Il Nabucco
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Il Nabucco |
Simeon Solomon : Shadrach Meshach and Abednego (1863) |
|
| Shape: | Dialogo a sei voci |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Michelangelo Falvetti |
| Libretto : | Vincenzo Giattini |
| Literary source: | Book Daniel |
| Premiere: | 1683 |
| Place of premiere: | Messina |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Babylon, 6th century BC Chr. |
| people | |
|
|
Il Nabucco (also: Il dialogo del Nabucco ) is an oratorio (original name: "dialogo a sei voci") by Michelangelo Falvetti (music) with a libretto by Vincenzo Giattini . It premiered in Messina in 1683 .
action
prolog
On the banks of the Euphrates
The allegorical figures of pride (Superbia) and idolatry (Idolatria) go to the bank of the Euphrates , which receives them in the name of Asia and sends them to Babylon (“Siamo a riva” - “Sì posate”). There the "arrogance" is supposed to lure King Nabucco with gold and the "idolatry" Nabucco is supposed to induce people to worship him.
dialog
In the palace of Nabuccos in Babylon
The Babylonian captain Arioco watches over the sleep of Nabucco ("Ombre timide e oscure" - "Regie pupille"). Nabucco dreams of a giant with a golden forehead and silver chest who stands on feet of clay. He wakes up and drives away the annoying illusion. Arioco tells him that the preparations for his victory celebration are complete. Concerned about his dream, Nabucco postponed the celebration and summoned his fortune tellers and scholars. He has bad premonitions (“Per non vivere infelice”).
In front of the golden statue
Daniele is amazed at Nabucco's arrogance, who believes that he can only declare war on the stars armed with his diadem, but does not even have his own fears under control (“Confondansi i Suberbi!”). The three Israelite youths Anania, Azaria and Misaele praise God ("S'al Dio d'israelle i Cieli"). Daniele joins them.
Arioco presents the gilded statue of Nabucco to the Babylonian people. Nabucco invites everyone to admire the splendor of his image, to which the Spanish river Tagus contributed with gold dust (“S'alla mia imago”). The Chaldean choir answers as requested with praise (“Vola la flamma”). They kneel down in front of the statue in adoration (“All'augusto simolacro”). Only Anania, Azaria and Misaele cannot be dazzled by the sheen. They mock the image made of dust. Nabucco first tries to hold back his anger. But when the three young men declare that light, heaven and reason forbid his worship, Nabucco threatens to throw them into a glowing furnace if they do not give in. Since they stand firm, he has the sentence carried out.
In the furnace
Due to a divine miracle, the three young men remain unharmed in the oven. They really enjoy their stay there. Anania feels caressed by the flames (“Tra le vampe d'ardenti fornaci”), Azaria feels gentle, refreshing south winds (“La mia fede dal fuoco nasci”), and Misaele compares the flames to roses (“Le facelle, che qui s 'accendono'). Daniele comments on their chants and encourages the three. Together they praise the Lord. The chorus finally summarizes the events: Where childlike innocence struggles, the haughty fall (“Mortale, è più che vero”).
layout
The music is characterized by sensual splendor and "a thoroughly Mediterranean, typically insular ardor of expression". Already in the prologue the Euphrates river is portrayed onomatopoeically by “homorhythmic octave quartets full of unison restraints and dissonances of the whole orchestra”.
The musical forms are extremely varied. On the one hand there are simple recitatives with syllabic declamation, whereby Falvetti attached great importance to a natural word stress and emphasized certain word meanings through the length of the notes and occasional dissonances and decorations. The solo arias are designed differently. Six of them are only accompanied by the continuo . The others have instrumental ritornelles or concertos. Both homorhythmic and contrapuntal passages appear in the instrumental setting. In addition, there are colorful choir interventions of all kinds.
Work history
After Il diluvio universale from 1682, Il Nabucco is the second surviving oratorio by Michelangelo Falvetti . The libretto, like that of the previous work, comes from Vincenzo Giattini . It is based on chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Daniel in the Old Testament of the Bible.
The work was created in Messina in 1683, just five years after the suppression of the revolt against Spanish domination , as a result of which the political, economic and cultural situation of the population deteriorated drastically. For example, the old cathedral bells were melted down for a bronze monument to King Charles II of Spain . Falvetti passed this statue every day. His oratorio Il Nabucco therefore seems like an analogy to the current situation in Messina and a justification for the protest against the Spaniards. At one point in the text, Spain is even openly compared with the pagan Moors: “S'alla mia imago tributa il Tago arene d'oro, grati profumi d'arabi fumi tramanda il Moro” (“Just like the Tagus to my image of gold dust as a tribute pays, the Moor gratefully hands over Arabic fragrances ”). However, the Nabucco person is not only judged negatively. He has scruples and, as the prologue shows, is under bad influence.
From 2012 the conductor Leonardo García Alarcón took on the work. The original score hardly gives any indication of the cast at the premiere. Alarcón created a version with a greatly expanded line-up which, based on references in the Old Testament, was supposed to come as close as possible to the sound pattern of the time, but whose instruments were known in Falvetti's time. So many additional wind, string and percussion instruments were used, especially at the key points. This version was first presented in September 2012 at the Ambronay Festival . It was then performed in many other cities and also broadcast on the radio. A CD recording of the performance in Ambronay is available.
Web links
- CD booklet (PDF) with trilingual libretto (Italian, English, French) on eclassical.com
- Il nabucco dialogo a sei voci. Posto in musica dal sig. Don Michel'angelo Falvetti. Library record of the libretto in the Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale
- Dialogo Del Nabucco Composto Del Sig.r D. Michel'Angelo Falvetti Maestro di Cappella Nel Domo di Palermo Oggi in Messina. Library record of the score in the Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Nicolò Maccavino, Boris Kehrmann (transl.): Michelangelo Falvetti's Dialogo del Nabucco. In: Supplement to CD Ambronay Editions AMY036.
- ↑ a b Leonardo García Alarcón , Boris Kehrmann (transl.): On Falvetti's Nabucco. In: Supplement to CD Ambronay Editions AMY036.
- ↑ a b Sabine Radermacher: Program of the performance on May 13, 2016 at the Klangvokal Music Festival Dortmund.
- ^ Christiane Lehnigk: Trailblazer for great stage success. CD review from November 17, 2013 on Deutschlandfunk , accessed on May 15, 2016.