L'ultimo giorno di Pompei

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Work data
Title: The last day of Pompeii
Original title: L'ultimo giorno di Pompei
Eruption of Vesuvius in the final

Eruption of Vesuvius in the final

Shape: Opera seria in two acts
Original language: Italian
Music: Giovanni Pacini
Libretto : Andrea Leone Tottola
Premiere: November 19, 1825
Place of premiere: Teatro San Carlo , Naples
Playing time: approx. 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Pompeii , in 79
people

L'ultimo giorno di Pompei (German: The last day of Pompeii ) is an opera seria (original name: "dramma per musica") in two acts by Giovanni Pacini on a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola . In the premiere on November 19, 1825 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples , a. a. the singing stars Adelaide Tosi , Giovanni David , Luigi Lablache and Michele Benedetti . The opera was a resounding success and was subsequently shown at the most important opera houses in Europe, such as Milan , Vienna , Paris and Venice , and also inspired other artists.

Background and history

Since the middle of the 18th century, the excavations of the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were buried by the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius , held a great fascination for people. Richly illustrated books appeared on the discoveries, and the entire epoch of classicism was shaped by antiquing fashion, art and architecture; there was even a “Pompeian style” in the interior decoration. Pacini's and Tottola's opera appeared at the height of this “Pompeio mania”.

The idea for an opera set in Pompeii and the template for Tottola's libretto came from Antonio Niccolini, the set designer at the Teatro San Carlo, who knew the excavations on site very well and published a sixteen-volume catalog of the royal museum. Niccolini's designs for the sets for the Pacini opera have not survived, but it is known that they were a complete success. What is known, however, are the wonderful sets that Alessandro Sanquirico designed two years later in 1827 for production at La Scala in Milan , and which were probably based on Niccolini's ideas. Sanquirico was obviously also inspired by archaeological publications such as Delle Antichità di Ercolano (for the house of Sallustio), Gells Pompeiana (for the forum and the street of the tombs) and by Saint-Nons Voyage pittoresque (the house of Appio Diomede).

The staging was elaborate and incredibly sophisticated. No expense or effort was saved for the spectacular eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the collapse of the buildings at the end. They sat Bengal fire and Lycopodium powder one to see real explosions and flash fire, and it was said the impresario Domenico Barbaja have "at every performance Lycopodium worth 10 ducats can abflämmen". According to a contemporary report from the Milan production in 1827, glowing lava seemed to run over the ruins towards the audience, and the effect was so realistic that the people in the stalls were terrified.

content

The action takes place in Pompeii in 79, on the last day before the eruption of Vesuvius.

first act

Act 1, scene 1: atrium in the house of Sallustio, set by A. Sanquirico, Milan 1827

Sallustio was elected the first magistrate of Pompeii and receives congratulations in the atrium of his house. Among the well-wishers is the Tribune Appio Diomede, who, however, is actually in love with Sallustio's wife Ottavia and is full of jealousy about her marital happiness.

Later, when Ottavia is alone, Appio approaches her and declares his love for her. When she rebukes him indignantly and clearly, he swears revenge . Together with Pubblio, the overseer of the public baths , he forges a devious plan to dishonor Ottavia: Pubblio's young son Clodio in women's robes is to be smuggled into his house with the help of Fausto, a freedman of Sallust, and passed off as one of Ottavia's servants.

In the Temple of Jupiter the celebrations begin on the occasion of the elevation of Sallustio to magistrate. He solemnly swears to respect the laws of Rome. Then there is a pageant to the amphitheater for further festivities. Here Pubblio "discovered" with feigned outrage his son disguised as a girl Clodio in the crowd of servants and makes a scandal. To the consternation and horror of those present, Clodio claims that Ottavia seduced him and then hid him under her girls in women's clothes. Although Sallust does not believe this story, he now has to keep his oath and is forced to sit in judgment over his own wife .

Second act

Act 2, Scene 6: The Street of the Tombs and the City Gate of Pompeii (Milan 1827)

At the tribunal in the Basilica of Pompeii, Ottavia protests her innocence before Sallust. Although the false testimony of Appio, Pubblio and Clodio speak against her, Sallust hesitates, convinced of his wife's innocence. At this moment you can hear a dull rumble from Vesuvius , which the augurs interpret as displeasure of the gods , because they do not agree with Sallust's hesitation. Finally, Sallust must condemn Ottavia under Roman law : she should be buried alive.

In a short scene, Fausto regrets that he let himself be drawn into the intrigue and feels sorry for Ottavia.

Appio Diomede is also plagued by remorse and remorse for his successful intrigue. He realizes too late that he still loves Ottavia and that he will never be happy for his life after her death.

When Ottavia is brought to the grave in the company of her faithful servants , she turns to her husband one last time, swears her innocence and gives him their son, Menenio. Suddenly Vesuvius erupts with a terrible noise. Sallust in turn interprets this as divine anger over a terrible injustice and stops the execution . Pubblio, believing that his perfidious actions caused a catastrophe in Pompeii, confesses everything and names Appio as the instigator of the intrigue. As a result, the two culprits are locked in the grave instead of Ottavia.

Meanwhile it is raining ash and boulders and the people are in a panic. In a general confusion, Menenio appears on a cart to save his parents Ottavia and Sallust. The volcanic eruption is peaking and the sky is red with fire and lava. The curtain falls on a scene of chaos and despair.

  • Set designs by A. Sanquirico and costumes for production at La Scala in Milan in 1827

  • Act 1, scene 6: Forum of Pompeii with the temple of Jupiter

  • Act 1, scene 7: Entrance to the amphitheater

  • Act 2, scene 1: court scene in the basilica of Pompeii (duet Ottavia, Sallusti)

  • Act 2, scene 5: Garden in the house of Appio Diomede

  • Costumes for Sallustio and Ottavia

layout

structure

first act

  • Scene 1 - Introduzione : Viva Sallustio! - Voi mi rendet, o Dei - Del civico serto - Teco a goder la gioia - S'innalzino all'etra - Vieni Sallustio (Chorus, Menenio, Sallustio, Pubblio, Appio)
  • Scene 2 - Choir and Cavatina of Ottavia: Di porporine rose - Alfin goder mi e dato - Basti ad esprimerti - Più ad appagar del popolo (Chor, Ottavia, Sallustio, Menenio, Pubblio, Appio)
  • Scene 3 Duet Appio & Ottavia: Menenio e seco! - Da te l'estrema volta - Col cor palpitante - Sopprimerlo? Ah no! may - (Appio, Fausto, Ottavia)
  • Scene 4 - Recitative : Fausto! Fausto! (Appio, Fausto, Clodio)
  • Scene 5 - Recitative: Pubblio, gia m'intendesti (Appio, Pubblio, choir)
  • Scene 6 - Choir and Quintet : Plauso, onor - Ah! questo de 'miei giorni - Illustre Cittadin, onor de' Numi - Festeggiamo l'istante augurato - Ecco la man di Astrea - Lo spettacolo eletto - Se i Numi fausti sperar mi lice (Choir, Sallustio, High Priest, Ottavia, Appio, Pubblio)
  • Scene 7 - Duettino Appio & Pubblio: Appio, non dubitar - Io la vedro tra palpiti (Pubblio, Appio)
  • Finale I: Più brillante di questo, che cade - Nel vederti, o sposo amato - Mira! Oh gioia! - Torment so velo mi oscura il ciglio! - No, Sallustio, la sposa innocente (choir, Ottavia, Sallustio, Appio, Pubblio, Clodio)

Second act

  • Scene 1 - Recitative: Pubblio! (Appio, Pubblio)
  • Scene 2 - Choir and Duet Sallustio & Ottavia: Sei nell'augusto tempio - Forza, o debol cor! - Squarciami il core - Dunque innocente (choir, Sallustio, Ottavia)
  • Scene 3 - Scena e Concertato: Sallustio, il popol freme - Dei! Torment fragore insolito! (Appio, Pubblio, Sallustio, Clodio, choir)
  • Scene 4 - Recitative: E qui, come promise (Fausto)
  • Scene 5 - Recitative and Aria des Appio: Che più brami, mio ​​cor? - O mio crudele affetto? - Cela le acerbe smanie, o lacerato core! (Appio, choir)
  • Scene 6 - Choir, Scena and Aria (finale) of Ottavia: Oh sventurata Ottavia! - Su questa man concedi - Voi, che wallpaper - Del figlio mio dolente - Che! Irato ancora è il ciel (Choir, Sallustio, Appio, Pubblio, Ottavia)
  • Finale II: Trema, Pompei! - Quale scoppio! (Augurs, Pubblio, Chor, Sallustio, Appio, Menenio, Ottavia)

orchestra

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

music

Giovanni Pacini , ca.1827

Pacini's L'ultimo giorno di Pompei is still an (almost) forgotten pearl of opera literature at the beginning of the 21st century.

Although the splendid and spectacular production certainly played an important role in the opera's success, the effect of Pacini's charming, graceful music should not be underestimated either. The subject clearly inspired him and the whole score is carefully crafted and of high quality. Pacini had already developed his very own, mature style in the mid-1820s. In addition to occasionally shimmering echoes of Rossini , the music of L'ultimo giorno has a tone that already appears typically romantic , and tends harmoniously towards darker colors and minor areas. The melody is expressive and belcantist . Pacini himself later said that he “just wanted to present the truth”. The overall transparent, fine instrumentation takes into account the audibility of the singers according to Italian opera tradition, and is at the same time imaginative, colorful and distinctive. The music of the whole opera has its own character and the composer even succeeds in creating a kind of antique local color through unusual instrument combinations, harmonic or melodic turns and rhythmic effects (even if nobody knows how original antique music really sounded).

Forty years later, in his memoirs , Pacini pointed out that in L'ultimo giorno di Pompei he had paid special attention to the concertati, i.e. to the ensembles , which can be clearly heard at the beginning of the opera (and until the end). He also gave some pieces a “new form” and refers to the quintet of the 1st act “Se i Numi fausti…”, the Preghiera (the Ottavia) in the 2nd act and the first part ( primo tempo ) in the duet between Ottavia and Sallustio (2nd act). He also "confessed" that he was still influenced by Rossini here. However, this statement should not be understood too narrowly and should also be understood against the background of the massive change in taste and the decline of the art of singing between 1825 and 1865. The three main roles Ottavia, Sallustio and Appio Diomede are written in a partly ornate style for singers with very agile voices capable of coloratura , as was the fashion at the time. Pacini wrote the role of Appio for the unusually high and virtuoso “coloratura tenor” Giovanni David , who was in fact a favorite singer of Rossini in his Neapolitan operas. Already around 1850 this role could hardly be adequately filled, and today, despite the Rossini renaissance, there are very few singers who could do justice to the high musical demands of such a role.

Performance history

Title page of the libretto, Naples 1825

The opera was commissioned for Queen Maria Isabella's name day . In the premiere on November 19, 1825 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Luigi Lablache (Sallustio), Adelaide Tosi (Ottavia), Giovanni David (Appio Diomede), Giuseppe Ciccimarra (Pubblio), Almerinda Manzocchi (Clodio), Michele Benedetti (Gran sacerdote), Eloisa Manzocchi (Menenio) and Gaetano Chizzola (Fausto).

In his 1865 memoir, Pacini described L'ultimo giorno di Pompei as “the greatest triumph of his early career” (“il maggior trionfo della mia prima epoca artistica”), and all the singers mentioned were so wonderful that “every word of praise [...] still below their merit ”. The performance was an overwhelming success and Pacini received a personal letter from King Francesco I the next day , who congratulated him with "special joy" and appointed Pacini as a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. At the next Council of State, the king also gave the order that the librettist Andrea Leone Tottola receive a gift of 30 ducats . According to Pacini, several cabalettes of the opera became popular hit songs, sung by the Neapolitans in the street.

The opera ran for four seasons at the San Carlo and subsequently saw performances at La Scala in Milan (1827), at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna (1827), at the Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon (1828), at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris (1830) , and at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice (1832). The opera was performed 43 times at La Scala and celebrated just as enthusiastically as in Naples, and Domenico Barbaja offered Pacini a nine-year contract as artistic director of his theaters, with the commission to compose two operas a year - a similar contract had previously been made by Rossini had.

Later on, L'ultimo giorno di Pompei went out of fashion and, like Pacini's oeuvre, fell into oblivion, until a new production at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca in August 1996 with Iano Tamar (Ottavia), Raúl Giménez (Appio Diomede) and Nicolas Rivenq (Sallustio) in the leading roles. After that the same production was given at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania. There is a live recording of the performance in Martina Franca, which was released by Dynamic Records in 1997 (re-released in 2012).

Influence on other works

Detail with Pacini's daughters from Karl Bryullov's painting The Last Day of Pompeii (1833)

Pacini's L'ultimo giorno di Pompei exerted influence, either directly or indirectly, on some other artistic or literary works. In particular, the opera inspired Karl Bryullov for his painting The Last Day of Pompeii . The painter represented in the picture u. a. a woman with two young children; the models for these figures were Pacini's daughters Amazilia and Giovannina and the countess Yuliya Samoylova , who for a time was both Pacini's and Bryullov's lover. Bryullovs painting again was a source of inspiration for the famous novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton The Last Days of Pompeii (1834). This has a completely different plot than Pacini's opera, but was again the template for Errico Petrellas (1813–1877) opera Jone, ossia L'ultimo giorno di Pompei, which was premiered on January 26, 1858 at La Scala in Milan. Bulwer-Lytton's novel was also filmed several times in the 20th century.

admission

  • Giovanni Pacini: L'ultimo giorno di Pompei - Iano Tamar (Ottavia), Sonia Lee (Menenio), Raúl Giménez (Appio Diomede), Nicolas Rivenq (Sallustio), Gregory Bonfatti (Pubblio), Riccardo Novaro (Gran Sacerdote), Svetlana Sidorova (Clodio), Emil Alekperov (Fausto), Bratislava Chamber Choir; Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo Bellini , Giuliano Carella (conductor). Live recording from Martina Franca, 2. – 4. August 1996. Label: Dynamic 729

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further reading

  • Scott L. Balthazar, Michael Rose: Giovanni Pacini. In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Volume 3. Grove, Oxford University Press, New York 1997, ISBN 0-19-522186-9 , pp. 808-812.
  • Scott L. Balthazar: L'Ultimo giorno di Pompeii. In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Volume 4. Grove, Oxford University Press, New York 1997, ISBN 978-0-19-522186-2 , p. 862.
  • Milena Melfi: Excavating Opera: Composers and archaeologists in 19th century Italy. In: Imagines: The reception of antiquity in performing and visual arts. Universidad de La Rioja, 2008, ISBN 978-84-96487-32-1 , pp. 159-164 ( dialnet.unirioja.es [PDF; 142 kB]).

Web links

Commons : L'ultimo giorno di Pompei  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, pp. 49-51 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  2. ^ Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, p. 51 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Victoria Gardner Coates, Kenneth Lapatin, Jon L. Seydl: The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection. Getty Publications, 2012, ISBN 978-1-60606-115-2 , p. 197 (English; preview in Google Book Search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  4. ↑ The following table of contents is based on: Andrea Leone Tottola: L'ultimo giorno di Pompei  in the  text archive - Internet Archive . Libretto for the performance at La Scala in Milan, autumn 1827 (Italian; accessed August 1, 2019).
  5. ↑ Sabine Henze-Döhring : L'ultimo giorno di pompei. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 4: Works. Massine - Piccinni. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-492-02414-9 , pp. 607-609.
  6. ↑ "Porro ogni parte modestia as per essere semplicemente espositore della verità." Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, p. 49 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  7. ↑ Pacini himself speaks of the fact that he gave the opera "a coloring that is as appropriate as possible to the composition" ("Diedi infine un colorito più conforme alla composizione"). In: Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, p. 51 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  8. ^ A b Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, p. 50 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  9. ↑ German: prayer; an aria form in the opera.
  10. ↑ As of 2019.
  11. ^ Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, p. 49 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  12. ^ A b c Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, pp. 49-50 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  13. ^ "Ogni parola lode ch'io elargissi a tutti i precitati valenti interpreti sarebbe al di sotto del loro merito. Questo erano compagnie! ”Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, p. 51 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  14. ^ Giovanni Pacini: Le mie memorie artistiche. GG Guidi, Florenz 1865, p. 51 (Italian; scan in Google book search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  15. ↑ Original librettos for various performances can be found at: Andrea Leone Tottola: L'ultimo giorno di Pompei  in the  Textarchiv - Internet Archive . Libretto for the performance at La Scala in Milan, autumn 1827 (Italian; accessed August 1, 2019).
  16. ↑ Description of the CD L'ultimo giorno di Pompei on the jpc.de website (accessed on August 1, 2019).
  17. ↑ Felicia Hardison Londre, Margot Berthold: The History of World Theater: From the English Restoration to the Present. Continuum, New York 1999, ISBN 0-8264-1167-3 , p. 201 (English; preview in Google Book Search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  18. ↑ Entry in WorldCat under OCLC 900332186 .
  19. ↑ Victoria Gardner Coates, Kenneth Lapatin, Jon L. Seydl: The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection. Getty Publications, 2012, ISBN 978-1-60606-115-2 , p. 141 (English; preview in Google Book Search, accessed August 1, 2019).
  20. ^ Maurice Owen: The False-Door: Dissolution and becoming in Roman wall-painting. CASIAD, Southampton Solent University , 2010, p. 5 (accessed August 1, 2019).
  21. ^ Maria Wyke: Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema and History. Routledge, New York / London 2013, ISBN 978-1-317-79607-7 , pp. 158–159 (excerpts in preview in the Google book search).