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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Il "Cellini" di Berlioz

Speranza


Hector Berlioz



























Benvenuto Cellini is an opera in two acts[1] with music by Hector Berlioz and libretto by Léon de Wailly and Henri Auguste Barbier.

It was the first of Berlioz's operas.

The story is loosely based on the memoirs of the Florentine sculptor Benvenuto Cellini.

The opera is technically very challenging[2] and rarely performed,[3][4][5] and is not part of the standard operatic repertoire.

However, the overture to the opera features in symphony orchestra programs, as well as the concert overture Le carnaval romain that Berlioz composed from material in the opera.

Ora Frishberg Saloman has discussed in detail the opera's characterisation of the historical figure of Cellini.[6]

 

[edit] Composition history

Poster advertising the first performance


In 1834, Berlioz, de Wailly and Barbier devised a libretto in the opéra comique style, with spoken dialogue. However, the Paris Opéra-Comique company rejected it.

The story was then reworked into more "conventional" opera format, without spoken dialogue.

With actual composition starting in 1836, the opera was first performed at the Paris Opera on September 10, 1838, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck, and with Gilbert Duprez in the title-role.

At its premiere, the audience, disturbed by the radical new opera, rioted, and the musicians branded the work as impossible to play.[7]

In 1851, Franz Liszt offered to revive the opera in a new production (and version) in Weimar, and suggested changes to the score to Berlioz.

This version was performed in Weimar in 1852, and also in London in 1853.

However, the London reception was poor.

The final performances of the opera in Berlioz's lifetime were in Weimar in 1856.
I
n 1856, the vocal score of the Weimar edition was published in Germany.

A French publication of the Weimar version vocal score appeared in 1863 from Choudens. Thomasin La May has examined the Weimar edition of the opera.[8]

In 1996, a critical edition of the opera, edited by Hugh Macdonald, was published by Bärenreiter Verlag, as part of the New Berlioz Edition.[9]

The critical edition takes into account all of the available editions:
  • the original version as Berlioz composed it, before changes demanded by the censors
  • the version premiered in Paris, with the changes after evaluation by the censors
  • the Weimar edition, after the changes suggested by Liszt.

[edit] Performance history

Occasional performances took place after Berlioz's death.

In Hanover in 1879, Vienna in 1911, and as part of the inaugural season at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées for six performances from 31 March 1913 conducted by Weingartner.[10]

Following Les Troyens in 1935, the Glasgow Grand Opera Society mounted the opera alongside a production of Béatrice et Bénédict in 1936, conducted by Erik Chisholm.


The Carl Rosa Opera Company, a British touring company, brought it into its repertoire in 1956, giving two performances to packed houses at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1957.

The title role was sung by tenor Charles Craig, then at the start of a notable international career.[12]

The Royal Opera House in London staged the work on December 15, 1966, followed by its Italian premiere in Naples in 1967.


The first United States production was by the Opera Company of Boston in 1975, under the direction of Sarah Caldwell and with Jon Vickers in the title role.

The first performance of the work at the Metropolitan Opera took place on December 4, 2003, with James Levine conducting and stage direction from Andrei Şerban, and Marcello Giordani singing the role of Cellini.[13][14]

Another notable interpreter of the title role is John Duykers.
I
n 2007 Benvenuto Cellini was staged at Salzburg Festival, Valery Gergiev conducting.[15]

[edit] Roles

RoleVoice typePremiere Cast, September 10, 1838
(Conductor: François Antoine Habeneck)[16]
Teresa, Daughter of Balducci, in love with Cellini, but promised to FieramoscasopranoJulie Dorus-Gras
Ascanio, A breeches role, Cellini’s trusted apprenticemezzo-sopranoRosine Stoltz
Benvenuto Cellini, An artist/goldsmithtenorGilbert Louis Duprez
Fieramosca, The Pope’s sculptorbaritoneJean-Étienne-Auguste Massol
Pope Clement VII[17]bassJacques-Émile Serda
Balducci, The Pope's treasurer and Teresa’s fatherbaritoneProsper Dérivis
Francesco, An artisantenorPierre François Wartel
Bernardino, An artisanbassFerdinand Prévôt
An innkeepertenorH.-M. Trévaux
Pompeo, friend of FieramoscabaritoneMolinier
Columbinespoken
Chorus: maskers, neighbours, metal-workers, friends and apprentices of Cellini, troupers, dancers, people, guards, white friars, the Pope's retinue, foundrymen, workmen, spectators

[edit] Costumes

The costumes for the original production in 1838 were designed by Paul Lormier (1813–1895).[18]
  • Cellini (Duprez)
  • Teresa (Dorus-Gras)
  • Balducci (Dérivis)
  • The Pope (Serda)
  • Ascanio (Stoltz)
  • Fieramosca (Massol)
  • Bernardino (Prévôt)
  • Francesco (Wartel)

[edit] Synopsis

Time: 1532
Place: Rome, during Carnival, over Shrove Monday, Mardi Gras, and Ash Wednesday.

[edit] Act 1

Tableau 1 (Balducci's residence)
Balducci has been summoned to a meeting with Pope Clement VII concerning the Pope's commission of a bronze statue of Perseus from the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini.

Balducci would have preferred Fieramosca as the chosen sculptor, and also because he hopes to marry his daughter Teresa to Fieramosca. But Teresa is smitten with Cellini. Before Balducci goes to his meeting with the Pope, Cellini and other Carnival celebrators come on the scene, and pelt Balducci with fausses dragées (flour pellets) that make Balducci look "like a leopard". He can't clean himself off, however, so he continues to his meeting.
A bouquet of flowers comes through the window and lands at Teresa's feet. Attached is a note from Cellini saying that he is coming up. He does so, and explains his plan to take her away from her father so that they can live together. He and his assistant Ascanio will be disguised as monks, and will take her from her father during the Mardi Gras celebrations, when the Castel Sant'Angelo cannon is sounded to mark the end of Carnival. Unbeknownst to them both, Fieramosca has also entered the room, and tries to eavesdrop on them. He does not hear all the information on the first rendition, but he does on the second.
Upon hearing Balducci approach, Fieramosca hides in Teresa's bedroom, and Cellini hides behind the main room door. To distract her father, Teresa invents a story about a noise in her bedroom. Balducci goes into her bedroom, and Cellini escapes in the meantime. To Teresa's surprise, Balducci produces Fieramosca from the bedroom. He and Teresa call on the servants and neighbors to take Fieramosca and dump him outside in the fountain, but Fieramosca breaks free of the crowd.
Tableau 2 (Piazza Colonna)
Cellini, his apprentices and friends sing the praises of being goldsmiths. Bernardino asks for more wine, but the innkeeper demands settlement of their tab. Ascanio then appears with the Pope's advance payment for the Perseus statue, but also with a warning that the casting of the statue must occur the next day. The amount of money in the advance is less than expected, which gives new impetus to the plan to mock Balducci at Cassandro's booth that night.
Fieramosca has also overheard this plan, and confides to his friend Pompeo. Pompeo suggests that they too disguise themselves as monks and abduct Teresa themselves.
People gather in the piazza. A crowd assembles at Cassandro's booth, where "the pantomime-opera of King Midas or The Ass's Ears" is unfurled. Balducci and Teresa enter, soon after Cellini and Ascanio dressed as monks, and then Fieramosca and Pompeo similarly disguised. In the pantomime, Harlequin and Pierrot compete for the attention of King Midas, who is attired to look like Balducci. At this, the real Balducci approaches the stage, leaving Teresa alone. Both sets of "friars" then approach Teresa, to her confusion. The four friars begin to battle by sword, and in the struggle, Cellini fatally stabs Pompeo. The crowd becomes silent, and Cellini is arrested for murder. As he is about to be taken away, the three cannon shots from Castel Sant'Angelo are heard, indicating the end of Carnival and the start of Lent. All of the lights in the piazza are extinguished. During the darkness and resulting confusion, Cellini escapes his captors and Ascanio and Teresa go off. Fieramosca is then mistakenly arrested in Cellini's place.

[edit] Act 2

Tableau 1 (Ash Wednesday, Cellini's studio)
Ascanio and Teresa wait for Cellini in his studio. When a procession of friars passes by, they join in the prayer. Cellini then enters, still in monk's disguise, and recounts his escape. Because he is now wanted for murder, he plans to escape Florence with Teresa, but Ascanio reminds him of his obligation to cast the statue. Ascanio goes off to find a horse. Balducci and Fieramosca then appear. Balducci denounces Cellini as a murderer and then promises Teresa to Fieramosca in marriage.
The Pope then appears to check on the progress of the statue. Cellini makes excuses, but the Pope dismisses them and decides that he will give the commission to another sculptor. Cellini then threatens to destroy the mould, and when the Pope's guards approach him, he raises his hammer. The Pope then makes Cellini an offer: if Cellini can cast the statue that evening, he will forgive Cellini's crimes and let him marry Teresa. But if Cellini fails, he will be hanged.
Bronze sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini
Tableau 2 (Ash Wednesday, evening, Cellini's foundry)
After an aria from Ascanio, Cellini comes on stage and muses on the quiet life of a shepherd. The workmen are at their labours and sing a sea-shanty, which Cellini sees as a bad omen. Ascanio and Cellini encourage the goldsmiths to continue their work. Fieramosca then arrives with two henchmen and challenges Cellini to a duel. Cellini accepts and asks to settle it on the spot, but Fieramosca prefers it to be done away from his workplace. Fieramosca and his men leave.
Teresa arrives and sees Ascanio hand Cellini his rapier, but Cellini assures her that he will be safe. Alone, she hears the workmen start to lay down their tools and stop work, as they have not been paid and lack direction from Cellini. She tries to assure them that they will be paid eventually, but to no avail. Fieramosca then appears, and Teresa faints, thinking that Cellini is dead. This is not so, as Fieramosca is about to offer a bribe to the goldsmiths to cease work completely. This turns the goldsmiths against Fieramosca and they reassert their loyalty to Cellini. Cellini then reappears, and he and the workmen force Fieramosca to don workclothes to help out.
In the evening, the Pope and Balducci arrive to see if the statue is completed. Fieramosca then announces that they are out of metal, which Francesco and Bernardino confirm. Balducci and Fieramosca are pleased at Cellini's impending failure. Cellini then prays, and in a moment of desperation, orders that all art works in his studio, of whatever metal, be put into the crucible and melted, to the consternation of Francesco and Bernardino. After this is done, an explosion blows the lid off the crucible. Then molten metal emerges to fill the mould, and the casting is successful. Balducci and Fieramosca acknowledge Cellini's success. The Pope pardons Cellini, and Cellini and Teresa are united. The opera closes with praise for the goldsmiths.

[edit] Recordings

[edit] References

Notes
  1. ^ Originally, opera in Paris version had two acts, but in the revised, Weimer version - three, and in contemporary productions the first two acts of that version are merged together without intermission into one long act I
  2. ^ Kunde, Gregory and Linda Wojciechowski Kunde (2003). "Benvenuto Cellini in Zurich: A Rehearsal Diary". The Opera Quarterly 19 (3): 417–426. DOI:10.1093/oq/19.3.417. http://oq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/19/3/417. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  3. ^ Andrew Clements (2003-08-19). "Benvenuto Cellini: Prom 39, Royal Albert Hall, London (2003)". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/review/0,,1021697,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  4. ^ Donal Henehan (1983-05-10). "Berlioz's Cellini". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E3DA1338F933A25756C0A965948260. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  5. ^ Anthony Tommasini (2003-12-06). "Opera Review: Benvenuto Cellini at the Met". NYT. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E6DB153DF935A35751C1A9659C8B63&scp=108&sq=Benvenuto+Cellini&st=nyt. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  6. ^ Saloman, Ora Frishberg (2003). "Literary and Musical Aspects of the Hero's Romance in Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini". The Opera Quarterly 19 (3): 401–416. DOI:10.1093/oq/19.3.401. http://oq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/19/3/401. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  7. ^ Wasselin, Christian, "Benvenuto Cellini" on the Hector Berlioz website for a more detailed inside story of the opera
  8. ^ La May, Thomasin K. (1979). "A New Look at the Weimar Versions of Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini". The Musical Quarterly LXV (4): 559–572. DOI:10.1093/mq/LXV.4.559. http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/LXV/4/559. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  9. ^ Goldberg, Louise (June 2000). "Review of Hector Berlioz, Benvenuto Cellini (New Edition, Bärenreiter) and Vocal score based on urtext of the New Edition". Notes 56 (4): 1032–1036. JSTOR 899879.
  10. ^ Kobbé, Gustave. Kobbé's Complete Opera Book, ed Harewood. Putnam, London & New York, 1954.
  11. ^ Wimbush R. Berlioz in Glasgow. Gramophone, May 1936, 12.
  12. ^ The Musical Times June 1957
  13. ^ Anthony Tommasini (2003-12-06). "A Goldsmith's Tale, Told Larger Than Life". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E6DB153DF935A35751C1A9659C8B63. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  14. ^ David P. Stearns (December 2003). "Benvenuto Cellini at the Met". Andante magazine. http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=22832. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  15. ^ Mark Berry (2007-08-16). "Benvenuto Cellini at Salzburg Festival". Boulezian. http://boulezian.blogspot.com/2007/08/salzburg-festival-benvenuto-cellini-15.html. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  16. ^ The conductor is mentioned by Berlioz in his memoirs (pp. 235–236). The singers of Cellini, Teresa, Ascanio, Fieramosca, and Balducci are listed in Holomon (1989, p. 190). A poster for the premiere lists the last names of the entire cast without specifying roles (Holomon 1989, p. 191). Jullien (1888) shows costume illustrations for three additional roles: Serda as the Pope or Cardinal (p. 113), Wartel as Francesco (p. 127), and Prévôt as Bernardino (p. 120). Singers' full names and their spellings have been taken from the performers index in Jowers and Cavanagh (2000, pp. 466–502). The remaining two singers, Trévaux and Molinier have been assigned to the two remaining roles on the basis of voice type. H.-M. Trévaux was a tenor (Holomon 2004, pp. 44, 49), and Molinier sang the bass role of the herald in Verdi's Jérusalem (Budden 1973, p. 340). The conductor and major roles are listed the same by AmadeusOnline (accessed December 28, 2010), but four of the minor roles are not, and these are assumed to be incorrect. In particular, the bass Louis-Émile Wartel, who is assigned to the role of Bernardino, was born March 31, 1834, and was only 4 years old at the time of the premiere ("Wartel" in Sadie 2001).
  17. ^ Due to interference from censors at the premiere, Berlioz was forced to substitute Pope Clement VII with Cardinal Salviati.
  18. ^ Jullien 1888, pp. 113–127; Jowers and Cavanagh 2000, p. 73.
  19. ^ Pines, Roger (2003). "The Berlioz Operas on CD, Surveyed by Our Contributing Editors and Reviewers: Benvenuto Cellini". The Opera Quarterly 19 (3): 427–431. DOI:10.1093/oq/19.3.427. http://oq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/19/3/427. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  20. ^ Edward Greenfield (2004-12-10). "Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini (original text), Kunde/ Ciofi/ di Donato/ Lapointe/ Nouri/ Radio France Choir/ Orchestra Nationale/ Nelson". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1369887,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
  21. ^ CD - Benvenuto Cellini
Sources
  • Berlioz, Hector; Cairns, David, editor and translator (1969). The memoirs of Hector Berlioz (2002 edition). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-41391-9.
  • Budden, Julian (1973). The Operas of Verdi, Volume 1: From Oberto to Rigoletto. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-304-93756-1.
  • Holoman, D. Kern (1989). Berlioz. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06778-3.
  • Holoman, D. Kern (2004). The Société des Concerts du Conservatoire 1828–1967. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23664-6.
  • Jowers, Sidney Jackson; Cavanagh, John (2000). Theatrical Costume, Masks, Make-up and Wigs: A Bibliography and Iconography. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-24774-0.
  • Jullien, Adolphe (1888). Hector Berlioz: Sa Vie et ses oeuvres (in French). Paris: Librairie de l'Art. View at Google Books.
  • Sadie, Stanley, editor; John Tyrell; executive editor (2001). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5 (hardcover). OCLC 419285866 (eBook).

[edit] External links

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