', Op. 16, is an opera in one act by

Alexander von Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton S ...

composed in 1915–16 to a libretto adapted by the composer from a German translation by of Oscar Wilde's unfinished play '' A Florentine Tragedy''.

Performance history

The opera was premiered at the

Staatsoper Stuttgart The Staatsoper Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Opera) is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Staatsorchester Stuttgart serves as its resident orchestra. History Performances of operas, ballet an ...

on 30 January 1917 under the direction of

Max von Schillings Max von Schillings (April 19, 1868 – July 24, 1933 in Berlin) was a German conductor, composer and theatre director. He was chief conductor at the Berlin State Opera from 1919 to 1925. Schillings' opera ''Mona Lisa'' (1915) was internationall ...

. Further productions followed in Prague, Vienna and Graz the same year. The work was also staged in Leipzig (1922), Aachen (1924), Schwerin (1925), and Freiburg im Breisgau (1927). The last production during Zemlinsky's lifetime was in Brno in 1928. It lasts under one hour and is generally paired with another work when performed. The score is published by

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-bas ...

Vienna.

Roles

Instrumentation

*3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 3

oboes The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

(3rd doubling English horn), 3

clarinets The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. ...

in B flat/A (3rd doubling E flat clarinet), bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon); *6

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

, 4

trumpets The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...

, 3

trombones The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

bass tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

; *

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

(

cymbals A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

, bass drum,

side drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in ...

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

tam-tam A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

sleigh bell A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. The ...

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...

, glockenspiel), harp, celesta, mandoline; *strings

Synopsis

:Place: Simone's residence in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

:Time: 16th-century Simone, a Florentine merchant, suspects that he is being cuckolded by Prince Guido whom he discovers at home with his wife Bianca on returning from a business trip. He sells Guido a robe and offers the prince everything that he has in his house; Guido chooses Bianca. Simone takes Bianca to her room and asks her to spin, which she refuses to do. After he leaves, Bianca declares that she hates her husband and wishes him dead. Overhearing this, Simone reflects further on adultery and death. He leaves Guido and Bianca alone together and the two lovers express their devotion. When Guido is about to go home, Simone challenges him to a fight, first with swords, then with daggers, before Simone finally overcomes Guido and strangles him. Bianca, admiring her husband's strength, rushes to embrace him and the two are reconciled as the curtain falls.

Recordings

onductor/Bianca/Guido/Simone*Friedrich Pleyer/Sigune Von Osten/Werner Götz/Heinz Jürgen Demitz,

Fonit Cetra Fonit Cetra was an Italian record label, active between 1957 and 2000. History Fonit Cetra was founded in 1957 from merging two already existing labels: Cetra (acronym from Compagnia per edizioni, teatro, registrazioni ed affini), owned by RAI a ...

(1980, live at La Fenice) *

Gerd Albrecht Gerd Albrecht (19 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a German conductor. Biography Albrecht was born in Essen, the son of the musicologist Hans Albrecht (1902–1961). He studied music in Kiel and in Hamburg, where his teachers included Wilhel ...

/ Doris Soffel/

Kenneth Riegel Kenneth Riegel (born 19 April 1938) is an American opera tenor. Life and career Riegel was born on 19 April 1938 in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania. He made his theatrical début as the Alchemist in ''König Hirsch'' at Santa Fe Opera in 1965, debutin ...

/Guillermo Sarabia, Schwann (1984) * Riccardo Chailly/

Iris Vermillion Iris Vermillion (born 1960) is a German operatic mezzo-soprano. A member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1988, she has enjoyed an international career, appearing in Amsterdam with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and at the Salzburg Festival, among others. ...

/ Heinz Kruse/ Albert Dohmen, Decca (1996)re-released in 2003; recording made at the

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in ...

in Amsterdam, with the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ( nl, Koninklĳk Concertgebouworkest, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). Considered one of the world's leading orchestras, Queen Beatrix conferred the " ...

James Conlon James Conlon (born March 18, 1950) is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera, principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, and artistic advisor to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Early ...

Deborah Voigt Deborah Voigt (born August 4, 1960) is an American dramatic soprano who has sung roles in operas by Wagner and Richard Strauss. Biography and career Early life and education Debbie Joy Voigt was born into a religious Southern Baptist family ...

/David Kuebler/

Donnie Ray Albert Donnie Ray Albert (born January 10, 1950) is an American opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "oper ...

, EMI (1997, live in Cologne) *

Armin Jordan Armin Jordan (9 April 1932 – 20 September 2006) was a Swiss conductor known for his interpretations of French music, Mozart and Wagner. Armin Jordan was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. "Mr. Jordan was a large man, with a slab of a face and a ...

/Victor Lutsiuk/Albert Dohmen, Naive (2004)concert recording made at

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety o ...

, Salle Olivier Messiaen, September 2003 with the

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France is a French radio orchestra, affiliated with Radio France. The orchestra performs principally at the auditorium of the Maison de la Radio in Paris, along with several concerts at the Philharmonie de Pa ...

Vladimir Jurowski Vladimir Mikhailovich Jurowski (; born 4 April 1972) is a Russian conductor. He is the son of conductor Michail Jurowski, and grandson of Soviet film music composer Vladimir Michailovich Jurowski. Early life Born in Moscow, Jurowski began h ...

/Heike Wessels/Sergey Skorokhodov/ Albert Dohmen, LPO (2014)Live recording Royal Festival Hall, London 26 Sep 2012 *

Bertrand de Billy Bertrand de Billy (born Paris, 11 January 1965) is a French conductor. He attended a Jesuit school, but only started serious musical studies when he was around 14–15; he studied piano and violin.

/Heidi Brunner/Charles Reid/Wolfgang Koch, Capriccio (2018)Live recording Konzerthaus Wien 20 May 2010

References

Notes Sources * Batta, András (2000), ''Opera – Komponisten, Werke, Interpreten'' (Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Dutch translation) * Clayton, Alfred (1992), "Florentinische Tragödie, Eine" 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 (London)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Florentinische Tragodie Operas by Alexander Zemlinsky 1917 operas Operas set in Florence One-act operas German-language operas Operas based on works by Oscar Wilde Operas Operas based on plays