The Dragon of Wantley

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Opera dates
Title: The Dragon of Wantley
Moore kills the dragon with a kick (plate by John June in the printed libretto)

Moore kills the dragon with a kick
(plate by John June in the printed libretto)

Shape: “Burlesque Opera” in three acts
Original language: English
Music: John Frederick lamp
Libretto : Henry Carey
Literary source: Ballad The Dragon of Wantley
Premiere: May 16, 1737
Place of premiere: Little Theater in the Haymarket , London
Playing time: approx. 1 ¾ hours
Place and time of the action: Yorkshire , near Rotherham
people
  • The dragon ( bass )
  • Moore of Moore-Hall ( tenor )
  • Gaffer Gubbins, father of Margerys (tenor)
  • Margery ( soprano )
  • Mauxalinda (soprano)
  • Nymphs and farm boys ( choir )

The Dragon of Wantley (German: 'Der Drache von Wantley') is a burlesque opera (original name: "Burlesque Opera") in three (originally two) acts by John Frederick Lampe (music) with a libretto by Henry Carey based on a ballad of the same name . It premiered on May 16, 1737 at the Little Theater in the Haymarket in London. It is a parody of the genre of the Italian opera seria . Its great audience success marked the end of this form of opera offered by George Frideric Handel in London.

action

first act

Rural region

Rural residents flee from a kite that crosses the stage shortly afterwards (chorus: "Fly, neighbors, fly").

One hall

Gaffer Gubbins and those present are appalled by the devastation the dragon is wreaking (chorus: "Houses and churches, to him are geese and turkies"). His daughter Margery reports that the dragon scared away the mayor's family from their breakfast and eaten everything (Arie Margery: "But to hear the children mother"). To end the crisis you have to kill the dragon. She knows a brave knight who would be able to do this (Arie Margery: "He's a man ev'ry inch, I assure you"). Everyone agrees (chorus: “Let's go to his dwelling”).

Moore Hall

Moore swings the glass
Moore's agreement with Margery
Moore appeases Mauxalinda

The designated dragon slayer Moore of Moore-Hall is actually more of an antihero who gets drunk with his friends (Arie Moore: "Zeno, Plato, Aristotle, all were lovers of the bottle") than Gubbins, Mauxalinda, Margery and the others enter and beg him to save her from the dragon (Arie Margery: "Gentle knight! all knights exceeding"). Moore falls in love with the beautiful Margery on the spot. He promises to kill the dragon and grant her every wish if she spends the following night with him. To the annoyance of Moore's fiancé Mauxalinda, Margery immediately agrees (Arie Margery: "If that's all you ask"). Moore sends everyone out except Margery to redeem his reward immediately (duet Moore / Margery: "Let my dearest be near me"). Margery goes ahead. When Moore tries to follow her, Mauxalinda returns and insults him angrily for having promised her marriage last Christmas. She even quotes a line from the love duet she overheard. So convicted, Moore has no choice but to renew his oath of loyalty (Arie Moore: "By the beer, as brown as berry"). Both sing a love duet (duet Moore / Mauxalinda: "Pigs shall not be so fond as we").

Second act

A garden

Margery complains about a nightmare in which the dragon put her knight to flight (Arie Margery: "Sure my stays will burst with sobbing"). After a tender greeting, Moore calms them down with a reference to his spiked armor. Then Mauxalinda appears. She has by no means forgotten her rival and threatens her with a beating if she continues to try to seduce her fiancé. However, Margery is not intimidated (duet Mauxalinda / Margery: "Insulting gipsy, your surely tipsy"). Finally, Mauxalinda tries to stab her rival with a hairpin. Margery faints. Moore returns just in time to prevent the worst. He threatens to hand Mauxalinda over to the judge. Thereupon she pleads so humbly for mercy (Arie Mauxalinda: “O give me not up to the law”) that even Margery is reconciled (Trio Mauxalinda / Moore / Margery: “Oh how easy is a woman”). Gubbins warns of the imminent arrival of the dragon, whose roar can already be heard. Moore does without a sword or other weapons. A strong sip from the bottle ("Six quarts of ale, and one of aquae-vitae") is enough for him to strengthen his strength. The villagers support him in this (chorus: “Fill a mighty flagon, kill this monstrous dragon”).

Third act

Rural area near the dragon's cave

Moore fights the dragon

Moore is now ready to fight. He demands one last kiss from Margery and then sends her to a tree to be sure, from which she can watch the fight. Still worried about her safety, he calls for the dragon (Arie Moore: "Dragon! Dragon! Thus I dare thee") and hides in a well. The dragon wants to drink from it. But the smell bothers him and reminds him of a disgusting dog. Moore scares him with a "Boo!" Shout (Arie Drache: "Oho, Mr. Moore, you son of a whore"). Then he quickly climbs out of the well and kills the kite with a kick in the buttocks while the orchestra plays a “battle piece”. The country folk shout "Huzza" and Margery embraces her hero (duet Moore / Margery: "My sweet honey suckle, my joy and delight"). After a general dance of joy, Gubbins thanks him and promises him his daughter's hand. Everyone cheers (choir: “Sing, sing, and rorio, an oratorio”).

layout

Like the better-known Beggar's Opera , the opera burlesque The Dragon of Wantley is a parody of Italian opera. Both works transfer the artistic conventions and exaggerated portrayal of feelings of the opera seria to typically English themes. While the Beggar's Opera as "Ballad Opera" consists of a sequence of folk songs with spoken dialogues, the Dragon of Wantley is musically a real opera seria with arias , duets , choruses in fugal style and recitatives . The serious music style is in extreme contrast to the exaggerated banal words of the libretto.

George Hogarth devoted a longer section to the Dragon of Wantley in his Memoirs of the Opera in Italy, France, Germany, and England , published in 1851 . In it he gave some examples of the humorous setting of the text: In the duet "Let my dearest be near me" (Moore / Margery) the planned destruction of the dragon is explained with the words "I'll work him, I'll jerk him from nostril to tail ”, in which the soloists use the syllable“ work ” extremely in melismatic roulades . The quarrel duet "Insulting gipsy, Your surely tipsy" (Margery, Mauxalinda) presents the various Italian forms of music for expressing anger. The word “trollop” ('bitch'), which the two women toss at each other and then downright scream at the end, has a particularly funny effect. Margery's lament at the beginning of the second act (“Sure my stays will burst with sobbing”) is a carefully elaborated aria with strong emotional expression, striking modulations and good orchestral effects. Mauxalinda's pleading aria “O give me not up to the law” is only accompanied by an obbligato violoncello (without figured bass). It resembles some of the songs of Georg Friedrich Handel , who adopted this technique from Alessandro Scarlatti's cantatas . In the third act Moore challenges the dragon in a frenzied Bavourarie: “Dragon! Dragon! thus I dare thee ”. His concern for Margery, on the other hand, is a sad largo . The dragon responds with a rolling bass in the raw language of the old ballad. His aria “Oho, Mr. Moore, you son of a whore” is based on the aria of Minos “Se ti condanno” from Handel's opera Arianna in Creta .

orchestra

The orchestral line-up for the opera consists of two oboes and a four-part string ensemble with violins I and II, viola and basso continuo .

Music numbers

According to the information in the libretto, the opera contains the following musical numbers (information on the scoring according to the 1738 score edition):

first act

  • Choir: "Fly, neighbors, fly" - 'Flee, neighbors, flee'
  • Choir: "Houses and churches, to him are geese and turkies" - 'Houses and churches are geese and turkeys for him'
  • Arie (Margery): "But to hear the children mutter" - 'But hear the children moan' (two oboes, strings, basso continuo)
  • Aria (Margery): "He's a man ev'ry inch, I assure you" - 'He's a man every inch, I assure you' (Basso continuo)
  • Choir: "Let's go to his dwelling" - 'Let's go to his house'
  • Aria (Moore): "Zeno, Plato, Aristotle, all were lovers of the bottle" - "Zeno, Plato, Aristotle, they were all lovers of the bottle" (Strings, Basso continuo)
  • Aria (Margery): "Gentle knight! all knights exceeding "- 'Noble knight who surpasses all knights' (solo oboe, strings, basso continuo)
  • Aria (Margery): "If that's all you ask" - 'If that's all you ask for' (strings, basso continuo)
  • Duet (Moore, Margery): "Let my dearest be near me" - 'Let my dearest be near me' (strings, basso continuo)
  • Arie (Moore): "By the beer, as brown as berry" - 'At the beer, as brown as berries' (violins in unison with the vocal part, basso continuo)
  • Duet (Moore, Mauxalinda): "Pigs shall not be so fond as we" - 'Pigs will not be as happy as we' (strings, basso continuo)

Second act

  • Aria (Margery): "Sure my stays will burst with sobbing" - 'Sure my corset will burst with sobs' (two oboes, strings, basso continuo)
    • "Oh I would not for any money this vile beast should kill my honey" - 'Oh, I would not endure for any money if the monster killed my loved one' (violins in unison with the vocal part, basso continuo)
  • Duet (Mauxalinda, Margery): "Insulting gipsy, Your surely tipsy" - 'Naughty bitch, you are probably drunk' (strings, basso continuo)
  • Aria (Mauxalinda): "O give me not up to the law" - 'Oh, don't deliver me up to the law' (solo violoncello)
  • Trio (Mauxalinda, Moore, Margery): "Oh how easy is a woman" - 'Oh how easy is a woman' (missing in the 1738 edition of the score)
  • Choir: "Fill a mighty flagon, kill this monstrous dragon" - 'Fill a mighty bottle, kill this monstrous dragon'

Third act

  • Aria (Moore): "Dragon! Dragon! thus I dare thee “- 'Dragon, Dragon! I challenge you '(strings, basso continuo)
  • Aria (dragon): "Oho, Mr. Moore, you son of a whore" - 'Oho, Mr. Moore, you son of a whore' (two oboes, violins, basso continuo)
  • Duet (Moore, Margery): "My sweet honey suckle, my joy and delight" - 'My sweet honeysuckle , my joy and lust' (strings, basso continuo)
  • Choir: "Sing, sing, and rorio, an oratorio" - 'Sing, sing and rorio, an oratorio'

Work history

Title page of the second edition of the libretto, London 1737

The Dragon of Wantley from 1737 was the first great success of the German-British composer and bassoonist John Frederick Lampe . By this time he had already played for about ten years in the orchestra of the King's Theater , where Georg Friedrich Händel also worked until 1734 and where many of his operas were premiered. Lampe was therefore very familiar with Handel's music. The libretto for the Dragon of Wantley was created by the poet Henry Carey in close collaboration with Lampe. It is based on the legend of the Moore of Moore Hall and the Dragon of Wantley or Wharncliffe from Carey's home in Rotherham ( Yorkshire ). A ballad version on this subject appeared in Thomas d'Urfey's collection Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy in 1699 and in Ambrose Phillips' A Collection of Old Ballads in 1723 , and in this form had been widely distributed. The idea for an operatic burlesque on this subject probably came from James Ralph, who published a summary in his humorous city guide The Touchstone in 1728 .

According to some authors, it is a parody of Handel's Opera seria Giustino , which premiered in Covent Garden in February 1737 , in which the eponymous hero kills a sea monster. The timing would only fit if the authors had subsequently revised the text, since they apparently offered the opera to Charles Fleetwood, the impresario of the Theater Royal Drury Lane , as early as 1734/1735 .

The premiere took place on May 16, 1737 in the Little Theater in the Haymarket in a two-act version, with Henry Theodore Reinhold (Dragon), Thomas Salway (Moore of Moore-Hall), Isabella Young (Margery) and Esther Young (Mauxalinda). There she did not have much success. That changed drastically after Covent Garden took over production on October 26th of that year . There it was played in its final three-act form and with 69 performances even surpassed the popular Beggar's Opera . King George II saw several performances, the contemporary music historian Charles Burney considered the work to be “an excellent humorous piece”, and according to a letter from Lord Wentworth to his father on January 14, 1738, even Handel “considered the composition of the melodies extremely successful ". The great success ultimately sealed the end of Handel's Italian opera in London, which had already been hit by the Beggar's Opera . Handel was unable to counter it with his opera Faramondo, which premiered on January 3, 1738 in the King's Theater . He now turned increasingly to the English-language oratorio and in his last operas Serse , Imeneo , and Deidamia himself approached comic opera.

In the foreword, the librettist Carey wrote how much she and Lampe enjoyed working on the opera:

“Many joyous hours have we shared during its composition, chopping and changing, lopping, eking out, and coining of words, syllables, and jingle, to display in English the Beauty of Nonsense, so prevailing in the Italian Operas. ”

"We spent many happy hours composing, cutting, truncating, lengthening and inventing words, syllables and verses to portray in English the beauty of the nonsense that prevails in Italian operas ."

- John Carey : preface to the libretto

The Dragon of Wantley is the only completely preserved opera Lampes. The score without recitatives was printed in London in 1738. The recitatives are preserved as a manuscript. George Bickham published some arias with illustrations in The Musical Entertainer . Within a very short time a total of fourteen reprints of the libretto appeared. The opera stayed on stage until 1782. There were unauthorized productions in Drury Lane and in Bartholomew Fair (Smithfield), where the opera was performed by "Lilliputians".

  • Sheet music from The Musical Entertainer

  • Moor [e] Circulating the Cheerful Glass
    "Zeno, Plato, Aristotle all were Lovers of the Bottle"

  • Moore's commitment to Margery
    "If that's all you ask"

  • Moore Coaxing Mauxalinda
    "By the Beer, as Brown as Berry"

  • Moore fighting with ye Dragon
    "Oh Hoh Master Moore"

A sequel by the same authors, entitled Margery, or, a Worse Plague than the Dragon , was played with good success at Covent Garden in 1738.

The work has also been performed several times in recent times:

Recordings

Web links

Commons : The Dragon of Wantley (opera)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ The aria "He'a a man ev'ry inch" is assigned to Mauxalinda in the 1738 edition of the score.
  2. ^ The text "Oh I would not for any money" is missing in the libretto from 1737; According to Hogarth (p. 36) it was apparently sung as the second part of “Sure my Stays will burst with sobbing”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Peter Holman :  Dragon of Wantley, The. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  2. ^ Bernd Edelmann: Giustino. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 2: Works. Donizetti - Henze. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-492-02412-2 , pp. 697-698.
  3. ^ A b c George Hogarth: Memoirs of the Opera in Italy, France, Germany, and England. Richard Bentley, London 1851, Vol. II, pp. 32-40 ( digitized version ).
  4. ↑ a b c 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. 373-376.
  5. ↑ Information in the 1738 edition of the score.
  6. ^ A b c Winton Dean : Handel's Operas 1726–1741. Boydell, Woodbridge 2006, ISBN 978-1-84383-268-3 .
  7. ↑ May 16, 1737: "The Dragon of Wantley". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ., Accessed on January 4, 2019.
  8. ↑ a b Christopher Hogwood , Bettina Obrecht (transl.): Handel: Eine Biographie (= Insel-Taschenbuch 2655 ). Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 1992, ISBN 978-3-458-34355-4 .
  9. ^ Foreword to the libretto, 8th edition, London 1738 ( digitized ).
  10. ↑ Margery: or, a worse plague than the dragon: a burlesque opera. As it is perform'd at the Theater-Royal in Covent-Garden. Altered from the original Italian of Signor Carini. Set to musick by Mr. John-Frederick Lampe in the University of Oxford Text Archive, accessed January 5, 2019.
  11. ↑ a b "The Dragon of Wantley" in the castle theater. Program information from June 23, 2017 in the archive of Deutschlandfunk Kultur , accessed on December 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Festival Theater in the Kulturfabrik Helfenberg. Program announcement in Theaterkompass, accessed on January 5, 2019.
  13. ↑ Thomas Molke: The dragon from Dönberg. Review of the performance in Wuppertal 2011 in Online Musik Magazin, accessed on January 5, 2019.
  14. ↑ Review of the 2015 London Handel Festival performance on Planet Hugill, accessed January 5, 2019.
  15. ↑ Information on the University of Birmingham 2018 performance , accessed January 5, 2019.
  16. ↑ John Frederick lamp. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005, p. 8066.