''Gli dei a Tebe'' (The gods in Thebes) is an opera in three acts by
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as '' Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by ...
on a
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 , performed for the first time at the Opernhaus in
Hannover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...
on 4 June 1943. The first performance used the translation of the libretto in German (''Der Kuckuck in Theben'') by Franz Rau. Ghisalberti had in turn derived the libretto from a work by the publisher
Ludwig Strecker, who wrote librettos under the pseudonym Ludwig Andersen.
[David Mason Greene, ''Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers'', 0385142781 (1985) p. 1044: "Perhaps sensing that his operatic sun had set, Wolf-Ferrari took up writing orchestral and chamber music again, including a violin concerto, a cello concerto and a short symphony. His final operas were ''La Dama boba'' (The Silly Lady, after Lope de Vega), produced at La Scala in 1939, and ''Gli Dei a Tebe'' (The Gods at Thebes), at Hannover in 1943."]
After the performances in Hanover the opera was again performed in
Stettin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...
in September 1943, in
Fribourg
, neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne
, twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France)
, website = www.ville-fribourg.ch
, Location of , Location of ()
() o ...
in February 1948, in
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
in May 1948. More recently there are reports of performances in Munich in 1964 and Berlin in 1965 and 1966.
Synopsis
The story, set in ancient
Thebes, focuses on
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
' attempt to take the place of
Amphitryon
Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. His mother was named ei ...
, returning from a war, to have an adventure with his wife
Alcmene
In Greek mythology, Alcmene () or Alcmena (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλκμήνη or Doric Greek: Ἀλκμάνα, Latin: Alcumena means "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best known ...
. The attempt fails because of the intervention of Zeus' wife,
Hera
In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
, who understood her husband's intentions.
The cuckoo in the title of the German translation refers to a bird that Alcmene would like to give as an offering to Hera. The goddess tells Alcmene not to consummate the night with Amphytrion when he returns, until the cuckoo has sung. In this way Zeus, who has presented himself to Alcmene in the guise of Amphitryon, is forced, together with Alcmene, to wait for the morning in the temple near the altar of Hera. In the morning Hera makes sure that Alcmene meets the real Amphytrion and Zeus' project fades away.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dei a Tebe, Gli
Operas by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Italian-language operas
Operas based on classical mythology
1943 operas
Operas