Oberto conte di San Bonifacio

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Work data
Title: Oberto, Count of San Bonifacio
Original title: Oberto conte di San Bonifacio
Title page of the libretto, Milan 1839

Title page of the libretto, Milan 1839

Original language: Italian
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto : Antonio Piazza and Temistocle Solera
Premiere: November 17, 1839
Place of premiere: Milan , Teatro alla Scala
Playing time: approx. 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Ezzelino's Castle, near Bassano , 1228
people
  • Oberto, Count of San Bonifacio ( bass )
  • Leonora, his daughter ( soprano )
  • Cuniza, sister of Ezzelino (soprano)
  • Imelda, her confidante ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Riccardo, Count of Salinguerra ( tenor )
  • Court ladies, cavaliers, vassals, officers, soldiers, servants ( choir and extras )

Oberto conte di San Bonifacio (Oberto, Count of San Bonifacio) is an opera in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi based on a libretto by Antonio Piazza and Temistocle Solera . The premiere took place on November 17, 1839 at La Scala in Milan . Oberto is Verdi's first performed opera.

Emergence

As a young composer, Verdi still had to adhere to the customs of the Italian opera industry of the time. First, an impresario decided which operas should be premiered in the coming season. The cast was then determined. Only then was a librettist commissioned to sketch the plot in broad outline. If the censors accepted the planned piece, the final libretto was worked out. The composer was only secondary and had to write at least a masterpiece for the prima donna . If the prima donna did not like it, she chose an aria from her repertoire that could well have come from another composer. Even when an opera was re-enacted by other stages, there were "adjustments" to the existing singers. Only after Verdi's resounding success with his third opera Nabucco did he have the opportunity to influence the choice of the piece and the libretto.

There are contradicting statements about the origin of the opera. Verdi himself wrote in his autobiographical information for his publisher Giulio Ricordi in 1879 that Pietro Massini, who directed the Teatro Filodrammatici in Milan, had given him a libretto that was later revised by Temistocle Solera. As early as 1871, Verdi claimed that the original text was by Antonio Piazza and was entitled Lord Hamilton . According to a letter from Verdi from 1834, the only thing that is certain is that he was waiting for a promised libretto. In 1836 Verdi then seems to have received a libretto, but initially did not find the time to compose it, as he was busy as the head of the music school in Busseto .

Verdi research finds it difficult to classify Lord Hamilton . A letter from Verdi to Massini dated September 21, 1837, in which he wrote of a libretto by Antonio Piazzas with the title Rocester and asked that Piazza should be extended to “il Duetto delle due donne” (the duet of the two women) has survived. However, neither the world premiere libretto nor the piano reduction of Oberto contain such a duet. For this reason, the Verdi researcher Frank Walker came to the conclusion that Rocester was Verdi's first lost opera. David Kimbell came to a completely different conclusion. He pointed out that the quartet in the second act of Oberto in Verdi's handwriting "originally designated the vocal parts as Eleonora, Cuniza, Rocester (!) And Oberto". Verdi crossed out the name Rocester and replaced it with Riccardo. Since other numbers of the Oberto that were later deleted or re-recorded have been preserved, it is just as likely that the Oberto was initially designed as a Rocester and only received the title Oberto after it was reworked by Solera .

A direct literary model for the oberto is not verifiable, although the Ezzelino theme was dealt with several times in the 1830s. It may be that Giambattista Vercis 20-volume Storia della Marca Trevigiani e Veronese , Venice in 1786, one of the sources of the librettist.

Revisions to Verdi

According to the circumstances of the Italian opera company at the time, the vocal parts were tailored to the existing singers. Initially it was planned to perform the opera in Parma. After this plan had failed, the work was to be published in the coming season in the spring of 1839 at La Scala in Milan under the impresario Bartolomeo Merelli . Because of the illness of some singers, the premiere was delayed until autumn. Since some of the planned singers, including Verdi's later partner Giuseppina Strepponi , were no longer available for the premiere, Verdi was already working on some vocal pieces during the rehearsals before the premiere.

When the opera was to be re-enacted in Turin during the Carnival season of 1840 , Mary Shaw , the singer of Cuniza in the premiere, was not available. Luigia Abbadia , who sang the role instead, was dissatisfied with her role and inserted an aria from Saverio Mercadante 's opera Elena da Feltre, which premiered in 1839 , in Act 1 . When Oberto was resumed in October 1840, Luigia Abbadia sang at La Scala, and Verdi wrote two new pieces for her, a cavatina in act 1 and a duet Cuniza / Riccardo, which replaced the existing duet. This duet was also performed at the Genoa opera performance in 1841 .

Although the music of the opera is still "unbalanced" and was subject to the dictates of the opera business at the time, Selk believes that it already shows many characteristics of the later Verdi, especially in the ensemble scenes.

According to the musical form, Oberto is a number opera with a five and a half minute overture (sinfonia) and composed scenes.

action

Historical context and prehistory

Ezzelino da Romano (1194-1259) was one of the leaders of the loyal Ghibellines in Italy, who supported the Hohenstaufen emperor Friedrich II in his conflict with the pope. Ezzelino had inherited estates in Treviso , but soon conquered large parts of Veneto . In 1228 Ezzelino also had a castle near Bassano , where the action of the opera takes place.

The following history emerges from flashbacks in the opera: Ezzelino defeated the Count of San Bonifacio, named Oberto, with the help of the Salinguerra family from Verona . He was exiled and fled to Mantua , but left his daughter Leonora with his sister in Verona. Then Riccardo Salinguerra had approached Leonora under a false name and seduced her, but left her because he had fallen in love with Cuniza, Ezzelino's sister. Ezzelino agreed to the marriage of his partisan Riccardo and his sister. Leonora, who had heard of the impending wedding, traveled to Ezzelino's castle to confront Riccardo and to reveal his breach of loyalty. The opera takes place on the day of the planned wedding of Riccardo and Cuniza.

first act

First picture: A lovely landscape near Bassano

After the overture (sinfonia) , a choir of ladies-in-waiting, knights and vassals greets the groom who has come to the wedding. With his thanks, Riccardo reveals that he expects an increase in power from the wedding. After Riccardo has left with the choir in the direction of the castle, Leonora takes the stage. In one scene and cavatina, she laments her fate and wants revenge. Despite his exile, Oberto also came to look for his daughter and to avenge her lost honor. Both meet unexpectedly. Oberto reveals his pain at Leonora's misstep, but makes up with her. Both rush towards the castle to take revenge.

Second picture: Magnificent hall in Ezzelino's palace

A choir sings about the happy bride. Cuniza thanks them. When she is alone with Riccardo, premonitions plague her. Riccardo tries to allay her worries. After both have resigned, Leonora arrives and asks Imelda to speak to Cuniza. In the following scene, Leonora reveals that she is Oberto's daughter. Cuniza is still undecided until Oberto joins them. After Cuniza learns of Riccardo's infidelity, she summons the entire court in the finale to confront Riccardo with Leonora. Riccardo first tries to accuse Leonora, but Cuniza is finally convinced of his baseness. Oberto challenges Riccardo to a duel with the sword.

Second act

First picture: The Princess' s room

In the presence of Imelda, Cuniza tries to remember the happy hours with Riccardo, but she can no longer feel love for him. You have made up your mind. Riccardo should return to Leonora.

Second picture: lonely place near the palace gardens

Oberto learns of Cuniza's decision from the Choir of Knights, but he still wants revenge and a duel for life and death. Riccardo initially refuses the duel, but Oberto calls him a coward. Cuniza and Leonora also join. Cuniza declares her resignation and decides that Riccardo should return to Leonora. Oberto hisses at Riccardo that Riccardo should pretend to accept it, but if he's not a coward, he should face a duel. Riccardo stabs old Oberto in a duel behind the stage. In a fit of desperation, Riccardo realizes his guilt, repents and prays. He has made up his mind and is fleeing. Cuniza learns of the old Count's death and that Leonora passed out next to her father's corpse. Leonora, who has since woken up from the fainting, is led to Cuniza, where she blames herself for her father's death. At this moment a messenger appears with a letter from Riccardo to Cuniza, which she reads out. Riccardo wants to flee Italy, asks Leonora for forgiveness and transfers his goods to her. In desperation, Leonora decides to go to the monastery.

Instrumentation

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

reception

Verdi's Oberto was a success at the premiere and was re-enacted by several Italian opera houses in the following years. Nevertheless, the opera was never able to establish itself in the repertoire.

In 1889, on the occasion of a festival in honor of Verdi's 50th opera anniversary, Verdi distanced himself from his first work. In a letter to Arrigo Boito , the librettist of Otello and Falstaff , he wrote: “Try to imagine whether our audience, with preferences so different from fifty years ago, would have the patience to read the two long acts of To listen to 'Oberto'. ”He went on to say that the audience would be bored or express their displeasure.

literature

  • Anselm Gerhard , Uwe Schweikert (ed.): Verdi manual . Metzler, Kassel 2002, ISBN 3-476-01768-0 , and Bärenreiter, Stuttgart / Weimar 2002, ISBN 3-7618-2017-8 .
  • Jürgen Selk: In search of the definitive Oberto. Analysis in the CD supplement, recorded by Philips 1997.
  • Heinz Wagner: The great manual of the opera. 2nd edition, Florian Noetzel Verlag, Wilhelmshaven 1995, p. 732.

Discography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Oberto  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 16.
  2. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 17.
  3. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 17.
  4. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, pp. 17-18.
  5. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 18 f.
  6. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 19.
  7. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 19.
  8. ↑ Michael Walter, in: Gerhard, Schweikert (Ed.): Verdi-Handbuch. 2002, p. 300.
  9. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 19 f.
  10. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 15, p. 19.
  11. ^ Jesse Rosenberg: Oberto conte di San Bonifacio. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater. Volume 6: Works. Spontini - Zumsteeg. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-492-02421-1 , p. 384.
  12. ↑ Selk: In Search of the Definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 15.
  13. ↑ Quote from a Verdi letter, printed by Selk: In search of the definitive Oberto. 1997, p. 15.