I masnadieri: opera to Valencia and Italian mafia

Opera in Valencia with I masnadieri. Such a season does not follow Verdi's most famous, but it is the result of one of the most fruitful intellectual relationships in the history of opera. Unfortunately, they will not coincide in life, but they will continue through their ideas. It is written by Giuseppe Verdi and Friedrich von Schiller . The Italian romantic composer will base his work on the work of the German playwright and the result will be the opera Els bandits , premiered on July 22, 1847 at Her Majesty's Theater in London.

Through four acts, this opera tells the story of Carlo , daughter of Count Moor, who will be exiled by his own father and who survived as part of a group of bandits. He draws the profile of a bandit with whom the public empathizes, since the work begins with his punishment and loss, and ends with his last misfortune. Enmig es trobarà amb los brutes argúcies del suu germà, Francesco, que pretén fer-se amb el poder quen son para muira. In order to achieve this, he resorts to the repeated lie that he believes are due to Carlo 's promise, Amalia, that he has died. Tragic and with a shocking ending, the opera masterfully traverses different stages in which power, truth, lies, betrayal and love are the great protagonists. There are universal fears that will turn this opera into a masterpiece and that the weather will not pass by it.

Verdi, history of an opera

The origin of the world is traced back to five years of the premiere and can be found in the key manager of Her Majesty's Theatre, Benjamin Lumley. The theater had taken the title of the Italian opera of the time to London and had connected with the success of Verdi's previous opera, Ernani (both a book by Francesco Maria Piave and based on Victor Hugo's work, Hernani ), his fifth operatic work. It was 1845 and Lumley was going to commission a new opera to Verdi. I will be the most no one , everything that he did not know how to face. It is going to be programmed for everyone, but Verdi will not be able to perform it due to the deterioration of his health. He was, at that time, an emerging figure in the opera field and little by little he was consolidated with the most prominent Italian composer.

During his return, his friend, poet and translator, Andrea Maffei, will suggest the idea of bringing two works to the opera: Shakespeare's Macbeth and Friedrich von Schiller's Die Räuber . The ability to speak different languages fluently that Maffei possessed will make him the translator into the Italian language of some of the most famous works of Anglo-German literature. Finally, he will work on the adaptation of Die Räuber for the Italian book that Verdi would bring to the opera. It is an exception to the time of the book's quest, since at the time of the conception of I masnadieri , Piave was working on the book Macbeth , an adaptation of Shakespeare's play that was shown at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence. This was Verdi's debut opera and the first time he adapted Shakespeare.

Friedrich von Schiller and the esperit 'Sturm und Drang'

The Sturm und Drang literary movement of the second half of the 18th century promoted the total freedom of expression of artists, through subjectivism and emotion, as opposed to rationalism. Born in Germany, he will be the precursor of Romanticism , which will take from him the maxim 'tempestat i passió'. So this premise is that we conceive both literary works and the field of music and painting. They are among the six greatest exponents Goethe, Hamann, Herder, Heiser and Schiller .

In 1781 Die Räuber was published, a work by Schiller considered one of the last of the Sturm und Drang movement. The one that will serve as the basis for the book that Maffei will write for Verdi's opera was a dramatic work, the action of which unfolded in 15th century Germany. Schiller's first work was intended to be a song of rebellion, of the cry against injustices, of the purest passage of idealism through situations impregnated with malice and loneliness.

It will not be the last time that Verdi will revisit a work by Schiller to turn it into an opera, as he will now return to work with Luisa Miller and Don Carlo . Luisa Miller premiered in 1849 at the San Carlo Theater in Naples , a tragic melodrama in three acts that is based on the play Kabale und Liebe ( Intrigue and Love ) by Schiller. This will be converted into an Italian book by Salvatore Cammarano , who together with Piave will be one of Verdi's books. Don Carlo was premiered at the Paris Opera in 1867 and the booklet was written in French by François Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the drama Dom Karlos, Infant von Spanien by Schiller.

The director of the new representation: Roberto Abbado

The musical direction of I masnadieri , from which we can go to the Palau dels Arts Reina Sofia, is under Roberto Abbado , current principal conductor of the Valencian Community Orchestra. Fill by the famous pianist and composer Marcelo Abbado, and by the violinist Michelangelo Abbado is, also, by Claudio Abbado, one of the most important orchestra conductors of the 20th century. Gaudir's opera in Valencia is possible for the 2018-2019 lyrical season.

In the trobe creative team: Gabriele Lavia as stage director, Alessandro Camera in the set design and Andrea Viotti in the costumes. It is a co-production of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, in which the Orchestra of the Valencian Community and the Choir of the Generalitat Valenciana participate. On the other hand, the distribution is composed by Stefano Secco in the role of Carlo , Roberta Mategna with Amalia, Artur Ruci?ski with Francesco, Michele Pertusi with Massimiliano and Gabriele Sagona in the role of Priest Moser.

It is unfortunate not to have followed a mass work performed at the end of the 20th century, it is always a pleasure to see live all the greatness of an opera composed by Verdi. The current versions contain the collection of important personalities from the operatic world in the 19th century. Així, the series premiered in 1847 with the protagonists Italo Gardoni (one of the most important Italian tenors of the period) in the role of Carlo and Jenny Lind (famous Swedish soprano) with Amalia.

The bandits and the mafia in the opera

We can say that most of all it focuses on the solitude of the bandit, with his decisions leading to tragedy and the pursuit of just ideals. They are men who see a parallelism between these bandits of 15th century Germany and the Italian mafia , together with the criminal organization that will be formed at the end of the 19th century and that will materialize in the constitution of Cosa Nostra . This criminal group, which originated in the Italian region of Sicily, also pursued the autonomous application of its own law, which we can understand as the search for just ideals. Això is derived from the same formula to name els qui pertanyien a la mafia (els mafiosos), which had the meaning of homes of honor. In fact, the different clans had their own codis of honor that must respect both their own lives.

The entire imaginary Italian mafia (unfortunate that this formula is going to be reproduced in countries like the USA, Ireland or the Regne Unit) is concentrated sovint in a single person: Al Capone . Even though this gangster is going to New York in his 20s and 30s and having been born in the heart of Brooklyn, he has always been associated with the mafia's characteristic characteristics. He is one of the criminals most wanted by the FBI and, in the 1930s, he will end up in prison at Alcatraz. His passion was for opera, and for music in general, so during his stay in prison he asked for the favor of being able to form a musical band with three inmates. De fet, fins i tot, he will compose a song for his wife Mae, with the help of a mandolin that he had for his wife who was named Madonna Mia. I don't know if anyone will use it to write the book for a future opera in Valencia.

Image source: ©skeeze