''Mario and the Magician'' (german: Mario und der Zauberer) is a
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
written by German author
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
in 1929.
Plot summary
The narrator describes a trip by his family to the fictional seaside town of Torre di Venere, Italy (a fictional town based on the touristic city of
Forte dei Marmi
Forte dei Marmi () is a sea town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013.
Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's ...
). It becomes unpleasant, partly because he finds the Italian people to be too nationalistic. The family attends a performance by a magician and hypnotist named Cipolla, who uses his mental powers in a fascist way to control his audience. Cipolla represents the mesmerizing power of authoritarian leaders in Europe at the time — he is autocratic, misuses power, and is able to subjugate the crowd, counterbalancing his inferiority complex by artificially boosting his self-confidence. Cipolla's assassination by Mario, a native of Torre di Venere, is not a tragedy but a liberation for the audience.
Adaptations
The story/novel has been adapted several times for the operatic stage.
Stephen Oliver's adaptation was premiered in 1988 at the Battignano Festival. 1989 saw a one-act opera by the Hungarian composer
János Vajda to a libretto by Gábor Bókkon. A recording was issued in 1990 on the Hungaroton label.
. A three-hour-long opera adaptation by composer
Harry Somers
Harry Stewart Somers, CC (September 11, 1925 – March 9, 1999) was a contemporary Canadian composer. Possessing a charismatic attitude and rather dashing good looks, as well as a genuine talent for his art, Somers earned the unofficial title ...
with lyrics by Rod Anderson premiered 19 May 1992 at the Elgin Theatre, Toronto. ''Mario and the Magician'' was adapted into an English
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 ...
by librettist
J. D. McClatchy
J. D. "Sandy" McClatchy (August 12, 1945 – April 10, 2018) was an American poet, opera librettist and literary critic. He was editor of the ''Yale Review'' and president of The American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Life
McClatchy was born ...
and composer
Francis Thorne
Francis Thorne (June 23, 1922 – March 7, 2017) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and grandson of the writer Gustav Kobbé.
Life
Francis Burritt Thorne, Jr. was born in Bay Shore, New York. His father was a ragtime pianist ...
. It was first performed in 2005 by the
Center for Contemporary Opera The Center for Contemporary Opera (CCO) is a professional opera company based in New York City, and a member of OPERA America. The company focuses on producing and developing new opera and music theater works and reviving rarely seen American opera ...
in the auditorium of
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
. A recording of this production was released on compact disc by
Albany Records
Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York.
See also
* List of record la ...
in 2006. The original cast included
Justin Vickers as Mario, Larry Small, Jessica Grigg, Wendy Brown, Beata Safari, Sankofa Sarah Wade, Jim Gaylord, Eric Jordan, Isai Jess Muñoz,
Leandra Ramm
Leandra Erin Ramm is an American singer and actress known for opera and musical theatre. She is an offspring of the Repository for Germinal Choice (otherwise known as "The Genius Sperm Bank").
Early life
Ramm was conceived from the Repository ...
, Richard Cassell, Jason Cammorata and Nathan Resika. There is also a
1994 film with
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer (; born Klaus Georg Steng; 22 June 1943) is an Austrian actor and director. He is also a professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar.
Brandauer is known internationally for his roles in ''The Russia House'' (1990), ''Mephisto'' ...
as Cipolla and
as the patriarch, directed by Brandauer.
Briscula the Magician is an operatic adaptation by Bob Misbin with music by Frances Pollock. It was performed in Silver Spring Maryland in March 2020 by Bel Cantanti Opera. In this adaptation the magician prevails. This change reflects the history of the ascendance of fascism in Europe not yet evident when Mann published his story in 1929.
As noted by Dr. Mark Dreisonstok in Maryland Theatre Guide, March 7 2020, this opera is an "accessible entry point" into the work of Thomas Mann.
External links
Text, online (pdf)The Evil Magician Casts a Spell by Colin Campbell in ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...
'', 15 Aug 2016, making analogy between the magician in the story and a U.S. presidential candidate
{{Authority control
1929 German-language novels
Novellas by Thomas Mann
Novels set in Italy
Martin Secker books
German novels adapted into films
Novels adapted into operas