Mirandolina (Martinů)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Mirandolina |
Performance at the La Fenice Theater in Venice, |
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| Shape: | Comic opera in three acts |
| Original language: | Italian |
| Music: | Bohuslav Martinů |
| Libretto : | Bohuslav Martinů |
| Literary source: |
Carlo Goldoni : Mirandolina |
| Premiere: | 17th May 1959 |
| Place of premiere: | Smetana Theater, Prague |
| Playing time: | about 2 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Florence, in the 18th century |
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Mirandolina is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů , based on the comedy Mirandolina by Carlo Goldoni (original Italian title: La locandiera ). The original version of the opera is in Italian, Martinů himself arranged Goldoni's text for the setting.
Mirandolina bears the work number H. 346 in the Halbreich directory . The work was composed in 1953 and 1954. However, it was first performed on May 17, 1959, shortly before Martinů's death, by the Prague National Theater in its venue in the Smetana Theater in a Czech translation. The first performance in Germany took place in Essen in 1960 . It was not until the performances at the Wexford Festival in Ireland in 2002 and the Garsington Opera Festival in England in 2009 that the work was widely accepted.
History of origin
Goldoni's comedy was set to music at least twelve times, several times as early as the 18th century. For example, in 1773 Antonio Salieri wrote his opera La locandiera , premiered at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna , and Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi wrote his Mirandolina , premiered in Venice. Other opera versions are by Johann Simon Mayr (1800), Giuseppe Farinelli (1803), Henry Kimball Hadley (1918) and Richard Mohaupt (1937). However, none of these settings was on the repertoire.
Martinů lived in Paris from 1923 to 1940. After his music was banned by the National Socialists in his home country and the arrival of German troops in Paris was already apparent, he first fled to southern France and then emigrated to the United States via Lisbon . In 1952 he became a citizen of the USA, in 1953 he returned to Europe with his wife Charlotte, a French woman, and initially moved to Nice . The opera Mirandolina was written there between December 15, 1953 and July 1, 1954 .
The life and work of the neoclassical composer were repeatedly shaped by phases of unshakable optimism. In 1940 he wrote a Sinfonietta giocosa in Aix-en-Provence while fleeing the Nazis . After his return to the south of France in 1953, he again decided on a cheerful subject. That year he had been awarded a Guggenheim scholarship for the composition of an opera and wanted to fulfill this obligation with a deadline as soon as possible. The idea of setting Dostoyevsky's The Obsessed to music was considered, but ultimately rejected. Jaroslav Mihule writes that “the beautiful French Riviera with its azure blue sky and the fragrant sea breeze” would have determined the content of his compositions in this phase of his life. He also remembered his love for Italy, which began in 1922 on a tour with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra , during which he also came to Florence, the setting for Goldoni's comedy.
After the decision for the subject had been made, the work proceeded quickly. Martinů decided to set Goldoni's piece to music in the original language and to arrange the libretto himself. Since he did not speak Italian well enough himself, he used a bilingual edition of the theater text in Italian and French for the libretto. In February 1954, he went to Italy for a few days to clarify unanswered questions to seek linguistic advice from Olga Schallberger. However, the result was not satisfactory. Fortunately, an old friend from the Parisian days, Antonio Aniante, agreed to help Martinů not only understand the text, but also with cadence and intonation. Originally, the work was to be called La locandiera , just like the literary model ; the opera did not find its final name until its premiere in Prague. His wife's records indicate that the second elevator was completed on May 7th and the third on June 23rd, 1954. The composition of the saltarello , the introduction to the third act, was completed on June 30, 1954.
content
first act
At Mirandolina's hostel, the Marchese and the Count argue over which of the two has more money. The background to the dispute is that both have fallen in love with the extremely attractive landlady and each wants to represent the better party. The Cavaliere, who despises women, appears and offers himself to mediate the dispute. In his eyes it is ridiculous to quarrel over a woman. When Mirandolina appears to clean the foyer, the three gentlemen - because of their beauty - are speechless. Fabrizio is the waiter at Mirandolina's hostel. He jealously watches as his employer turns the heads of all male guests. Nevertheless, he conscientiously takes care of his work.
Second act
Ortensia and Deianira appear and pretend to be in good shape. They want to rent a room from Fabrizio, but Mirandolina sees through and unmasked the two. The Marchese fights for the attention of the beautiful landlady with a silk scarf, but she wants to convert the misogynist Cavaliere, serves him personally and charms him with all means at her disposal. The rough leg becomes weak and quickly falls in love. The two eat together, sing a drinking song together and approach each other. Ultimately, the landlady uses the ultimate means, a fictional impotence that leads the Cavaliere to believe that Mirandolina has fallen in love with him. While he tries to revive them with water, Marchese and Conte are amused by the game.
Third act
Mirandolina does the laundry, Fabrizio brings the iron. The Cavaliere enters and asks if Mirandolina has recovered. When he realizes that the landlady is more interested in her waiter than in him, he becomes angry and violent. But Fabrizio heroically defends his employer. Thereupon Mirandolina announces in front of the hurried guests that she has decided on Fabrizio and will marry him. The Cavaliere leaves the scene indignantly.
Characteristic
Martinů composed a classic opera buffa with Mirandolina , cheerful, lively and fast. His work is considered "a winking reminiscence of Rossini's masterpieces". The neoclassical tonality was also influenced by French impressionism , jazz and its native Moravian folk music. The genre designation is difficult, it moves between dramma giocoso , as Salieri and Guglielmi called their settings, or comic opera - or even as a combination of several genres, as the work of the Teatro La Fenice is described: "un delizioso ibrido tra opéra-comique, Singspiel ed operetta ”, in German:“ a delicious mixture of opéra-comique , singspiel and operetta ”.
It is formally striking that in addition to singing and spoken chanting, spoken passages are also integrated - with continuous orchestral accompaniment. The Teatro La Fenice describes "the bright tones, the sparkling dialogues and a touch of melancholy" that pervade the work. British director David Pountney praised Martinů for his witty and ironic allusions to Italian madrigals , French vaudeville and the classic opera buffa. Martinů's biographer Brian Large pointed out some highlights of the score - the coloratura Mirandolina in the 6th scene of the first act, the waltzes , intermezzi and the saltarello at the beginning of the third act. The latter is often performed in concerts and has also been recorded on phonograms.
Performance history
After its world premiere on May 17, 1959 in the Smetana Theater , today's Prague State Opera, the opera remained on the program until 1963. Another series of performances by the Prague National Theater took place from 1980 to 1982. In both series the work was performed in Czech, translated by Rudolf Vonásek .
In Germany the work was first performed in 1960 at the Städtische Bühnen Essen with Käthe Graus in the title role, not in the original language either , but in a German translation by Carl Stueber . The early performance history of the work - with the exception of the world premiere - has not yet been scientifically worked out.
The Wexford Festival Opera in Southeast Ireland presented the opera in 2002, with Daniela Bruera in the title role, conducted by Riccardo Frizza and staged by Paul Curran . It premiered in the UK in 2009 at the Garsington Opera Festival . The title role was sung by Juanita Lascarro , it was conducted by Martin André and it was directed by Martin Duncan .
The work premiered on December 5, 2013 at the Moravian-Silesian National Theater in Ostrava , and the opera was sung in the original Italian for the first time in the Czech Republic . The first performance in the original language in Germany followed in March 2014 - at the Stadttheater Gießen , staged by Andriy Zholdak, conducted by Michael Hofstetter . In April 2014, the opera studio of the Bavarian State Opera presented the work in the Cuvilliés Theater in Munich , conducted by Alexander Prior and staged by Christian Stückl . In June of the same year a new production at the Slovak National Theater in Bratislava followed . Finally, on July 1, 2016, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice will also present Martinů's opera.
Cast of important productions:
| First performance May 17, 1959 |
Wexford Festival 2002 |
Cuvilliés Theater 2014 |
Teatro La Fenice 2016 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mirandolina | Maria Tauberová | Daniela Bruera | Mária Celeng | Silvia Frigato |
| Ortensia | Jaroslava Procházková | Tereza Mátlová | Yulia Sokolik | Giulia Della Peruta |
| Dejanira | Štěpánka Štěpánová | Elena Traversi | Rachael Wilson | Laura Verrecchia |
| Conte d'Albafloria | Oldřich Kovář | Simon Edwards | Joshua Stewart | Marcello Nardis |
| Cavaliere di Ripafratta | Přemysl Kočí | Enrico Marabelli | Andrea Borghini | Omar Montanari |
| Marchese di Forlimpopoli | Jaroslav Horáček | Simone Alberghini | Rafal Pawnuk | Bruno Taddia |
| Fabrizio | Ivo Žídek | Massimiliano Tonsini | Matthew Grills | Leonardo Cortellazzi |
| conductor | Václav Kašlík | Riccardo Frizza | Alexander Prior | John Axelrod |
admission
The 2002 Wexford production was recorded by the BBC and published on CD by Supraphon in 2004 . The Wexford production orchestra was the Belarusian National Orchestra .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Jaroslav Mihule: Mirandolina , CD-Booklet, Supraphon 2004, 3770-2 632. From Bohuslav Martinů Institute (English), accessed on June 27, 2016.
- ↑ a b Národní divadlo : Mirandolina , cast lists for the Martinů opera in the years 1959–1963 and 1980–1982 in the archive of the Prague National Theater (in Czech, with sets and stage designs), accessed on June 26, 2016.
- ↑ Mirandolina, 2002 . In: www.wexfordopera.com, accessed June 30, 2016.
- ^ Garsington Opera Festival 2009 - Martinů, Mirandolina . In: www.musicweb-international.com, accessed on June 30, 2016.
- ^ A b F. James Rybka: Bohuslav Martinu: The Compulsion to Compose. Scarecrow Press, 2011, p. 223.
- ↑ Udo Pacolt: GIESSEN: MIRANDOLINA by Bohuslav Martinu - a Czech opera rarity , Online Merker, May 2014, accessed on June 27, 2016.
- ↑ a b c Teatro La Fenice : MARTINŮ, MIRANDOLINA , on the occasion of the Venetian premiere on July 1, 2016, accessed on June 27, 2016.
- ↑ Pountney was director of the Bregenz Festival from 2004 to 2014 . They presented Martinů's Greek Passion in 1999 and his Julietta in 2002 . See David Pountney : In the Key of Dreams. In: Opera . V. 60, N. 6, June 2009, p. 660.
- ^ Brian Large : Martinů. Duckworth, London 1975, p. 108.
- ↑ Andrew Clark: Mirandolina, Garsington Opera, Oxford , Financial Times (London), June 21, 2009, accessed June 26, 2016.
- ↑ Národní divadlo moravskoslezské: Mirandolina, Bohuslav Martinů , accessed on June 26, 2016.
- ↑ World of Opera: Cosmopolitan Charm, in Martinu's 'Mirandolina' , accessed June 27, 2016.
- ^ Wilhelm Roth: Gags and riddles . In: www.die-deutsche-buehne.de, March 31, 2014, accessed on June 29, 2016.
- ↑ Abendzeitung (Munich): Bohuslav Martinus "Mirandolina" in the AZ review , May 5, 2014, accessed on June 26, 2016.
- ↑ Patrick O'Connor: Martinu Mirandolina , Grammophone, accessed June 27, 2016.