''Boccaccio, oder Der Prinz von Palermo'' (''Boccaccio, or the Prince of Palermo'') is an
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
in three acts by
Franz von Suppé
Franz von Suppé (né Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo de Suppe) (18 April 181921 May 1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Croatia). A c ...
to a German
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by
Camillo Walzel and
Richard Genée
Franz Friedrich Richard Genée (7 February 1823 – 15 June 1895) was a Prussian born Austrian libretto, librettist, playwright, and composer.
Life
Genée was born in Gdańsk, Danzig. He died at Baden bei Wien.
Works
He is most famous for the ...
, based on the play by
Jean-François Bayard
Jean-François Alfred Bayard (17 March 1796, Charolles, Saône-et-Loire – 20 February 1853, Paris) was a French playwright. He was the nephew of fellow playwright Eugène Scribe.
Life
As a law student and a lawyer's clerk, Bayard wrote with p ...
,
Adolphe de Leuven
Adolphe de Leuven (30 September 1802 – 14 April 1884) was a French theatre director and a librettist. Also known as Grenvallet, and Count Adolph Ribbing.
He was the illegitimate son of Adolph Ribbing, who was involved in the assassination of G ...
,
Léon Lévy Brunswick and
Arthur de Beauplan
Arthur de Beauplan (20 June 1823 – 11 May 1890
Bibliography
* Louis Gustave Vapereau, ''Dictionnaire universel des littératures'', Paris, Hachette, 1893, Read on line ''Gallica'')
* Christian Goubault, « Arthur de Beauplan » ''in'' Joà ...
, based in turn on ''
The Decameron
''The Decameron'' (; it, label=Italian, Decameron or ''Decamerone'' ), subtitled ''Prince Galehaut'' (Old it, Prencipe Galeotto, links=no ) and sometimes nicknamed ''l'Umana commedia'' ("the Human comedy", as it was Boccaccio that dubbed Dan ...
'' by
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...
.
The opera was first performed at the
Carltheater
The Carltheater was a theatre in Vienna. It was in the suburbs in Leopoldstadt at Praterstraße 31 (at that time called Jägerzeile).
It was the successor to the Leopoldstädter Theater. After a series of financial difficulties, that theater had ...
, Vienna, on 1 February 1879.
An English translation was done by Oscar Weil and
Gustav Hinrichs around 1883.
"Von Suppé's sparkling comic opera in three acts, entitled: ''Boccaccio'' / libretto by Messrs. Reece & Farine"
via Trove
Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text document ...
. Retrieved 28 July 2013
Roles and role creators
Synopsis
:Time: 1331.
:Place: Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
.
In early-Renaissance Florence, the erotic novellas of the poet Boccaccio cause a stir and the locals are divided into the female fans of his scandalous tales and their jealous husbands. A plot is hatched by the husbands to chase Boccaccio from the city and have him locked up. But Boccaccio has other plans, including one to win the hand of the Duke's daughter Fiammetta, which he finally succeeds in doing after finding favour with the Duke. Suppé's finest operetta.
Arias, duets, and ensembles
*"Ich sehe einen jungen Mann dort stehn" (Boccaccio)
*"Hab' ich nur deine Liebe" (Fiametta, later with Boccaccio)
*Act 1 Finale (book-burning)
*Serenade (Boccaccio, Pietro, Leonetto)
*Cooper's Song (Lotteringhi)
*Waltz trio "Wie pocht mein Herz so ungestüm" (Fiametta, Isabella, Peronella)
*Lovers' sextet
*Duet "Florenz hat schöne Frauen (Mia bella florentina)" (Fiametta, Boccaccio)
*Act 3 Finale (Boccaccio's counsel)
References
Further reading
* Lamb, Andrew (1992), "''Boccaccio''" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...
'', ed. Stanley Sadie
Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was publ ...
(London)
External links
*
Synopsis
at music.yodelout.com
{{Authority control
1879 operas
Operas based on works by Giovanni Boccaccio
The Decameron
Operas by Franz von Suppé
German-language operettas
Operas
Operas based on plays
Operas set in Italy
Operas about writers