L'occasione fa il ladro

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Opera dates
Title: Opportunity makes thieves
Original title: L'occasione fa il ladro
Title page of the libretto, Venice 1812

Title page of the libretto, Venice 1812

Shape: Burletta per musica
Original language: Italian
Music: Gioachino Rossini
Libretto : Luigi Prividali
Literary source: Eugène Scribe
Premiere: November 24, 1812
Place of premiere: Teatro San Moisè , Venice
Playing time: approx. 1 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Naples and surroundings
people
  • Don Eusebio, Uncle Berenices ( tenor )
  • Berenice, Alberto's bride ( soprano )
  • Conte Alberto ( tenor )
  • Don Parmenione ( bass )
  • Ernestina ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Martino, servant of Don Parmeniones (bass)

L'occasione fa il ladro, ossia Il cambio della valigia ( Eng . Opportunity Makes Thieves ) is a Farsa (original name: "burletta per musica") in an act by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Luigi Prividali based on the vaudeville Le prétendu par hasard , ou L'occasion fait le larron by Eugène Scribe . The premiere took place on November 24, 1812 at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice .

action

A hall in a country hotel with access to several numbered rooms

Scene 1. Despite the dark and stormy night, Don Parmenione does not allow himself to be disturbed (Sinfonia and introduction: “Frema in cielo il nembo irato”). He takes his meal with relish at a well-laid table, while his servant Martino hardly gets a bite out of fear.

Scene 2. Conte Alberto enters the room with a servant. He puts his master's suitcase next to the Parmeniones and goes to sleep on a bench. Alberto is happy to have escaped the storm. After introducing themselves, Parmenione and Alberto start a drinking song - much to Martino's displeasure. Alberto suggests traveling on to Naples together. Parmenione, however, claims to have a different goal. Then Alberto says that he is on his way to his wedding and is urging to get to know the bride. Since the storm has subsided, he says goodbye quickly and leaves the restaurant. His tired servant accidentally grabs Parmeniones' suitcase.

Scene 3. Parmenione now also wants to leave for Naples. He explains to the confused Martino that he lied to Alberto because he would rather keep his affairs to himself. Then he notices that the suitcases have been mixed up. Because he has his money and passport in it, Martino wants to send Alberto afterwards - but Alberto does not obey, curiously opens Alberto's found suitcase (Aria: “Che sorte, che accidente”). First he finds a wallet. Parmenione tries to stop him, but discovers the portrait of a beautiful woman - apparently Alberto's bride. He immediately falls in love with the portrait and changes his plans. Since the Alberto pass is also found, Martino is to call it Don Alberto from now on. He wants to pass himself off as this and win the bride for himself.

Large, ground-level anteroom in the Berenices house

Scene 4. Berenice's uncle Don Eusebio and Ernestina await the arrival of Alberto. Ernestina regrets being only a maid in this house. Eusebio thinks that is necessary in order to receive the necessary respect. However, she regards his niece as a friend and not a servant. Ernestina doesn't want to complain. She is grateful to have been accepted in her plight. She leaves with the other servants.

Scene 5. Berenice thinks about her bridegroom (aria: “Vicino è il momento”). Shortly before his death, her father had decided that she should marry a friend's son. But she neither knows what he looks like nor whether their views match. Ernestina returns. Berenice asks her to swap clothes with her because she wants to check out the groom. Ernestina should appear as a bride. Eusebio agreed with the plan.

Scene 6. The elegantly dressed Parmenione and Martino arrive. Parmenione hopes the real groom is not there yet.

Scene 7. Ernestina welcomes the guests (quintet: “Quel gentil, quel vago oggetto”). Although she bears no resemblance to the picture found, Parmenione falls in love with her. Ernestina also feels drawn to him. They are on their way to Eusebio.

Scene 8. Alberto has now also arrived. He meets Berenice and greets her happily as his bride. However, she declares that she is only the maid. Alberto is disappointed because he likes it very much. Berenice, however, is secretly happy to have such a gracious husband.

Scene 9. Alberto introduces himself to Eusebio as the expected bridegroom. But immediately afterwards Parmenione and Ernestina come, and Parmenione also claims to be Alberto. Berenice, Ernestina and Eusebio are surprised. While wondering who the cheater is, the two rivals gather their courage. In response to Eusebio's inquiry, both continue to assure that they are the bridegroom, and Parmenione shows Alberto's passport found in the suitcase as proof. The scene ends in general confusion.

Scene 10. In search of something to eat, Martino meets Eusebio and confirms that he is the stranger's servant.

Scene 11. While Ernestina ponders her fate, Alberto arrives and asserts again that he is the real Alberto. Although appearances speak against him, he will come to his own. When Ernestina explains that this does not include the right to marry her, Alberto praises her sincerity. He was ready to break the connection because he didn't feel any love for her either (recitative and aria: “D'ogni più sacro impegno”). He goes. Ernestina finds his appearance credible.

Scene 12. Berenice decides to expose the impostor. The opportunity arises when Parmenione comes in and promises to keep her as a maid after the wedding (duet: “Per conoscere l'inganno - Voi la sposa!”). Berenice replies that there are still doubts about his identity. She herself is not a maid either, but the bride herself. Parmenione first refers again to the documents presented as evidence. But when Berenice asked him more and more questions about his family, he got caught up in contradictions. Berenice is now convinced to have exposed the fraudster. There is a heated argument between the two of them.

Scene 13. Eusebio and Ernestina interrogate Martino to find out the truth about his master. He squirms out by depicting him as an ordinary man, as you can find him everywhere (aria: “Il mio padron è un uomo”). Ernestina already has an inkling that her wishes could come true.

Scene 14. Parmenione and Alberto meet and have an argument.

Scene 15. Berenice comes to check on the cause of the noise. She confronts both of them (recitative and aria: “Voi la sposa pretendet”). You already know that Parmenione loves someone else. Parmenione confirms this - it is her mistress. Alberto agrees to renounce marriage to this one. But if in reality the present is the bride, he will not give in and demand the borrowed name back. In return, Parmenione declares that she has chosen the other beauty. Berenice is outraged that the two are negotiating the matter in this way in their presence. However, the men agree. All you have to do is find out who the bride is.

Scene 16. According to Martino's testimony, Eusebio is convinced that Parmenione is the deceiver. However, Ernestina defends him. At worst, his offense is stupid, but not a crime. Besides, he was not interested in Berenice, but in her. Parmenione comes along and confirms this. His name is not Alberto, but Parmenion di Castelnuovo. He is a friend of Count Ernesto and commissioned by him to find his fugitive sister. It turns out that Ernestina is the one we are looking for. She says: A shameful man tried to seduce her and abandoned her in Naples when she persevered. Parmenione declares that he can no longer punish the unworthy. But he wants to restore her honor by offering her his hand (Finale: "Quello, ch'io fui, ritorno"). Ernestina happily accepts. Parmenione confirms that the other stranger is the real bridegroom.

Scene 17. Berenice and Alberto no longer doubt each other and confess their love to each other.

Last scene. Martino comes and tells them that everything has now been cleared up. Eusebio, Ernestina and Parmenione enter. Parmenione asks for forgiveness. The picture in the found suitcase led him to cheat. He noticed the mistake immediately, but still found what he was looking for. Alberto explains that this picture is actually his sister. It was a present for his young bride. Everyone is celebrating the double wedding. Sometimes there is an excuse when the opportunity turns people into a thief.

layout

libretto

The librettist Luigi Prividali was originally a lawyer, but had given up his profession. He wrote about twenty libretti, worked as a theater journalist and was personally friends with Rossini. His libretto for L'occasione fa il ladro is loosely based on the Vaudeville Le prétendu par hasard, ou L'occasion fait le larron (The daring aspirant, or opportunity makes thief) by Eugène Scribe , which was published in Paris in 1810 under the pseudonymous abbreviation “MA E *** ”and had already been performed in January 1810 at the Théâtre des Variétés . However, since there are few parallels, Prividali's libretto can also be considered an original work. So the case mix-up does not yet appear as the starting point for the plot in Scribe. In contrast to the other farse Rossini's, there are two different scenes in this work: the country hotel and the Berenices residence. The libretto offers elegantly written verses and comical situations and dialogues with a clear course of action. It is a double comedy of mistaken identity with two opposing lovers.

Instrumentation

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

  • Two flutes / piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, one bassoon
  • Two horns
  • Strings
  • Continuo

Music numbers

Like the other four Farse Rossini's, La cambiale di matrimonio contains nine musical numbers. Instead of an overture, however, the work begins with an instrumental introduction that merges into the introduction. Rossini had recently composed the music for this storm scene as storm music for La pietra del paragone .

  • No. 1. Sinfonia and Introduction (Parmenione, Martino, Alberto): "Frema in cielo il nembo irato" (scene 1)
  • No. 2. Aria (Parmenione): "Che sorte, che accidente" (scene 3)
  • No. 3. Aria (Berenice): "Vicino è il momento" (scene 5)
  • No. 4. Quintet (Parmenione, Ernestina, Alberto, Berenice, Eusebio): "Quel gentil, quel vago oggetto" (scene 7)
  • No. 5. Recitative and aria (Alberto): "D'ogni più sacro impegno" (scene 11)
  • No. 6. Duet (Parmenione, Berenice): "Per conoscere l'inganno - Voi la sposa!" (Scene 12)
  • No. 7. Aria (Martino): "Il mio padron è un uomo" (scene 13)
  • No. 8. Recitative and aria (Berenice): "Voi la sposa pretendet" (scene 15)
  • No. 9. Finale: "Quello, ch'io fui, ritorno" (scene 16)

Work history

L'occasione fa il ladro is the fourth of the five one-act “ farse ” that Rossini composed between 1810 and 1813 for the Teatro San Moisè in Venice. The others are La cambiale di matrimonio , L'inganno felice , La scala di seta and Il signor Bruschino .

In the previous years, the young Rossini had enjoyed outstanding success with his operas and was overwhelmed with work. In addition to his “farse” for the Teatro San Moisè, he composed in 1812 for Ferrara Ciro in Babilonia and for the Scala La pietra del paragone in Milan and received another commission for the Teatro La Fenice in Venice ( Tancredi ) . Already La pietra del paragone could be performed only delayed due to fever attacks Rossini so that Rossini was already eagerly awaited by the impresario of the Teatro San Moise, Antonio Cera. As a precaution, Rossini had his illness certified in a letter from Interior Minister Luigi Vaccari and was therefore able to justify himself. However, according to his own statements, he undertook to write the music for the new opera within fifteen days. He achieved this goal because a letter of November 11, 1812 shows that he only needed eleven days. However, he had a colleague write the recitatives, and while rehearsals were still in progress, he re-orchestrated two sections of the quintet.

The premiere took place on November 24, 1812 in the Teatro San Moisè in Venice together with the "farsa giocosa" Un avvertimento ai gelosi by Stefano Pavesi . The singers were the tenor Gaetano Del Monte (Don Eusebio), the soprano Giacinta Guidi Canonici (Berenice), the tenor Tommaso Berti (Conte Alberto), the bass Luigi Pacini (Don Parmenione), the mezzo-soprano Carolina Nagher (Ernestina) and the bass Filippo Spada (Martino). The performance was not quite as successful as the previous operas. In a newspaper report from November 26th in the Giornale Dipartimentale dell'Adriatico , the short duration of the composition was particularly criticized. Although the music contains a lot of good things, it is not possible in such a short time to take into account the characteristics of the intended singers thoroughly enough.

In the following years, L'occasione fa il ladro was performed more frequently, for example in 1817 under the name Lo scambio delle valigie (English: the exchange of suitcases ) at the Teatro Carolino in Piazza Bellini in Palermo, in 1821 at the same place under the original name, in 1822 at the Teatro de la Santa Cruz in Barcelona and at the Scala in Milan, 1826 in Lisbon and 1834 in German in Vienna. In the 20th century it was resumed in Pesaro in 1916. There were further performances in Naples in 1963 and again in Pesaro in 1987.

Recordings

  • Year unknown (shortened): Edwin Loehrer (conductor), Orchestra della Radiotelevisione della Svizzera Italiana Lugano. Adriano Ferrario (Don Eusebio), Jolanda Meneguzzer (Berenice), Juan Oncina (Conte Alberto), Nestore Catalani (Don Parmenione), Maria Minetto (Ernestina), Fernando Corena (Martino). EJ Smith "The Golden Age of Opera" EJS 278 (1 LP).
  • 1953 (abbreviated): Giuseppe Morelli (conductor), Orchestra de la Società del Quartetto Roma. Piero Besma (Don Eusebio), Gianna Russo (Berenice), Flavio Sacchi (Conte Alberto), Nestore Catalani (Don Parmenione), Giuseppina Salvi (Ernestina), Tommaso Dolciotti (Martino). Nixa PLP 595 (1 LP).
  • September 29, 1963 (live, in concert from Naples): Luigi Colonna (conductor), Orchestra A. Scarlatti della RAI di Napoli. Gino Sinimberghi (Don Eusebio), Cecilia Fusco (Berenice), Pietro Bottazzo (Conte Alberto), Italo Tajo (Don Parmenione), Miti Truccato Pace (Ernestina), Renzo Gonzales (Martino). VOCE stereo LP: VOCE-29 (2).
  • November 27, 1973 (live, in concert from Turin): Vittorio Gui (conductor), Orchestra della RAI di Torino. Antonio Pirino (Don Eusebio), Margherita Rinaldi (Berenice), Carlo Gaifa (Conte Alberto), Enrico Fissore (Don Parmenione), Stefania Malagù (Ernestina), Gianni Socci (Martino). Opera d'Oro OPD 1458 (1 CD).
  • 1983 (video, live from Nice): Philippe Bender (conductor), L'Orchestre Régional de Cannes Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur. Anne-Marie Rodde (Berenice), Tibère Raffalli (Conte Alberto), Luis Masson (Don Parmenione), Sonia Nigoghossian (Ernestina). House of Opera DVD 1301 (1 DVD).
  • August 1987 (live from Pesaro): Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (production), Salvatore Accardo (conductor), Orchestra Giovanile Italiana. Ernesto Gavazzi (Don Eusebio), Luciana Serra (Berenice), Raul Giménez (Conte Alberto), John Patrick Raftery (Don Parmenione), Luciana d'Intino (Ernestina), Claudio Desderi (Martino). Ricordi / Cetra CD: RFCD 2001.
  • April 12, 1991 (video, live from the Teatro Politeama , Palermo): Antonello Allemandi (conductor), Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Bellini di Palermo. Sergio Bertocchi (Don Eusebio), Luciana Serra (Berenice), Rockwell Blake (Conte Alberto), Roberto Servile (Don Parmenione), Francesca Provvisionato (Ernestina), Laura Antonaz (Martino). Charles Handelman - Live Opera 07095.
  • May 1992 (video, live from Schwetzingen, recitatives slightly shortened): Michael Hampe (staging), Gianluigi Gelmetti (conductor), Symphony Orchestra of the SWR Stuttgart. Stuart Kale (Don Eusebio), Susan Patterson (Berenice), Robert Gambill (Conte Alberto), Natale de Carolis (Don Parmenione), Monica Bacelli (Ernestina), Alessandro Corbelli (Martino). Teldec VI: NA, Teldec LD: 4509 92170 6, EuroArts 2054998 (1 DVD).
  • February 1992: Marcello Viotti (conductor), English Chamber Orchestra . Fulvio Massa (Don Eusebio), María Bayo (Berenice), Iorio Zennaro (Conte Alberto), Natale de Carolis (Don Parmenione), Francesca Provvisionato (Ernestina), Fabio Previati (Martino). Claves CD: 50-9208 / 9, Brilliant Classics 92399 (8 CD).
  • August 1996 (live from Pesaro): Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (production), Maurizio Benini (conductor), ORT-Orchestra della Toscana. Fabio Sartori (Don Eusebio), Eva Mei (Berenice), Rockwell Blake (Conte Alberto), Roberto de Candia (Don Parmenione), Enkelejda Shkosa (Ernestina), Lorenzo Regazzo (Martino).
  • March 29, 2004 (live from Paris): Jean-Christophe Spinosi (conductor), Ensemble Matheus. Éric Trèmolières (Don Eusebio), Chantal Perraud (Berenice), Benoît Benichou (Conte Alberto), Jacques Colatayud (Don Parmenione), Chantal Santon (Ernestina), Jean-Jacques Sarragosse (Martino).
  • July 2005 (live from Bad Wildbad): Antonino Fogliani (conductor), Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra. Joan Ribalta (Don Eusebio), Elizaveta Martirosyan (Berenice), Garðar Thór Cortes (Conte Alberto), Gianpiero Ruggeri (Don Parmenione), Fanie Antonelou (Ernestina), Mauro Utzeri (Martino). Naxos 8.660314-15.

Web links

Commons : L'occasione fa il ladro  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard Osborne:  Occasione fa il ladro, L '. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  2. ↑ Magasin encyclopédique, ou Journal des sciences, des lettres et des arts . Rédigé by Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison. Année 1810. Tome I. Paris. p. 209 books.google
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Reto Müller : Text accompanying the CD Naxos 8.660314-15
  4. ↑ L'occasione fa il ladro. Notes on the Critical Edition by Giovanni Carli Ballola, Patricia Brauner and Philip Gossett , accessed November 9, 2015.
  5. ↑ L'occasione fa il ladro - Sommario on librettidopera.it , accessed on May 10, 2016.
  6. ^ A b L'occasione fa il ladro (Gioachino Rossini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna . Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Gioacchino Rossini. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings. Zeno.org , volume 20.