiere took place in the form of a radio broadcast from the auditorium of the RAI (Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Rome. The musical direction was Franco Ferrara . According to the Radio Times of August 10, 1951, Franco Calogero Calabrese (narrator), Emma Tegani (Mariuccia), Amedeo Berdini (Raimondo), Agnese Dubbini (Signora Guidotti), Mario Carlin (Sinisgalli), Lorenzo Catacchio (Vittorio), Graziella Sciutti (Lucia), Licia Rossini (Maria) and Fernanda Cadoni (Lisa and Mariuccia's mother). Gustavo Conforti spoke the small role of the boarder. The Almanacco by Gherardo Casaglia indicates a slightly different line-up. According to this, Graziella Sciutti sang Signora Guidotti, Ida Farina as Lucia, Mirella Ronconi as Maria and Scilly Fortunato as Lisa. There is no information about the role of Mariuccia's mother and the guest. The list of singers published on Discogs of the world premiere recording, which was later published on CD, corresponds to the information provided by the Radio Times.
The work was nominated for the Prix Italia 1950 and made it to the final selection, but did not win.
The first scenic performance took place on March 17, 1952 by the London Opera Club at the Scala Theater in London. For this purpose, the work was reworked into a “commedia lirica”. The two versions also differ in the libretto. The radio version tells, for example, that Raimondo originally only wanted to stay in the pension for three days and then leave town. So this was the last opportunity for him to speak to Mariuccia. Only here does he speak openly of his great shyness, while in the scenic version he restricts himself to “it's so hot today”.
Other demonstrable performances were:
- date unknown: Rome, Conservatorio Santa Cecilia.
- 1971: Bari, Teatro Petruzzelli - Conductor: Michele Marvulli.
- 1971: Venice, Palazzo Grassi theater .
- 1972: Bergamo, Teatro Donizetti - conductor: Giulio Bertola, director: Vittorio Patanè, stage: Antonio Mastromattei.
- 1973: Spoleto, XX. Festival dei Due Mondi .
- 2000: Palermo, Teatro Massimo .
- 2007: Wiener Kammeroper - conductor: Daniel Hoyem-Cavazza, staging: Paul Flieder .
- 2008: Santa Fe Opera , Scottish Rite Masonic Center - Conductor: Kirt Pavitt, Director: Acushla Bastible, Stage: John Malolepsy, Costumes: Cheryl Odom, Light: Alexandra Pontone.
- 2018: Alessandria, courtyard of the Palazzo Cuttica - production of the Conservatorio Vivaldi Alessandria, conductor: Marcello Rota, director: Luca Valentino.
- 2019: Milan, Via Cesana - Production by the Conservatorio Vivaldi Alessandria, conductor: Marcello Rota, director: Luca Valentino.
Recordings
- Nov. 15, 1950 - Franco Ferrara (conductor), Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI.
Franco Calogero Calabrese (narrator), Emma Tegani (Mariuccia), Amedeo Berdini (Raimondo), Agnese Dubbini (Signora Guidotti), Mario Carlin (Sinisgalli), Lorenzo Catacchio (Vittorio), Graziella Sciutti (Lucia), Licia Rossini (Maria), Fernanda Cadoni (Lisa and Mariuccia's mother), Gustavo Conforti ( guesthouse ).
Recording of the premiere.
Twilight Music TWI CD AS 06 27 (1 CD). - 28./30. November 2003 - Flavio Emilio Scogna (conductor), Gabbris Ferrari (production), Orchestra Filarmonica Veneta GF Malipiero.
Paolo Drigo (narrator), Sabrina Testa (Mariuccia), Shin Young-Hon (Raimondo), Sonia Lee (Signora Guidotti), Nunzio Galli (Sinisgalli), Roberta Caly (Mariuccia's mother), Lorenzo Battagion (Vittorio), Ludmila Zhiltova, ( Housekeeping), Cho Hyun-Joo (housekeeping), Rachel O'Brien (housekeeping), Giuliano Scia (boarder).
Live from Rovigo; together with La notte di un nevrastenico .
Bongiovanni GB 2367 / 68-2 (2 CDs). - September 30th / 1. October 2017 - Gabriele Bonolis (conductor), Cesare Scarton (director), Michele Della Cioppa (stage), Anna Biagiotti (costumes), Andrea Tocchio (light), Reate Festival Orchestra.
Giorgio Celenza (narrator), Sabrina Cortese (Mariuccia), Daniele Adriani (Raimondo), Chiara Osella (Signora Guidotti), Antonio Sapio (Sinisgalli), Mariangela De Vita (Mariuccia's mother), Giacomo Nanni (Vittorio), Lucia Filaci (Lucia) , Maria Rita Combattelli (Maria), Siri Kval Ødegård (Lisa), Giacomo Nanni (boarder).
Also as a video; live from the Teatro Flavio Vespasiano in Rieti; together with La notte di un nevrastenico .
Dynamic CDS7830.02 (2 CDs), DYN-37830 (DVD), DYN-57830 (Blu-ray).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c work information in the Nino Rota Music Catalog, accessed on June 14, 2020.
- ↑ Information in the score.
- ^ Andrew Mellor: ROTA La notte du un nevrastenico. I due timidi (Bonolis). DVD review. In: Gramophone , 4/2019, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ a b Danilo Prefumo, Daniela Pilarz (trans.): Plant information. In: Supplement to CD Dynamic CDS7830.02, pp. 9-10.
- ↑ a b c d Marina Grasso: A piano for two shy people. In: Supplement to CD Bongiovanni GB 2367 / 68-2, pp. 16-20.
- ↑ a b c d "I due timidi". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia .
- ↑ a b Che dramma la timidezza! on operaincasa.com, June 15, 2018, accessed June 15, 2020.
- ↑ a b c L. David Harris: I due timidi on the Radio Times radio program , August 10, 1951, accessed June 14, 2020.
- ↑ a b Nino Rota - I Due Timidi - Opera Radiofonica In Versione Originale Su Libretto Di Suso Cecchi D'Amico at Discogs , accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ^ Press release La Stampa on the performance in London 1952 in the digital archive of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ^ Press report on the performance in Rome in the digital archive of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ Press report La gazzetta del Mezzogiorno on the performance in Bari 1971 in the digital archive of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ Press report on the performance in Venice 1971 in the digital archive of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ^ Press report Il Gazzettino on the performance in Venice 1971 in the digital archive of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ^ Photographic material for the performance in Spoleto 1973 in the digital archive of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ Photographic material for the performance in Palermo 2000 in the digital archive of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ Gerhard Kramer: Review of Chamber Opera: The Right Italian Flair. Review of the performance in Vienna 2007. In: Die Presse , June 4, 2007, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ Information about the performance in Santa Fe 2008 on santafehomesblog.com, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ Information on the performance in Milan 2019 at milano.it, accessed on June 15, 2020.
- ↑ Information on CD TWI CD AS 06 27 on muziekweb.nl, accessed on June 14, 2020.
- ↑ Supplement to CD Bongiovanni GB 2367 / 68-2.
- ↑ Supplement to CD Dynamic CDS7830.02.
- ↑ Information on the Blu-ray Dynamic 57830 at the music label Naxos , accessed on June 15, 2020.