Viva la Mamma

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Work data
Title: Viva la Mamma!
Original title: Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali
Performance at the Teatro dell'Opera Florence, 2017

Performance at the Teatro dell'Opera Florence, 2017

Shape: Opera buffa
Original language: Italian
Music: Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto : Gaetano Donizetti
Literary source: Two one-act plays by Antonio Simone Sografi
Premiere: April 20, 1831
Place of premiere: Teatro della Canobbiana , Milan
Playing time: approx. 1 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Italy around 1830
people
  • Corilla Sartinecchi, prima donna ( soprano )
  • Procolo, her husband ( bass )
  • Mamma Agata, Luigia's mother ( baritone )
  • Luigia Scannagalli, second singer (soprano)
  • Dorothea Frescopane, contralto ( alto )
  • Guglielmo Antolstoinoloff, German tenor ( tenor )
  • Biscroma Strappaviscere, composer (bass)
  • Prospero Salsapariglia, librettist (tenor)
  • Impresario (bass)
  • Mayor (bass)
  • Theater facts (old)
  • Theater workers, guards, audience ( choir and extras)

Viva la Mamma! (Original title: Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali , German for example: "Sitten und Badges der Menschen vom Theater") is an opera buffa in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti . The libretto comes from the composer and is based on the two one-act acts Le convenienze teatrali and Le inconvenienze teatrali by Antonio Simone Sografi. Donizetti may have been assisted in this by Domenico Gilardoni , the librettist of some of his earlier operas. The opera had its world premiere on April 20, 1831 at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan .

plot

The opera is set in a theater in the Italian provinces at the time of its premiere, i.e. in the 1830s.

first act

The audience is in the middle of a rehearsal of the opera seria Romulus and Ersilia . The actors are constantly arguing about which of them has the more important role. The composer and lyricist also often have different ideas about how their work could be brought out more effectively on stage. Mamma Agata, the mother of the second singer Luigia, treats the prima donna extremely harshly, whereupon she refuses to stand on stage with Luigia. Dorotea, the actress who played Romulus, has something to complain about in everything and leaves the theater angry. Fortunately, the resolute Agata quickly sees a way out: she herself will take on the orphaned role. Everyone knows that their voice is too thin and far too deep for that, but the main thing is that the role is cast again. Now the Russian tenor Antolstoinoloff's collar is bursting too. He follows Dorotea, and another role is available again. The bassist Procolo, the husband of the prima donna, immediately steps in for him. As a member of the ensemble, he can do better for his wife's interests anyway.

Despite everything, the arguments continued. The debate finally culminates in the statement that without a sonorous name in the ensemble, the premiere is doomed to failure. Nobody feels like rehearsing anymore. The time has come for a big break!

Second act

Mamma Agata feels like a new star in the Italian opera sky. She therefore also believes that she can demand a hefty advance payment from the impresario. However, the latter is by no means inclined to fulfill the wish. Agata doesn't give a damn about this. She just wanted to see how far she can go. She is quickly involved in the rehearsals of the opera troupe. It is obvious that the two new appointments show extremely poor performance. Only they do not realize it. Suddenly the news bursts in that the city is demanding a bail from the opera troupe; otherwise gaming operations will be prohibited. Good advice is valuable now; because all those responsible do not see themselves in a position to raise the requested sum. It turns out to be a stroke of luck to have brought Mamma Agata into the ensemble. She quickly relocates her old family jewelry and bailed out the troops. Viva la Mamma!

orchestra

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

Work history

Viva la Mamma was originally a one-act Farsa , which was launched under the title Le convenienze teatrali on November 21, 1827 at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples . The singers included Giuditta Grisi (Corilla), Cesare Badiali (Procolo), Gennarino Luzio (Mamma Agata), Domenico Reina (tenor) and Vincenzo Galli (poet).

Three years later, Donizetti expanded Farsa into a full-length opera. This version was shown for the first time on April 20, 1831 at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan. Fanny Corri-Paltoni (Daria), Minieri (Procolo), Giuseppe Frezzolini (Mamma Agata), Virginia Eden (Luigia), Marietta Gioja-Tamburini (Dorotea), Giuseppe Giordani (Guglielmo), Luigi Fioravanti (Biscroma) and Giovanni Battista Campagnoli (Prospero).

In German-speaking countries, the work is usually performed in a German translation, because otherwise numerous gags of this parody of the opera business would not ignite. It is also not uncommon for the plot to be relocated to the present, taking into account local features and renaming individual characters. For the performance of the Württembergische Staatstheater Stuttgart in the season 1981/1982, the director Ernst Poettgen remarked in the program booklet: “So that the whole event does not take place too impersonally in a 'distant Italy a long time ago', I have found a shoot ... that makes it possible to relocate the plot precisely to tonight and precisely in this theater. "

literature

Web links

Commons : Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Norbert Miller : Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , pp. 739-741.
  2. ↑ November 21, 1827: “Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ., Accessed on August 8, 2019.
  3. ↑ April 20, 1831: “Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ., Accessed on August 8, 2019.