Padilla (opera)
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| Original title: | Padilla or El asedio de Medina |
Title page of the libretto, Madrid 1845 |
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| Shape: | Opera in two acts |
| Original language: | Spanish |
| Music: | Joaquín Espín y Guillén |
| Libretto : | Gregorio Romero Larrañaga |
| Premiere: | June 9, 1845 (1st picture) |
| Place of premiere: | Teatro del Circo , Madrid |
| Place and time of the action: | Medina del Campo , 1521 |
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Padilla o El asedio de Medina (German: "Padilla or The Siege of Medina") is a Spanish-language opera seria (original name: "Drama lírico") in two acts and three pictures with music by Joaquín Espín y Guillén based on a libretto by Gregorio Romero Larrañaga . The first performance of the first picture took place on June 9, 1845 in the Teatro del Circo in Madrid.
content
The following table of contents is based on the preface to the printed libretto from 1845.
The historical background of the opera is the siege of the Spanish city Medina del Campo during the Comuneros uprising in 1521 at the time of King Charles I of Spain. When he entrusted his former teacher, Cardinal Adrian von Utrecht , with the reign of Spanish territory during his absence, the harassment and taxes imposed led to popular uprisings. Toledo was one of the first cities to call for independence and to rise to uphold their rights. Segovia followed suit, and the memorable Alkalde Ronquillo was defeated outside its walls by the city citizen Juan de Padilla . To avenge this defeat, Cardinal Adrian ordered the emperor-appointed supreme general of the armed forces, Antonio Fonseca, to besiege the city of Medina del Campo, where some of the rebels had sought refuge. In addition, they wanted to take possession of the weapons depots there. The townspeople, however, denied the troops both entry into the town and the handover of their weapons.
First act, first image (first act)
At the beginning of the opera, the inhabitants of Medina lament their suffering during the long siege and their inevitable impending doom. The arrival of Padilla's wife Doña María Pacheco gives them courage again and the hope of rescue by the invincible Padilla. General Fonseca secretly comes to town to take possession of Marías, whom he loves. But the conspirators announce the arrival of the hero. At the sound of the trumpets, Fonseca fled shamefully, seeing that his plans had failed.
First act, second image (second act)
Padilla and his wife embrace. He calms the inhabitants of Medina by presenting them with the battle-hardened troops he has united. A messenger announced that several men in disguise had been arrested. When these are brought to the Padilla, he recognizes his rival - but his revenge consists in forgiveness. He is content with challenging him to the death in a later duel, and lets him go freely to his people in order to later defeat him with greater glory.
Second act (third act)
Guards await dawn to give the signal to fight. The girls cry over the happiness that Heaven may have for them. Padilla encourages his brave and longs for the moment when he can take revenge on his rival. This comes and he is preparing for a bloody duel when María appears and lets him see that it is nobler to die for the fatherland than for personal motives, and more worthy to shed blood for freedom than for vengeance. The soldiers recognize the size of these words and disperse to encourage their respective troops. Doña María, meanwhile, prays with the women of Medina for the triumph of the good cause and her husband. The battle is fought and Padilla is victorious in the end. The imperial, however, set the city on fire, the flames of which are now illuminating victory. There, the commoners swear to always defend their independence with equal strength.
Work history
The composer wrote this opera as an early example of serious opera in Spanish. The soprano Isabella Ober-Rossi (María), the tenor Enrico Tamberlik (Fonseca) and the bass Vicente Barba (Sandoval) sang the premiere of the first picture . There was applause from the audience, but afterwards no one showed any interest in a full performance. The work was quickly forgotten. Francisco Asenjo Barbieri wrote that Espín y Guillén himself was so proud of it that “every time a friend visited him, he would take him to his piano and play the overture for him”.
The full score is not preserved.
literature
- Gloria Araceli Rodríguez Lorenzo: El rol femenino en la construcción de la ópera española: el caso de Padilla or el Asedio de Medina. In: Jornadas de investigación “Violencia de Género en el teatro lírico universal”. Oviedo 2012 (Spanish, online )
- Gloria Araceli Rodríguez Lorenzo: Joaquín Espín y Guillén (1812–1882): una vida en torno a la ópera española. In: Cuadernos de música iberoamericana. 12 (2006), ISSN 1136-5536 , pp. 63-88 (Spanish, online )
Web links
- Libretto of the first image (Spanish), Madrid 1845. Digitized from the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica
Individual evidence
- ^ Antoine Le Duc: La zarzuela: les origines du théâtre lyrique national en Espagne, 1832-1851. Editions Mardaga, Sprimont 2003, ISBN 2-87009-831-6 , p. 98 ( limited preview in Google book search).
- ↑ Gloria Araceli Rodríguez Lorenzo: El rol femenino en la construcción de la ópera española: el caso de Padilla or el Asedio de Medina. In: Jornadas de investigación “Violencia de Género en el teatro lírico universal”. Oviedo 2012, p. 15 (Spanish, online ).