Il prigioniero

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Work data
Title: The prisoner
Original title: Il prigioniero
Shape: Opera in a prologue and an act
Original language: Italian
Music: Luigi Dallapiccola
Libretto : Luigi Dallapiccola
Literary source: La torture par l'espérance by Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam and La légende d'Ulenspiegel et de Lamme Goedzak by Charles De Coster
Premiere: December 1, 1949 (concert version);
May 20, 1950 (scenic)
Place of premiere: Turin (concert version); Florence, Teatro Comunale (scenic)
Playing time: about 50 minutes
Place and time of the action: Saragossa around 1550
people
  • the mother ( dramatic soprano )
  • the prisoner ( baritone )
  • the jailer ( tenor )
  • Fra Redemptor (silent role)
  • 1st priest (tenor)
  • 2nd priest (baritone)
  • the Grand Inquisitor (tenor, same singer as the jailer)
  • large choir (behind the scene)

Il prigioniero (German: Der Gefangene ) is an opera in a prologue and an act by Luigi Dallapiccola , who also wrote the libretto. This is based on the story La torture par l'espérance by Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam and the novel La légende d'Ulenspiegel et de Lamme Goedzak ( The legend and the heroic, happy and glorious adventures of Ulenspiegel and Lamme Goedzak ) by Charles De Coster . The concert premiere took place on December 1, 1949 by the Radiotelevisione Italiana Turin. The work was first performed on May 20, 1950 at the Teatro Comunale in Florence.

content

The opera is set in an Inquisition prison in Spain in the 16th century.

prolog

The mother is waiting to visit her captive son in prison. An inner voice tells her that it will be the last time. She sings about a dream that keeps robbing her of sleep. In this dream, King Philip appears to her at the end of a dark vault. He comes up to her and turns into death. The choir from outside ends the prologue.

first act

1st picture. Underground cell with straw storage and torture bench

The prisoner in the cell tells his mother about his pain and the torture, but also about the jailer who called him “brother” and thus brought him back his hope of freedom. You are interrupted by the jailer.

2nd picture. Same prison cell

The jailer appears in the cell and gives the prisoner hope: the revolt is rising in Flanders. The Roelandt bell could soon ring again and announce the downfall to King Philip and the Grand Inquisitor. The jailer leaves the cell, but leaves the cell door ajar. The prisoner can hardly believe his luck and slips through the open prison door.

3rd picture. Underground vaults, dimly lit by bluish light

The long vaults are reminiscent of the mother's dream from the prologue. The prisoner is on the run. It sees a “Fra Redemptor” and can hide from it unseen. Two priests, absorbed in theological conversation, run past him but do not see him either. The prisoner thinks he can feel fresh air. When he hears a bell, he thinks it is the Roelandt bell. He thinks he has reached his goal and is free. The choir ends the third scene.

4th picture. Big garden, starry sky

The prisoner thinks he has escaped and is moving towards a large cedar tree. He wants to hug the cedar. The Grand Inquisitor's arms emerge from the cedar and capture him again. He recognizes the jailer in the Grand Inquisitor who has deceived him all along. Hope becomes the ultimate form of torture. Without resistance, the prisoner can be led to the stake.

Instrumentation

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

literature

  • Luigi Dallapiccola : The Genesis of the Canti di Prigionia and Il Prigioniero: An Autobiographical Fragment. In: The Musical Quarterly, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3 July 1, 1953, pp. 355-372, doi : 10.1093 / mq / XXXIX.3.355 .
  • Fiamma Nicolodi (Ed.): Luigi Dallapiccola. Parole e musica. Edizione aggiornata ed ampliata. Il Saggiatore, Milan 1980.
  • Dietrich Kämper: Captivity and Freedom. Life and work of the composer L. Dallapiccola. Guitar + lute, Cologne 1984.
  • Jessica Harrison Howard: Luigi Dallapiccola's "Prigioniero": a music-dramatic analysis of scene 4. Ann Arbor (UMI) 1989.
  • Jürg Stenzl: From Giacomo Puccini to Luigi Nono. Italian music 1922–1952: fascism ─ resistancea ─ republic. Frits Knuf, Buren 1990.
  • Arrigo Quattrocchi (Ed.): Studi su Luigi Dallapiccola. LIM, Lucca 1993.
  • Joachim Noller: Dodecaphony via Proust and Joyce. On the musical poetics of Luigi Dallapiccola. In: Archive for Musicology 51/1994, pp. 131–144.
  • Mila De Santis (Ed.): Dallapiccola. Letture e prospettive, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Empoli / Firenze, 16-19 February 1995). Ricordi / LIM, Milan / Lucca 1997.
  • Raymond Fearn: The music of Luigi Dallapiccola. University of Rochester Press, Rochester / NY 2003.
  • Roberto Illiano (Ed.): Italian Music during the Fascist Period. Brepols, Turnhout 2004.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Horst Weber: Il prigioniero. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , pp. 661-662.