The Merchant of Venice (Opera)
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| Title: | The merchant of Venice |
| Original title: | The Merchant of Venice |
| Shape: | Opera in three acts and an epilogue |
| Original language: | English |
| Music: | André Tchaikowsky |
| Libretto : | John O'Brien |
| Literary source: | Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice |
| Premiere: | 18th July 2013 |
| Place of premiere: | Bregenz Festival |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Venice |
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The Merchant of Venice (dt .: The Merchant of Venice ) is an opera in three acts and an epilogue by André Tchaikowsky (music) with a libretto by John O'Brien . It is based on Shakespeare's comedy The Merchant of Venice . Although the work was almost finished when the composer died in 1982, it was not premiered until July 18, 2013 at the Bregenz Festival .
action
First act. Venice and surroundings
The Venetian merchant Antonio, despite his wealth, is dissatisfied with life, but does not know why. His friend Bassanio asks him for support. The young nobleman has fallen in love with the wealthy heiress Portia von Belmont, but still needs 3,000 ducats for his courtship. Antonio is happy to help out. But since he has invested his funds in shipping companies, he has to take out a loan himself. He gives Bassanio a free hand to find a lender.
Bassanio turns to the Jew Shylock. The negotiations are sluggish. When Antonio arrives, the reason becomes clear: Shylock is deeply angry about the contemptuous treatment he has received from the anti-Jewish Antonio in the past. Finally he agrees to lend him the money, but asks - apparently in jest - a pound of Antonio's meat as security, which is due if he cannot repay the amount at the agreed time. Although Bassanio advises against him, Antonio signs the contract. Antonio and Bassanio leave Shylock's house arm in arm.
Upstairs in the house, Shylock's daughter Jessica writes a letter to her lover Lorenzo begging him to free her from her father's house. In order to marry him, she also wants to convert to Christianity. Lorenzo joins them and joins her singing. As Shylock approaches, she tosses him the letter, and Lorenzo withdraws. Shylock makes his way to the notary to sign the contract with Bassanio. He's locking Jessica in as a precaution. The street is populated with masked drinkers and street children. After Shylock leaves, Lorenzo and his friends Gratiano, Solanio and Salerio return to pick Jessica up. She climbs up a ladder from the roof, taking a box with her father's money and jewels, and escapes with her rescuers in the crowd of revelers. After Antonio received the loan, he said goodbye to Bassanio. He and Gratiano set off for Belmont to win Portia over. Shylock notices his daughter's escape, but misses his valuables more than she does. The street children make fun of him, whistle and throw stones at him. When he notices Antonio nearby, he blames him for his misfortune.
Second act. Garden in Belmont
The heiress Portia is besieged by admirers. She complains to her chambermaid Nerissa that she has no free choice. Her father has determined in his will that whoever chooses the right one from three boxes - one each made of gold, silver and lead - should receive her hand. Only this contains her portrait. Anyone who chooses incorrectly has to renounce marriage forever. Two candidates appear with their entourage: the princes of Aragon and of Morocco. They dance with their people and each decide on a box. The Prince of Morocco chooses the golden box (it is labeled “Whoever chooses me will win what many desire”), and the Prince of Aragon the silver one (with the label “Whoever chooses me will get as much as he earns"). Both have to leave disappointed.
Fanfares announce another admirer from outside. Portia sends Nerissa out to see who it is. She hopes it's Bassanio, whom she has secretly loved for a long time. First, however, Gratiano appears as his ambassador. He looks around and reads the labels on the boxes. Nerissa joins them and the two fall in love on the spot. Then they let Portia and the impatient Bassanio in. After Portia's servants have given him decisive information, he decides on the lead box with the inscription “Whoever chooses me must give everything and dare what he has”. In it he finds the picture Portias and a document. Portia gives Gratiano a ring that he must not lose or give away under any circumstances, otherwise he will lose her love. Meanwhile, in the background, Gratiano and Nerissa have also come to an agreement. You want to get married too. Jessica, Lorenzo and Salerio join them. The latter gives Bassanio a letter to Antonio from Venice in which he writes that all of his ships have been lost and that he cannot repay the loan in time. Shylock now insists on taking a pound of his flesh from him. Jessica is appalled by her father's hard-heartedness. Since Antonio wants to see Bassanio one last time, he and Gratiano set off for Venice. But first, the marriage must be sealed so that he is able to pay off Shylock through Portia's inheritance.
Third act. Court of the Doge of Venice
Solanio tells Shylock about some of the purchases his daughter made after they escaped. Their extravagance increases their anger. Solanio encourages the new Antonio. Bassanio, Gratiano and Salerio also arrive, and finally the Doge himself appears, who initially asks Shylock to pity Antonio. But Shylock remains tough. He gives a long speech about the mistreatment and insults he had to endure as a Jew from the Christians and calls for justice and vengeance. He also rejects Bassanio's offer to double the debt to 6,000 ducats. The Doge called in a young doctor of law with his clerk to assist him. These two now enter - it is Portia and Nerissa who have also come to Venice without the knowledge of their husbands and have disguised themselves. Portia, too, asks Shylock for mercy first - this is a divine gift through which both giver and recipient are blessed. But Shylock still has no understanding and already reaches for his knife to cut the meat he is entitled to from Antonio. Portia interrupts him and points out a detail of the contract according to which he is entitled to the meat, but not to Bassani’s blood. According to Venetian law, if he shed even a single drop, all of his property would have to be confiscated. He also had to cut out exactly one pound. If the scales deviated by a hair's breadth, he would die and all his goods would be confiscated. This risk is too great for Shylock. Defeated, he accepts the offer to receive three times the value of the loan. But Portia replied that he had already refused that in court - as well as the original amount. Then she points out another Venetian law according to which Jews are considered foreigners. Since he had sought the life of a citizen as such, half of his property fell to the state and half to Antonio. Let his own life be at the mercy of the Doge. The Doge quickly pardons him, and Antonio is willing to forego his share if Shylock bequeaths it to Lorenzo and Jessica after his death. At his request, the doge also waives the state share, provided Shylock converts to Christianity and promises his entire fortune to Lorenzo and Jessica.
After the trial ends happily for Antonio, Bassanio offers the skilled lawyer a gift. Portia, still not recognized by him, asks for his gloves as a souvenir. But when Bassanio took it off, she saw his ring and asked for it instead. Bassanio has no choice but to give it to her. Nerissa does the same with Gratiano.
Epilogue. Belmont and surroundings
At night by moonlight, Lorenzo and Jessica enjoy their love. Portia and Nerissa managed to return to Belmont unnoticed by their husbands. They ask the couple to pretend they have been here the entire time. Bassanio, Gratiano and Antonio arrive soon after. But instead of a loving greeting, they expect reproaches. The two women ask their husbands to show their rings. Since they cannot, they accuse them of infidelity. Bassanio and Gratiano assure that they gave the rings to the lawyer and his clerk as a well-deserved reward, but the women pretend not to believe them. After a while, Portia puts an end to the game. She gives Bassanio his ring back as if it were someone else and demands his oath to keep at least this ring. Gratiano also gets his ring back. When the two recognize the original rings, the women first claim to have slept with the lawyers to get them back. But then Portia reveals that she herself was the lawyer - a letter from old Bellario from Padua is the proof. She and Nerissa are reconciled with their husbands. Then Lorenzo and Jessica learn of their upcoming inheritance. The couple retreat into the house for the rest of the night and leave Antonio to his thoughts.
layout
In the review of the premiere for Klassikinfo.de , the cultural journalist and opera dramaturge Derek Weber described Tchaikowsky's music as “well written, never thick, rarely pathetic, moderately modern” and allowed it to have an “independent language”. The beginning uses a "purring conversational tone". There are also lyrical love scenes and, if necessary, “viciously loud” passages. Tchaikowsky also occasionally quotes music by older composers such as Beethoven's Fidelio , Wagner's Rheingold (Alberich's curse motif) or Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony .
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : three flutes (3rd also piccolo ), two oboes , English horn , three clarinets , bass clarinet, three bassoons (3rd also contrabassoon)
- Brass : four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba
- Timpani , percussion : two "Po", xylophone , glockenspiel
- Celesta (also piano), harpsichord
- harp
- Strings
- On the stage: two recorders , oboe d'amore , oboe da caccia , two bassoons, lute , hand drum, harpsichord
Work history
The Merchant of Venice is André Tchaikowsky's most extensive work . He worked on the composition for 24 years and before his death on June 25, 1982 had completed it except for 28 bars of orchestration. The final completion and publication as a piano reduction and score was done by his friends.
John O'Brien's libretto is based on Shakespeare's five-act comedy The Merchant of Venice . O'Brien shortened it to three acts and an epilogue. While the original constantly switches back and forth between the two locations Venice and Belmont, in the opera this only happens between the acts. In his composition, Tchaikowsky made changes to the libretto.
At the end of 1981 Tchaikowsky presented the opera of the English National Opera (ENO). At that time the work was rejected due to unfavorable conditions. On this occasion, however, he made the acquaintance of David Pountney , who was then director of the ENO and later director of the Bregenz Festival .
It was not premiered until July 18, 2013 at the Bregenz Festival. It sang Adrian Eröd (Shylock), Kathryn Lewek (Jessica), Jason Bridges (Lorenzo), Richard Angas (Doge), Christopher Ainslie (Antonio), Charles Workman (Bassanio), Magdalena Anna Hofmann (Portia), Adrian Clarke (Salerio) , Norman Patzke (Solanio), David Stout (Gratiano), Verena Gunz (Nerissa) and Hanna Herfurtner (Ein Knabe), accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonic Choir under the direction of Erik Nielsen. The staging was by Keith Warner and the set and costumes by Ashley Martin-Davis.
The production was named "World Premiere of the Year" at the International Opera Awards 2014 by The Opera Foundation. The recording is available from EuroArts on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
In October 2014 the production was given in the Teatr Wielki (Warsaw) under the musical direction of Lionel Friend in Warsaw. The British premiere followed on September 16, 2016 by the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff, again under the direction of Lionel Friend.
Web links
- Table of contents (English) on andretchaikowsky.com
- Original libretto by John O'Brian. Digitized version , not exactly identical to the text set by Tchaikowsky
- Juan Martin Koch: Respectable Shakespeare opera - intelligent sea spectacle. World premiere review. In: Neue Musikzeitung from July 22, 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ Derek Weber: More tragedy than comedy. World premiere review ( memento of September 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on klassikinfo.de, accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ↑ Wolfram Goertz: A Cerberus rarely comes alone. World premiere review. In: Die Zeit from July 25, 2013, accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ↑ a b information on works from musikundbuehne (PDF) , accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ↑ Original version of the libretto, p. 4.
- ↑ a b work information on andretchaikowsky.com , accessed on August 20, 2016.
- ↑ a b Georg Rudige: Sometimes brittle. World premiere review. In: Die Deutsche Bühne on July 19, 2013, accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ^ André Tchaikowsky - Composer on andretchaikowsky.com , accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ↑ Performance information ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) in the Classica TV Guide , accessed on August 20, 2016.
- ↑ André Tchaikovsky MERCHANT OF VENICE awards. In: musikundbuehne.de from April 7, 2014, accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ↑ 2014 Winners in the archive of the International Opera Award , accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ↑ Information on the Warsaw performance on andretchaikowsky.com , accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ^ Rian Evans: The Merchant of Venice review - Tchaikowsky's opera reminds us that prejudice is ever present. Review of the Cardiff performance. In: The Guardian, September 19, 2016, accessed April 12, 2017.