''The Devil in Love'' (french: Le Diable amoureux; russian: Влюблённый дьявол, translit=Vlyublyonny dyavol, italic=yes) is an opera in three acts by

Alexander Vustin Alexander Kuzmich Vustin, also Voustin or Wustin (russian: link=no, Алекса́ндр Кузьми́ч Ву́стин, 24 April 1943 – 19 April 2020) was a Russian composer. His works, including the opera '' The Devil in Love'', were played ...

. 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 ...

was written in Russian by Vladimir Khachaturov, based on the 1732 novel ''The Devil in Love'' by

Jacques Cazotte Jacques Cazotte (; 17 October 1719 – 25 September 1792) was a French author. Life Born in Dijon, he was educated by the Jesuits. Cazotte then worked for the French Ministry of the Marine and at the age of 27 he obtained a public office at Mar ...

. Completed in 1989, it was premiered on 15 February 2019 at the

Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre The Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre (russian: Московский академический Музыкальный театр имени народных артистов К. С. Станиславског ...

in Moscow.

History

composed ''The Devil in Love'' to a

in Russian by Vladimir Khachaturov, based on the 1732 novel ''The Devil in Love'' by

. He worked on the opera for around 15 years, from 1975 to 1989. The work was first intended to be a short chamber opera, but grew due to the inclusion of more plot lines. It became a work in three acts and eight scenes. Vustin used similar musical material as in other compositions written during the same period. It was published by Boosey and Hawkes. The opera was premiered in a two-act version on 15 February 2019 to mark the centenary season of the

in Moscow. The conductor was

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 hi ...

and the director Alexander Titel. The production team won the 2019 Onegin Award.

Plot and scoring

As in the play, the devil is attracted to a young man, Alvare, and assumes several incarnations, including a girl, Biondetta. The topic is reminiscent of the Faust myth, but in the play and the opera, the devil becomes more and more human, and the girl is ultimately freed by her love from supernatural powers. The opera requires two

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

, two

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

s, two

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

s, two

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

s, two

basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass ...

, a small chorus and dancers. The core instrumentation follows Stravinsky's ''

L'Histoire du soldat ' (''The Soldier's Tale'') is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" () by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. Conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz, the piece was bas ...

'', employing

clarinet 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 ...

trumpet 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 ...

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

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. Exc ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

. It ultimately consisted of 2 flutes (II = piccolo), 5 clarinets (II = bass clarinet, III = alto saxophone, IV = tenor saxophone, V = bass saxophone), trumpet, trombone, percussion (7 players; percussion 1: wood blocks / temple blocks; percussion 2: cymbals / gongs / tam-tams; percussion 3: tom-toms / drums; percussion 4-7: tubular bells / vibraphone / marimba / castanets / 5 tartafruge /

whip (instrument) A clapper is a basic form of percussion instrument. It consists of two long solid pieces that are struck together producing sound. A straightforward instrument to produce and play, they exist in many forms in many different cultures around th ...

/ hammer / guiro / ratchet / washboard / 2 maracas / rattle / hi-hat / flexatone / tambourine / tamburo (side drum) / cassa (bass drum) / pedal timpani / flauto a culisse / large siren / ruggitso del leone) / keyboards (piano / celesta / harpsichord / electronic organ / synthesizer), 12 violins, 1 double-bass. Vustin assigned certain instruments and singing styles to the characters. Alvare uses declamation, and is accompanied by violin and trumpet, while Biondetta is songful, accompanied by three saxophones. In an extended love duet, Alvare turns more to singing, and the instrumental colours are more and more mixed. The composer characterised the opera as a "scene for voices and instruments with games and dancing ''ad libitum''". While the beginning has lively action such as billiard games, disputes and transformations, the inner world of the protagonists becomes the focus for most of the opera.

References

External links

20the century opera: The devil falls in love
concertzender.nl 28 September 2019 * Francisco Salazar
Obituary: Composer Alexander Vustin Dies of Coronavirus Complications
operawire.com 21 April 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Devil in Love, The Russian-language operas Operas 1989 operas Operas by Alexander Vustin Operas based on novels The Devil in opera

History

Plot and scoring

References

Further reading

External links