La serva padrona

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Work data
Title: The maid as mistress
Original title: La serva padrona
Program booklet from 1739, in which La serva padrona is announced as an intermezzo for Vivaldi's opera seria L'odio vinto dalla costanza

Program booklet from 1739, in which La Serva Padrona as an intermezzo for Vivaldi's opera seria L'odio vinto dalla Costanza is announced

Shape: intermezzo
Original language: Italian
Music: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Libretto : Gennaro Antonio Federico
Premiere: September 5, 1733
Place of premiere: Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo
Playing time: about 50 minutes
Place and time of the action: In a room in Italy around 1730
people
  • Serpina, servant ( soprano )
  • Uberto, old bachelor ( bass )
  • Vespone, servant (silent role)

La serva padrona ( The Maid as Mistress ) is an operatic intermezzo in two parts by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi . The libretto was written by Gennaro Antonio Federico . The work had its world premiere on September 5, 1733 at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples between the three acts of the opera seria Il prigionier superbo by the same composer.

action

place and time

The opera is set in a posh house in an Italian city at the time of its premiere, i.e. in the 1730s. The basic theme of the plot comes from the Commedia dell'arte : A rich old fool is tricked into marrying him by his resolute young servant. The plot is peppered with situation comedy and caricature type drawing.

First part

For hours the old bachelor Uberto has been waiting in vain for his maid Serpina to finally serve him breakfast (Aria Uberto: “Aspettare e non venire”). He sends his servant Vespone to look for her. Uberto blames himself for Serpina's behavior. He had once taken her in as a young girl and spoiled her like a daughter. Now she knows how much her employer depends on her, and lets him and Vespone feel it again and again. When she enters the room with Vespone, she insults him, insists on being respected as a mistress, and threatens to beat him. Uberto is at a loss (Aria Uberto: “Semper in contrasti”). To avoid Serpina's growing anger, he announces that he will be going for a walk. But she forbids him - after all, it is noon. He should just shut up (Aria Serpina: “Stizzoso, mio ​​stizzoso”). Now Uberto's collar is bursting. He instructs Vespone to find a bride for him - he even prefers a harpy to Serpina's regiment. But Serpina is certain that she will be the chosen and future landlady herself (duet: “Lo conosco a quegli occhietti”).

Second part

Serpina came up with a clever plan and made promises to get Vespone on her side. To incite Uberto's jealousy, she pretends to want to get married too. Her bridegroom is the "Capitan Tempesta" ("Captain Ungewitter"). She points out to Uberto how much he will miss her (Aria Serpina: "A Serpina penserete"). While Serpina fetches her chosen one, feelings are already stirring in Uberto (Aria Uberto: "Son imbrogliato io già"). Serpina comes back with her menacing looking groom. However, this is none other than the servant Vespone disguised as a soldier. He doesn't say a word and only answers questions with gestures. Serpina explains to old Hagestolz that her lover demands a dowry of 4,000 Scudi. Otherwise Uberto would have to marry her himself or Tempesta would cut him to pieces. Old Uberto gives up. He promises to lead her to the altar himself. With that, Serpina has achieved her goal: she will be the new mistress. Vespone takes off his disguise and everyone is satisfied (duet: “Contento tu sarai” or “Per te ho io nel core”).

layout

Music numbers

The opera dispenses with an introductory symphony. It contains the following music numbers:

First part

  • Aria (Uberto): "Aspettare e non venire"
  • Aria (Uberto): "Semper in contrasti"
  • Aria (Serpina): "Stizzoso, mio ​​stizzoso"
  • Duet (Serpina, Uberto): "Lo conosco a quegli occhietti"

Second part

  • Aria (Serpina): "A Serpina penserete"
  • Aria (Uberto): "Son imbrogliato io già"
  • Duet (Serpina, Uberto): "Contento tu sarai"
  • Duet (Serpina, Uberto): "Per te ho io nel core" (Alternative final duet, Naples 1735, from Il Flaminio )

libretto

In contrast to many other contemporary comedies, the text dispenses with dialect roles, but is nevertheless written in popular language. The two parts of the work are structured differently. They relate to one another in their dramatic development. Serpina's argument in the first part leads to the complete confusion of her master. In the second part, words are no longer dominant, but rather the exaggerated disguise comedy Serpina and the Mute Servant. The latter is significant for both parts: in the first part it acts as a medium for Serpina's physical violence and her argument with Uberto, in the second part it is essential for the comedy.

music

The opera's orchestra consists of strings and basso continuo , the baroque orchestra customary at the time. The first and second violins as well as the viola and bass occasionally play in unison, so that the orchestral setting is then only two-part.

The lively arias use a three-part da capo form . The melodies are based on the folk music of southern Italy. Pergolesi dispensed with virtuoso passages or the parody of opera seria arias, as they often appeared in similar works. The only allusion to the larger operatic form is an Accompagnato recitative instead of the otherwise used Seccos. The latter do not appear stylized, but rather represent a dialogue that is animated by repetitions of words, quick chatter or shortened syllables.

The music supports the characterization of the two main characters in a special way. Uberto's uncertainty is illustrated by contrasting orchestral motifs. In contrast, Serpina's music is characterized by vocal and folk melodies. Regular and clearly structured musical forms represent their self-confidence.

Uberto's virtuoso performance aria “Aspettare e non venire”, in which he expresses dissatisfaction with his maid, is in three parts. It begins with high tones that lead to an octave fall. The phrase is repeated three times in each higher register. The two following parts each consist of varied repetitions of the first part with shortened note values, which reflects Uberto's increasing confusion.

Uberto's first complete da capo aria is “Semper in contrasti”. It consists of short melodic and rhythmic motifs to texts such as "e qua e la", "e su e giù" or "e si e no", in which his constant verbal struggle with Serpina is reflected.

The dramatic climax of the first part is the final duet “Lo conosco a quegli occhietti” with its musical battle of words between the two protagonists. Uberto's musical motifs are increasingly similar to those of Serpina.

Serpina's aria “A Serpina penserete” at the beginning of the second part ironically portrays Uberto's complaint about her impending loss. The changing moods are depicted by contrasting measures of time and tempos.

There are motivic connections between Uberto's second and third aria (“Semper in contrasti” or “Son imbrogliato io già”).

In the original final duet, Pergolesi was careful to portray the union of the two main characters cautiously as a pure necessity without real feelings of love. Since this conclusion was found unsatisfactory by some of his contemporaries, it was replaced from 1735 by the more virtuoso duet “Per te ho io nel core” from Il Flaminio.

Work history

After the 1733 carnival season had been canceled due to an earthquake that struck Naples on November 29, 1732, Pergolesi, who was only 23 years old, became a prigionier on August 28, 1733 with the composition of the opera Il Prigolesi on the occasion of the 42nd birthday of Empress Elisabeth Christine superbo commissioned. However, the premiere took place a few days later for unknown reasons. As was customary at the time, the two parts of an intermezzo were played between the three acts of this opera , in this case La serva padrona. The opera and intermezzo have no context and were performed by different interpreters. The buffo roles of the intermezzi were usually performed by singers who specialize in them.

Gennaro Antonio Federico's libretto is based on a play of the same name by Jacopo Angelo Nelli , which was published in 1731 and already contains the essential elements of the intermezzo. The characters are taken from the Commedia dell'arte .

At the premiere on September 5, 1733 at the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples, the soprano Laura Monti sang as Serpina and the bass Gioacchino Corrado as Uberto. The two gained great popularity in Naples over the next three years. The success of the work apparently led to separate performances of La serva padrona immediately after its premiere .

reception

After the world premiere, La serva padrona remained - extremely untypical for the time - for two decades without any notable changes in the repertoire. It has been played in more than 60 theaters across Europe. Only the final duet has occasionally been replaced since 1735 by “Per te ho io nel core” from Pergolesi's Commedia per musica Il Flaminio . The opera gained political importance through its frequent performances in northern Italy, which was occupied by the Habsburgs after the War of the Polish Succession. The protest against the unwelcome new rulers was symbolized by the maid who rebelled against her rule. In Naples itself, La serva padrona was played again in 1738 at the request of the Bourbon Queen Maria Amalia . Your traditional comment that the composer is already dead, but a great man, is a special recognition of his creative achievement.

A few years later the performances in Paris were of particular importance. The first performance there on October 4, 1746 went without much attention. The criticism only noted "simplicity and grace of expression". When the intermezzo was combined on August 1, 1752 at the Académie Royale with Lully's pastoral opera Acis et Galatée , it became the focus of controversial discussions. The Italian opera company of the composer and conductor Eustachio Bambini performed a total of 14 comic operas in the Italian style between 1752 and 1754, including La serva padrona . This style was still unknown in France at the time and led to the division of the public into two camps, which fought each other in pamphlets and newspaper articles. The conflict in which the Italian opera buffa was played off against the outdated standards of French opera later became known as the Buffonist dispute . He had a lasting influence on the further development of opera and ultimately led to the development of the genre of Opéra-comique . In addition to La serva padrona , five other works performed by Bambini contained music by Pergolesi. The Italian style was propagated by encyclopedists such as Rousseau , Friedrich Melchior Grimm and Denis Diderot , among others . Rousseau himself transferred stylistic features from La serva padrona to his French intermezzo Le devin du village of 1752. Two years later, Pierre Baurans translated Pergolesi's original into French under the title La servante maîtresse . He revised the work, replaced the recitatives with French dialogues, renamed the main characters and added other musical numbers.

In the German-speaking area, La serva padrona was initially performed in Italian from 1739. It was only much later that German translations and adaptations spread under titles such as Zofenherrschaft (Berlin 1810, translation by Karl Alexander Herklots based on the French version of 1754) or Die imperious maid (Darmstadt 1810). In some earlier German-language performances from 1770, the origin of the text and music material is uncertain.

The work was also performed frequently in England, often as an open-air performance. An English translation and adaptation by Stephen Storace senior (around 1725 - 1781) and James Oswald had great success in Marylebone Gardens in 1759. The two added another role and a third act. This version was also given at the King's Theater on Haymarket , Theater Royal Drury Lane , Ranelagh Gardens and Covent Garden . It became the model for several other English versions, including The Maid the Mistress from 1770 with completely new music by Charles Dibdin based on a libretto by Bickerstaff (revised in 1771 as He Wou'd if he Could ).

Giovanni Paisiello set Federico's libretto to music again in 1781. He revised the text in the sense of a musical stirring piece and added an overture, two further arias by Serpina and a duet. With that he reached a total length of more than an hour. From the two alternative final duets, he created a three-movement final piece.

The piece was played in various versions throughout the 19th century. A French adaptation by François-Auguste Gevaert , which was first published in 1861 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, lasted into the 20th century. Hans Michel Schletterer wrote a new German translation for Hamburg in 1880 with the title Die Magd als Herrin. In connection with the productions in Munich (1901, Franz Wüllner ), Venice (1907, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari ), Vienna (1909, Richard Kleinmichel ) and Lauchstädt (1910, Hermann Abert based on the original sources), new editions of the score or the piano reduction were published . There were important productions of the second half of the 20th century in 1952/53/61 by the Scala School in Milan (also played in Paris in 1953) and in 1958 by the Rome Chamber Opera (conductor: Renato Fasano , direction and set: Corrado Pavolini). The latter production was often played outside of Italy for several years.

In 1998 a paraphrase by the Danish composer Bent Lorentzen with the title Pergolesis Heimservice was premiered in Aarhus .

Since La serva padrona has been on the repertoire without interruptions since its first performance in 1733, it is considered one of the first repertoire operas.

Recordings

La serva padrona has appeared many times on phonograms. Andreas Ommer names 28 recordings in the period from 1949 to 2003. Therefore, only those recordings that have been particularly distinguished in specialist magazines, opera guides or the like or that are worth mentioning for other reasons are listed below.

  • 1941 (studio; earliest known recording): Alfredo Simonetto (conductor), EIAR orchestra. Angelica Tuccari (Serpina), Sesto Bruscantini (Uberto). Fonit-Cetra CDO 33 (1 CD).
  • 1969? (Studio; complete; with final duet from Il Flaminio ; review on Gramophone 9/1992: “far and away the more convincing of the two versions of Pergolesi's intermezzo currently available in The Classical Catalog ”): Franzjosef Maier (conductor), Collegium Aureum . Maddalena Bonifaccio (Serpina), Siegmund Nimsgern (Uberto). EMI / EL LP: EL 16 635 (1 LP).
  • 1986 (studio; contains both final duets ; review on Gramophone 7/1987: “In short, the performance is a good deal more musical than most”): Pál Németh (conductor), Capella Savaria. Katalin Farkas (Serpina), József Gregor (Uberto). Hungaroton HCD 12846 (1 CD).
  • 1995 (studio): Gilbert Bezzina (conductor; review on Gramophone 4/1996: "Altogether, this is an enjoyable recording, the best now available of this piece"), Ensemble Baroque de Nice. Isabelle Poulenard (Serpina), Philippe Cantor (Uberto). Pierre Verany PV795111 (1 CD).
  • November 23, 1996 (also video; live from the Lunatheater Brussels; together with Livietta e Tracollo ; review on Gramophone 11/1997): Sigiswald Kuijken (conductor), Ferruccio Soleri (staging), La Petite Bande . Patricia Biccirè (Serpina), Donato di Stefano (Uberto). TDK DV-LTSP (DVD), Accent 96123 (1 CD).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d La serva padrona. In: Harenberg opera guide. 4th edition. Meyers Lexikonverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-411-76107-5 , p. 649.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Gordana Lazarevich:  Serva padrona, La. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  3. ↑ Information in the libretto from 1733
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Jürgen Schläder: La serva padrona. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Vol. 4. Works. Massine - Piccinni. Piper, Munich and Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-492-02414-9 , pp. 681-684.
  5. ↑ La serva padrona (Pergolesi). In: Reclam's Opernlexikon. Philipp Reclam jun., 2001. Digital Library, Volume 52, p. 2374.
  6. ^ Ulrich Schreiber : Opera guide for advanced learners. From the beginning to the French Revolution. 2nd Edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-7618-0899-2 , pp. 244-247.
  7. ↑ Prigionier superbo, Il. Work information on operamanager.com , accessed on September 12, 2016.
  8. ^ Record of the performance on September 5, 1733 in the Teatro San Bartolomeo in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
  9. ↑ Herbert Schneider , Reinhard Wiesend (ed.): The opera in the 18th century (= manual of musical genres. Volume 12). Laaber, 2001, ISBN 3-89007-135-X , p. 15.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings. Zeno.org , volume 20.
  11. ↑ Data on the recording of Alfredo Simonetto on operabaroque.fr, accessed on September 27, 2016.
  12. ↑ Nicholas Anderson: Review of the CD by Franzjosef Maier on Gramophone (9/1992), accessed on September 27, 2016.
  13. ↑ Stanley Sadie : Review of Pál Németh's recording on Gramophone (7/1987), accessed September 27, 2016.
  14. ↑ Lionel Salter: Review of Gilbert Bezzina's recording on Gramophone (4/1996), accessed on September 27, 2016.
  15. ↑ Review of the recording by Sigiswald Kuijken (CD) on Gramophone (11/1997), accessed on September 27, 2016.
  16. ↑ Review of the recording by Sigiswald Kuijken (DVD) on Gramophone (13/2002), accessed on September 27, 2016.