Summary
Boccaccio, oder Der Prinz von Palermo[2][3] (Boccaccio, or the Prince of Palermo) is an operetta in three acts by Franz von Suppé to a German libretto by Camillo Walzel and Richard Genée, based on the play by Jean-François Bayard, Adolphe de Leuven, Léon Lévy Brunswick and Arthur de Beauplan, based in turn on The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. Despite the opera's clear links to the Viennese opera tradition, Suppé's opera takes most of its style from Italian opera.[4]
| Boccaccio | |
|---|---|
| Operetta by Franz von Suppé | |
 The composer of the operetta, c. 1885 | |
| Native title | Boccaccio, oder Der Prinz von Palermo |
| Translation | Boccaccio, or the Prince of Palermo |
| Librettist | |
| Language | German |
| Premiere | 1 February 1879 Carltheater, Vienna |
The opera was begun somewhere around the fall of 1878[5][6] and first published in 1879 by the August Cranz company and performed at the Carltheater, Vienna, on 1 February 1879. An English translation and adaptation was completed in 1880 by Dexter Smith[7] and later by Oscar Weil and Gustav Hinrichs around 1883.[8] The first contemporary edit of the work occurred in 1950 for the premiere of the work at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, with several more iterations occurring through the 20th century.[4]
In 1940, Boccaccio was made into a film by American-born Italian film director Marcello Albani.[9]
Performance history edit
Following its premiere in 1879, the opera quickly made its way around the globe.
- April 23, 1880: New York
- February 3, 1882: Brussels, Belgium (based on translation by Gustave Lagye)
- March 29, 1883: Paris, France (Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques)
- May 1, 1882 to 1929: Parma, Italy (Teatro Reinach)
- September 16, 1882: Vienna, Austria (Theater an der Wien)[10]
- 1882: London, United Kingdom (Comedy Theatre)
- September 2, 188(3 or 4): Melbourne, Australia
- December 26, 1884: Brno, Czech Republic
- October 11, 1886: Manaus, Amazonos (Éden-Theatro)
- July 5, 1889: Vienna, Austria (Venedig in Wien)
- 1897: Manaus, Amazonos (Amazonas Theater)
- 1898: Rome, Italy (Costanzi Theater, based on translation by Gian Luigi Bonelli)
- 1905: (Broadway ft. Raymond Hitchcock)
- 1922: Venice, Italy (La Fenice)
- 1931: Metropolitan Opera House, New York (ft. Maria Jeritza)[11]
- 1932 - 1953: Vienna, Austria (Wiener Staatsoper ft. Maria Jeritza)
- 1935: Turin, Italy (Teatro Regio, conducted by Franco Ghione ft. Iris Adami Corradetti)
- 1950, 1958, 1973: Berlin, Germany (Metropoltheater)
- 1951: Vienna, Austria (Burgtheater)
- 1956: Munich, Germany (Gärtnerplatztheater)
- 1970: Florence, Italy (Teatro Comunale di Firenze ft. Fedora Barbieri, Alvinio Misciano, and Mario Petri)
- 1976: Bordeaux, France (Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux)
- 2015/2016: Hildesheim, Germany (Theater für Niedersachsen)
Roles and role creators edit
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 1 February 1879[12] |
|---|---|---|
| Fiametta, Lambertuccio's foster-daughter | soprano | Rosa Streitmann |
| Giovanni Boccaccio, novelist and poet | mezzo-soprano | Antonie Link |
| Beatrice, Lambertuccio's wife | soprano | |
| Isabella, Lotteringhi's wife | mezzo-soprano | |
| Peronella | contralto | |
| Pietro, Prince of Palermo | tenor | |
| Lambertuccio, the grocer | baritone | |
| Lotteringhi, the cooper | baritone | Franz Tewele |
| Scalza, the barber | baritone | |
| Leonello, Boccaccio's student friend | baritone | |
| Checco, a beggar | bass | Carl Blasel |
| Fratelli, the bookseller | baritone | |
| Majordomo | baritone | |
| Beggars, students, servants, Donna Pulci's daughters – chorus | ||
Synopsis edit
- Time: 1331.
- Place: Florence.
In early-Renaissance Florence, the erotic novellas of the poet Boccaccio cause a stir and the locals are divided into the female fans of his scandalous tales and their jealous husbands. A plot is hatched by the husbands to chase Boccaccio from the city and have him locked up. But Boccaccio has other plans, including one to win the hand of the Duke's daughter Fiammetta, which he finally succeeds in doing after finding favour with the Duke.
Musical numbers edit
- "Ich sehe einen jungen Mann dort stehn" (Boccaccio)
- "Hab' ich nur deine Liebe" (Fiametta, later with Boccaccio)
- Act 1 finale (book-burning)
- Serenade (Boccaccio, Pietro, Leonetto)
- Cooper's Song (Lotteringhi)
- Waltz trio "Wie pocht mein Herz so ungestüm" (Fiametta, Isabella, Peronella)
- Lovers' sextet
- Duet "Florenz hat schöne Frauen (Mia bella florentina)" (Fiametta, Boccaccio)
- Act 3 finale (Boccaccio's counsel)
References edit
- ^ Heinrich von Littrow, der echte Textautor von Suppès „Boccaccio“-Hit „Hab‘ ich nur Deine Liebe“[dead link]
- ^ Boccaccio at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Suppé, Franz von; Zell, F.; Genée, Richard; Boccaccio, Giovanni (1884). Boccaccio. Comic opera in three acts. New York: The McWilliams printing house.
- ^ a b Aisenpreis, Uwe. "Franz von Suppé – Ein Morgen, ein Mittag, ein Abend in Wien". www.f-v-su.de (in German). Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ Weigel, Andreas [in German] (7 August 2018). "Hat Franz von Suppè seinen Boccaccio nachweislich in seiner Sommerfrische Gars komponiert?". Stars in Gars (in German). Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ Weigel, Andreas (1 June 2019). "Warum Franz von Suppès Operette Boccaccio (höchstwahrscheinlich) keine Garser Komposition ist". Stars in Gars (in German). Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ Suppé, Franz von; Boccaccio, Giovanni; Smith, Dexter; Genée, Richard; Zell, F. (1880). Boccaccio, or, The prince of Palermo; comic opera in three acts. Prince of Palermo. Boston: Ditson.
- ^ "Von Suppé's sparkling comic opera in three acts, entitled: Boccaccio / libretto by Messrs. Reece & Farine", via Trove. Retrieved 28 July 2013
- ^ Boccaccio at IMDb
- ^ Gänzl, Kurt. "Boccaccio Operette in 3 acts". The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre. Retrieved 24 June 2023 – via Operetta Research Center.
- ^ "BiblioTech PRO V3.2a". archives.metoperafamily.org. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Boccaccio, 1 February 1879". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
Further reading edit
- Lamb, Andrew (1992), "Boccaccio" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
External links edit
- Boccaccio (Suppé): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- "Hab' ich nur deine Liebe" on YouTube, Anneliese Rothenberger, Rudolf Schock, Berliner Symphoniker, Wilhelm Schüchter conducting
