Read Online 100 Great Operas and Their Stories: Act-By-Act Synopses by Henry W. Simon - Free Book Online
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Authors: Henry W. Simon
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—“The Vain Precaution”—which was the original subtitle to the opera. Dr. Bartolo doesn’t like this “modern music,” as he calls it, and obliges in his turn with a silly, old-fashioned ditty.
A moment later Figaro enters and insists on shaving the doctor; and while the old fellow is handicapped with a face full of lather, arrangements are made by the lovers for an elopement that evening. But things are just a little too clear to satisfy the authors of this opera, and so Don Basilio enters. He is, of course, not sick at all; but in a very amusing quintet everyone persuades him that he has scarlet fever, and he is packed off to bed. All these unusual developments have aroused Dr. Bartolo’s suspicions, and at the end of another amusing concerted number, he shoos everyone out. Then, by way of contrast, there is a cute little song for Berta, the maid, who remarks on the idiocy of every old fool’s wanting to get married.
At this point, the orchestra paints a vivid storm to indicate what the weather is outside and also to suggest the passage of some time. (The music for this was borrowed by Rossini from his own opera La pietra del paragone.) Now—enter the Count and Figaro in cloaks, ready for the elopement. First, however, they must persuade Rosina that their intentions are honorable, for until this point she does not know that her Lindoro and the Count Almaviva are one and the same. They are soon ready, and are singing the elopement trio (Zitti, zitti) when they find the ladder gone! It turns out later that Dr. Bartolohad taken it away as he went off to arrange his own marriage to Rosina.
And so, when Basilio and a notary arrive—sent by Bartolo—the Count bribes these newcomers to officiate at his wedding to Rosina. The hasty ceremony is scarcely over when Bartolo returns with police officers. Everything is now explained, and the doctor is even partially reconciled to his defeat when the Count assures him he may keep Rosina’s dowry for himself. The comedy thus ends—as it should—with general rejoicing.
And if you want to find out what happened subsequently to these characters, turn to the account of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro , which is based on Beaumarchais’s sequel to his Barber of Seville .
THE BARTERED BRIDE
(Prodaná Nevešta—Die verkaufte Braut)
Opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana with
libretto in Czech by Karel Sabina
KRUSCHINA , a peasant
Baritone
KATINKA , his wife
Soprano
MARIE , their daughter
Soprano
MISHA , a wealthy landlord
Bass
AGNES , his wife
Mezzo-soprano
WENZEL , their son
Tenor
HANS , Misha’s son by a first marriage
Tenor
KEZAL , a marriage broker
Bass
SPRINGER , manager of a circus
Bass
ESMERELDA , a dancer
Soprano
MUFF , a comedian
Tenor
Time: 19th century
Place: a small Bohemian village
First performance at Prague, May 30, 1866
It was after Austria’s defeat at the hands of Italy that the Czechs, around 1860, began to cultivate their own arts in a deliberate encouragement of nationalism. Franz Josef’s government became less restrictive; national theaters started to be built; and native art music was needed (the Czechs always having had a fine native folk music). Smetana and, later, Dvořák were the most prominent serious composers developed under this nationalistic movement, and some of their orchestral music, at any rate, quickly was adopted by the whole Western world. But the only nineteenth-century Czech opera that has entered the repertoire of European and Americanopera houses is The Bartered Bride , and this was not originally written as an opera but as an operetta. It had two acts, twenty musical numbers, and spoken dialogue. The requirements of foreign opera houses soon caused Smetana to make his score more ambitious. Three years after the premiere, for performance at the Opéra Comique of Paris, Smetana added an aria for the leading soprano as well as some dances, including the now famous Polka and Furiant; and the following year, for
A moment later Figaro enters and insists on shaving the doctor; and while the old fellow is handicapped with a face full of lather, arrangements are made by the lovers for an elopement that evening. But things are just a little too clear to satisfy the authors of this opera, and so Don Basilio enters. He is, of course, not sick at all; but in a very amusing quintet everyone persuades him that he has scarlet fever, and he is packed off to bed. All these unusual developments have aroused Dr. Bartolo’s suspicions, and at the end of another amusing concerted number, he shoos everyone out. Then, by way of contrast, there is a cute little song for Berta, the maid, who remarks on the idiocy of every old fool’s wanting to get married.
At this point, the orchestra paints a vivid storm to indicate what the weather is outside and also to suggest the passage of some time. (The music for this was borrowed by Rossini from his own opera La pietra del paragone.) Now—enter the Count and Figaro in cloaks, ready for the elopement. First, however, they must persuade Rosina that their intentions are honorable, for until this point she does not know that her Lindoro and the Count Almaviva are one and the same. They are soon ready, and are singing the elopement trio (Zitti, zitti) when they find the ladder gone! It turns out later that Dr. Bartolohad taken it away as he went off to arrange his own marriage to Rosina.
And so, when Basilio and a notary arrive—sent by Bartolo—the Count bribes these newcomers to officiate at his wedding to Rosina. The hasty ceremony is scarcely over when Bartolo returns with police officers. Everything is now explained, and the doctor is even partially reconciled to his defeat when the Count assures him he may keep Rosina’s dowry for himself. The comedy thus ends—as it should—with general rejoicing.
And if you want to find out what happened subsequently to these characters, turn to the account of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro , which is based on Beaumarchais’s sequel to his Barber of Seville .
THE BARTERED BRIDE
(Prodaná Nevešta—Die verkaufte Braut)
Opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana with
libretto in Czech by Karel Sabina
KRUSCHINA , a peasant
Baritone
KATINKA , his wife
Soprano
MARIE , their daughter
Soprano
MISHA , a wealthy landlord
Bass
AGNES , his wife
Mezzo-soprano
WENZEL , their son
Tenor
HANS , Misha’s son by a first marriage
Tenor
KEZAL , a marriage broker
Bass
SPRINGER , manager of a circus
Bass
ESMERELDA , a dancer
Soprano
MUFF , a comedian
Tenor
Time: 19th century
Place: a small Bohemian village
First performance at Prague, May 30, 1866
It was after Austria’s defeat at the hands of Italy that the Czechs, around 1860, began to cultivate their own arts in a deliberate encouragement of nationalism. Franz Josef’s government became less restrictive; national theaters started to be built; and native art music was needed (the Czechs always having had a fine native folk music). Smetana and, later, Dvořák were the most prominent serious composers developed under this nationalistic movement, and some of their orchestral music, at any rate, quickly was adopted by the whole Western world. But the only nineteenth-century Czech opera that has entered the repertoire of European and Americanopera houses is The Bartered Bride , and this was not originally written as an opera but as an operetta. It had two acts, twenty musical numbers, and spoken dialogue. The requirements of foreign opera houses soon caused Smetana to make his score more ambitious. Three years after the premiere, for performance at the Opéra Comique of Paris, Smetana added an aria for the leading soprano as well as some dances, including the now famous Polka and Furiant; and the following year, for
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