''Massimilla Doni'' is a short story by

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

History

Its first chapter was published in 1837 in the ''Études philosophiques'' of ''

la Comédie humaine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' alongside '' Gambara'', ''

les Proscrits ''Les Proscrits'' (sometimes translated into English as ''The Exiles'') is a French short story by Honoré de Balzac, published in 1831 by éditions Gosselin, then in 1846 by Furne, Dubochet, Hetzel in ''Études philosophiques''. He subtitled it ...

'' and ''

Séraphîta ''Séraphîta'' () is a French novel by Honoré de Balzac with themes of androgyny. It was published in the ''Revue de Paris'' in 1834. In contrast with the realism of most of the author's best known works, the story delves into the fantastic an ...

''. Its second chapter was published in 1839 in the review ''la France musicale'', under the title ''Une représentation du '

Mosè in Egitto ''Mosè in Egitto'' (; "''Moses in Egypt''") is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, which was based on a 1760 play by Francesco Ringhieri, ''L'Osiride''. It premièred on 5 March 1818 at ...

' '' by

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

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 ...

, with a preamble underlining the role

Stendhal Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, ; ), was a 19th-century French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (''The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de P ...

had played in making Rossini known in France.

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

, with whom Balzac had shared his enthusiasm for ''Mosè in Egitto'', advised the writer to put his story on paper. Balzac also wrote to

Maurice Schlesinger Moritz Adolf Schlesinger (30 October 1798 in Berlin – 25 February 1871 in Baden-Baden), generally known during his French career as Maurice Schlesinger, was a German music editor. He is perhaps best remembered for inspiring the character of M. Ar ...

, who had commissioned a novel from him for the ''

Revue et gazette musicale de Paris The ' was a weekly musical review founded in 1827 by the Belgian musicologist, teacher and composer François-Joseph Fétis, then working as professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire de Paris. It was the first French-language ...

'', to ask him for a little extra time to pursue two ideas - one on ''

Robert le Diable ''Robert le diable'' (''Robert the Devil'') is an opera in five acts composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer between 1827 and 1831, to a libretto written by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. ''Robert le diable'' is regarded as one of the first grand o ...

'' by

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...

, and the other on ''Mosè in Egitto'' and ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...

'' by Rossini. The first of these ideas gave rise to ''Gambara'' and the second to ''Massimilla Doni''. ''Massimilla Doni'' is a true love song to Rossini's music, to the city of

, to the Italian art of living, to Italian aristocrats' elegant simplicity in going to the opera not to see and be seen but to listen and be moved by music. In each box of the

la Fenice Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice beca ...

opera house, the great ladies receive people without ceremony, express their sentiments spontaneously and shed tears of emotion, with male music-lovers going to the

caffè Florian Caffè Florian is a coffee house situated in the Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco, Venice. It was established in 1720 and is the oldest coffee house in continuous operation in Italy, and one of the oldest in the world (the oldest being Café ...

after the show to recount every moment of spectacle, each musical phrase, each note, staying all night if necessary. A Frenchman happens to find himself in the box of Massimilla Doni, duchess of Caetano, and is received by her without pretension and with all friendliness, receiving a true education in lyric opera. The work is short but highly important for ''

''René Guise, ''op. cit.'' and it took Balzac two years to perfect it.

Adaptations

The Swiss composer

Othmar Schoeck Othmar Schoeck (1 September 1886 – 8 March 1957) was a Swiss Romantic classical composer, opera composer, musician, and conductor. He was known mainly for his considerable output of art songs and song cycles, though he also wrote a number of ...

turned ''Massimilla Doni'' into a 4-act (6-scene) opera, first produced on 2 March 1937 at the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Plot

Emilio Memmi, recently made prince of

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

and heir to a palace, is desperately in love with Massimila Doni, wife of the duke of Caetano, a debauched old man who is keeping the singer Clara Tinti as a mistress. Massimilla returns his love, but it remains platonic, chaste and delicate on both sides. A terrible misunderstanding leads Emilio to meet Tinti in his palace and falls in love with her pleasurable charms, ashamed of himself. However, Massimilla has met a French doctor who she has initiated into the mysteries of music and who in return helps Emilio to accept the idea that carnal love and pure love blend beautifully. However, this love story mainly serves as a thread through a text exclusively concentrated on music and lyric opera, the description of the world of music-lovers, the atmosphere of Venice and a portrait of its main character Massimilla.

References

Bibliography

Massimilla Doni on French Wikisource
* Max Andréoli, « Sublime et parodie dans les ''Contes artistes'' de Balzac », ''l'Année balzacienne'', 1994, numero 15, p. 7-38. * Pierre Brunel, « ''Mosè'' dans ''Massimilla Doni'' », ''l’Année balzacienne'', 1994, numero 15, p. 39-54. * Mariane Bury, « Les Français en Italie dans ''Massimilla Doni'' », ''l’Année balzacienne'', 1992, numero 13, p. 207-20. *

Béatrice Didier Béatrice Didier (born 21 December 1935 in La Tronche, Isère) is a French literary critic. Biography Didier was a professor of literature and a publishing series director. She earned a literary doctorate in 1965. She is also a Professor Emeritus ...

, « Logique du récit musical chez Stendhal et chez Balzac », ''Stendhal, Balzac, Dumas : un récit romantique ?'' Chantal Massol, Éd., Lise Dumasy, Intro., Toulouse, PU du Mirail, 2006, p. 137-47. * Jean-Claude Fizaine, « Génie et folie dans ''Louis Lambert'', ''Gambara'' et ''Massimilla Doni'' », ''Revue des sciences humaines'', 1979, numero 175, p. 61-75. * Brigitte Leroy-Viémon, « Splendeurs et misères du processus de création de soi à partir de la nouvelle de Balzac ''Massimilla Doni'' », ''Innovation Creation'', Jean-Pierre Martineau, Éd. et intro., Toulouse, PU du Mirail, 1995, p. 37-54. * Moïse Le Yaouanc, « À propos de ‘la’ Cataneo et de ‘la’ Sanseverina », ''l’Année balzacienne'', 1985, numero 5, p. 366-75. * Max Milner, « Les Sens ‘psychiques’ de Massimilla Doni et la conception balzacienne de l’âme », ''l’Année balzacienne'', Paris, Garnier Frères, 1966, p. 157-69. * Hélène Spengler, « Système et mises en scène de l’énergie dans le récit romantique selon Stendhal et Balzac : ''Massimilla Doni'' et ses intertextes stendhaliens », ''Stendhal, Balzac, Dumas : un récit romantique ?'' Chantal Massol, Éd., Lise Dumasy, Intro., Toulouse, PU du Mirail, 2006, p. 69-99. {{Authority control 1837 short stories Books of La Comédie humaine Short stories by Honoré de Balzac