Maddalena (opera)
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''Maddalena'' (russian: Маддалена, links=no) is an
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 "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
in one act by the Russian composer
Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
, who also wrote the
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 ...
based on a play of the same name by Magda Gustavovna Lieven-Orlov (under the
pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...
Baron Lieven). That play was in turn based on
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
's play ''
A Florentine Tragedy ''A Florentine Tragedy'' is a fragment of a never-completed play by Oscar Wilde. The subject concerns Simone, a wealthy 16th-century Florentine merchant who finds his wife Bianca in the arms of a local prince, Guido Bardi. After feigning hospita ...
''.


Origins

Although Prokofiev had already written four operas (the earliest being '' The Giant'' which he composed at the age of eight and was written down by the composer's mother), ''Maddalena'' is the first of his works in this genre to which he gave an
opus number In musicology, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among compositio ...
(op. 13). The opera was written in the summer of 1911 while Prokofiev was still a student at
Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...
and abandoned with only one of its four scenes orchestrated. The plot centres on a torrid love triangle in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
in the fifteenth century. Prokofiev wrote in his autobiography that 'the action abounded in conflicts, love, treachery and murder' but added that 'Baron Lieven' was 'more charming in appearance than talented in dramaturgy'.McAllister, p. 138 It was to wait 70 years for its premiere.


History

Prokofiev began to orchestrate the opera in 1912, hoping to arrange a performance at the Conservatory. He had shown the piano score to
Nikolai Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky or Miaskovsky or Miaskowsky (russian: Никола́й Я́ковлевич Мяско́вский; pl, Mikołaj Miąskowski, syn Jakóbowy; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is som ...
who commented "
he music He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
is at times startling in its sombre power, the volcanic quality of rokofiev'stemperament is astonishing." The Conservatory turned down the opera, according to the composer because the libretto had too many overtones of the
symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
poet
Konstantin Balmont Konstantin Dmitriyevich Balmont ( rus, Константи́н Дми́триевич Бальмо́нт, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ˈdmʲitrʲɪjɪvʲɪdʑ bɐlʲˈmont, a=Konstantin Dmitriyevich Bal'mont.ru.vorb.oga; – 23 December 1942) was a Rus ...
rather than because of any musical difficulties.Wierzbicki p. 22 With the prospect of a theatre production in 1913, Prokofiev revised the music and dedicated the second version to Miaskovsky. However this production fell through, as did a further potential Moscow production in 1916. When Prokofiev left Russia in 1918 he left the manuscript in the care of his Moscow publishing house, and thereafter it was put to the back of his mind, although Miaskovsky wrote to him in Paris in 1924 to ask about it. Possibly this motivated him to collect the score when he visited Russia in 1927 to hear the Moscow production of his ''
Love for Three Oranges ''The Love for Three Oranges'', Op. 33, also known by its French language title ' (russian: Любовь к трём апельсинам, links=no, ''Lyubov' k tryom apel'sinam''), is a satirical opera by Sergei Prokofiev. Its French libretto w ...
''. When Prokofiev finally returned to Russia permanently in 1936, the score was left behind in Paris. It finally found its way to the publishers
Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and woodwind musical instruments. Formed in 1930 throu ...
in London in 1960. The composer's widow,
Lina Prokofiev Lina Ivanovna Prokofieva ( rus, Ли́на Ива́новна Проко́фьева), born Carolina Codina Nemísskaia, (21 October 1897 – 3 January 1989) was a Spanish singer and the first wife of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. They mar ...
, who was established as being the rightful owner of the manuscript, asked the English musician
Edward Downes Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera. He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for his ...
to create a performing version. Originally this was to have been premiered by the
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) is an American summer opera festival held in St. Louis, Missouri. Typically four operas, all sung in English, are presented each season, which runs from late May to late June. Performances are accompanied by th ...
in 1980, but because of contractual problems, following ''Maddalena''s premiere in a studio recording broadcast by
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
on 25 March 1979 with
Jill Gomez Jill Carnegy, Countess of Northesk (''née'' Gomez; born 21 September 1942) is a Trinidadian and British soprano who enjoyed an active career on the operatic stage and in the concert hall in a wide repertoire, and has made many recordings. Lif ...
in the title role., its first staging was at the
Graz Opera The Graz Opera (German: Oper Graz) is an Austrian opera house and opera company based in Graz. The orchestra of the opera house also performs concerts as the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra (''Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester''). History Opera h ...
, Austria, on 28 November 1981, conducted by Downes. The American premiere, using a re-scored version by Downes, was given by the Saint Louis company on 9 June 1982, conducted by Bruce Ferden.


Roles


Synopsis

:Place:
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
:Time: About 1400 Maddalena is married to the artist Genaro, but is having an affair (in disguise) with Genaro's friend, the
alchemist Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscience, protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in Chinese alchemy, C ...
Stenio. Stenio tells Genaro of the mysterious woman who has seduced him, and then recognises Maddalena as his seductress. Initially both men turn on Maddalena but she encourages them to fight each other; Genaro kills Stenio, but is wounded himself in the process. As he dies he invites Maddalena to kill herself. She however speculates which, if either, of the two corpses she really loved. Then she rushes to the window and calls out for help, claiming a stranger has killed her husband.


Reception

Although, in a 1979 ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...
'' article, Rita McAllister called the piece 'substantial and stage-worthy' and praised its
Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually ref ...
ian qualities, the critic Jeffrey Joseph wrote 'there is scarcely any plot to speak of ..his is a most accomplished piece for a twenty year old utit is a bundle of effects tacked onto an arbitrary and therefore rather unpleasant tale'.Wierzbicki, 34


References

Notes Sources
"Opera: ''Maddalena'', A Fragment From Prokofiev"
by
Donal Henahan Donal Henahan (February 28, 1921 – August 19, 2012) was an American music critic and journalist who had lengthy associations with the ''Chicago Daily News'' and ''The New York Times''. With the ''Times'' he won the annual Pulitzer Prize for ...
, ''The New York Times'', June 21, 1982 * Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. * McAllister, Rita, "Prokofiev's Early Opera ''Maddalena'' ", ''Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association'' Vol. 96, 1970 pp. 137–147 * Wierzbicki, James, "''Maddalena'': Prokofiev's Adolescent Opera", ''Opera Quarterly'', Vol. 1, 1983, pp. 17–35 {{Authority control Operas by Sergei Prokofiev Russian-language operas Operas Unfinished operas Operas completed by others 1911 operas 1981 operas One-act operas Operas based on works by Oscar Wilde