View Extract - Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Giacomo Meyerbeer
The Complete Libretti
in Eleven Volumes
(in the Original and in English
Translations by Richard Arsenty with
Introductions by Robert Ignatius Letellier)
Volume 4
The Meyerbeer Libretti
Italian Operas 3
(L'Esule di Granata,
Il Crociato in Egitto)
Edited by
Richard Arsenty (translations)
and Robert Letellier (introductions)
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
The Meyerbeer Libretti: Italian Operas 2 (L'Esule di Granata, Il Crociato in Egitto),
Edited by Richard Arsenty (translations) and Robert Letellier (introductions)
This book first published 2004 as part of The Complete Libretti of Giacomo Meyerbeer in Five
Volumes. This second edition first published 2009.
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2008 by Richard Arsenty (translations) and Robert Letellier (introductions)
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-84718-963-6, ISBN (13): 9781847189639
As the eleven-volume set: ISBN (10): 1-84718-971-7, ISBN (13): 9781847189714
Giacomo Meyerbeer. Engraving by Freeman (London, 1825).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ........................................................................................................ ix
Introduction ................................................................................................ xi
The Libretti:
L’Esule di Granata ...................................................................................... 1
Il Crociato in Egitto................................................................................. 115
PREFACE
Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most important and influential opera
composers of the nineteenth century, enjoyed a fame during his lifetime
unrivalled by any of his contemporaries. His four French grand operas
were in the standard repertory of every major opera house of the world
between 1831 and 1914. But his stage works went into an eclipse after
the First World War, and from then until the 1990s were performed only
occasionally. Now a rediscovery and reevaluation of his lyric dramas is
under way. More performances of his operas have taken place since 1993
than occurred during the previous twenty years. This presents a problem
for anyone who wants to study the libretti of his operas. The texts of
his early stage works are held by very few libraries in the world and
are almost impossible to find, and the libretti of his more famous later
operas, when come across, are invariably heavily cut and reflect the
performance practices of a hundred years ago. This eleven-volume set,
following on from the original five-volume edition of 2004, provides
all the operatic texts set by Meyerbeer in one collection. Over half of
the libretti have not appeared in print in any language for more than
150 years, and one of the early German works has never been printed
before. All of the texts are offered in the most complete versions ever
made available, many with supplementary material appearing in addenda.
Each libretto is translated into modern English by Richard Arsenty; and
each work is introduced by Robert Letellier. In this comprehensive
edition of Meyerbeer's libretti, the original text and its translation
are placed on facing pages for ease of use.
INTRODUCTION
L’Esule di Granata
WORLD PREMIÈRE
12 March 1822
Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Almanzor ......................................................Benedetta Rosamunda Pisaroni
Azema...................................................................................... Adelaide Tosi
Sulemano ............................................................................... Luigi Lablache
Alamar ...................................................................................Berardo Winter
Alì................................................................................................ Carlo Siber
Omar..................................................................................... Lorenzo Biondi
Fatima................................................................................... Carolina Sivelli
xii
Giacomo Meyerbeer
During 1821 Meyerbeer was working on the score of a new opera to be
called L'Almanzore, intended for the Teatro Argentina in Rome. The poem
has been ascribed to Rossi, and was based on a popular source, an
eighteenth-century play by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian which had been
used for Cherubini's Les Abencerages (Paris, 1800), and would be used
again for Donizetti's Alahor di Granata (Palermo, 1825). Although much
of the score appears to have been composed, the opera did not pass beyond
rehearsal stage. Carolina Bassi the prima donna fell ill, as did the
composer. No date was set for a new production, and Bartolomeo Merelli,
the librettist of Donizetti's Zoraide di Granata (Rome, 1822), which has a
similar plot, may well have undertaken to adapt the scenario of the
abortive opera so as to utilize the newly made scenery and costumes for
Meyerbeer's opera.
L'Almanzore was reworked by Romani from Rossi's original, as L'Esule
di Granata, and was produced at La Scala Milan on 12 March 1822. It had
only a mediocre reception, in spite of an impressive cast (Rosamunda
Pisaroni and Luigi Lablache) and Meyerbeer's presence. Malicious
intrigues and a vicious claque appear to have disrupted the evening.
From the conflicts of the War of the Roses for the control of England,
Romani moves attention to a similar historical situation in Moorish Spain
where the two powerful tribes of Granada, the Abecerages and the Zegris
were in conflict, thereby bringing ever closer the demise of the Moorish
kingdom. Almanzor is the son of Boadil, of the Zegris, who deposed
Suleman of the Abecerages and sent him into exile. The benign Almanzor
recalls the Abencerages, and would like to marry Azema, Suleman's
daughter. In this way he incurs the hatred of the Zegris, led by Alamar,
Boadil's former companion. A conspiracy is hatched. At the same time the
proscribed Suleman returns to Granada, he hears that his daughter is still
alive, and wants to save her from the Zegris. When he learns that she
wishes to marry the son of his mortal enemy, and because he can find no
other way of preventing the wedding, he decides to assassinate Almanzor.
The plot is frustrated, Azema procures pardon for her father, and all ends
happily with praise for the power of love.
Once again Meyerbeer responds with a deepening of his style. The
musical language remains in the usual mode of the melodramma serio, but
more intensively developed than before. There is no formal overture.
Instead, the introduzione, which was printed in the Leipziger Allgemeinen
Musikalischen Zeitung, is a highly original contribution to the dramatic
vocabulary of the operatic stage. It begins before the curtain rises, with a
short dark orchestral movement in c minor that admirably sets the mood
for the opening scene, the deliberations of the conspirators in the dead of
The Meyerbeer Libretti
xiii
night. The theme assumes a more military character, the curtain rises, and
one sees detachments of the Zegris crossing the scene, placing watches.
The character of the music changes into a fiery alla breve: the leaders of
the conspirators surround Ali who enters, upbraiding him for his
dilatoriness. They speak in recitative, and are reiteratedly interrupted by
the defiant chorus, always using the same motif. The scene ends with the
oath of the conspirators (allegro furioso) which is broken into by a
chiming bell played over a diminished seventh chord, which heralds the
opening of the mosque and the break of day. From the distance there
comes the sound of a harp prelude, announcing the approach of a
procession which enters the place of worship to pray for victory in battle
and the safe return of the king. The procession and preghiera begins with a
theme for four horns, during which the imams come out to meet them.
Azema sings the theme of the prayer behind the scene accompanied by the
harp, a theme that will recur years later as the Prière des enfants in the
Cathedral Scene of Le Prophète. Other themes familiar from Le Prophète,
Dinorah, L'Africaine, and even Guillaume Tell, have also been indentified
in this seminal work.
The instrumental resources are augmented by 4 drums and the serpent,
in addition to the usual orchestral forces, including the statutory stage
band. Concertante preludes, three-part cello writing, and some exotic
Moorish instrumentation are used, with an increase in the range and scope
of the orchestra. Polyphonic and a cappella effects, sustained choruses and
ensembles with imitation and rich enharmonic effects, show the close care
with which this work was written.1
One of the most admired pieces from the opera was the duet for
Almanzor and Sulemano from act 2 (“Si, mel credi”), constructed in the
typical three-part Rossinian manner, with introductory section, broader
slow section, a short tempo di mezzo, and a final fast section. The duet
gains in intensity and emotional insight as it unfolds, with a study in
symmetry whereby similar emotions appear for each singer at the same
points, while each appears equally expressive and relevant to the dramatic
truth of the confrontation. The little phrase moving up and then down on
“Cosi piangendo - vo’dire al re” was used again in variant by Meyerbeer
27 years later in the allegretto “Comme un’eclair” of Fides’s Dungeon
Scene in act 5 of Le Prophete.2
But the most famous piece from this opera, and indeed the best known
aria from all Meyerbeer’s Italian operas, was Almanzor’s “O! come
1
Strelitzer
COMMONS, Jeremy and WHITE, Don. L'Esule di Granata. In A Hundred Years
of Italian Opera, 1820-1830 etc., pp. 54-66.
2.
Giacomo Meyerbeer
xiv
rapida”. Originally written for Rosamunda Pisaroni, the cavatina was
included in act 2 of Il Crociato in Egitto for the Trieste performance with
Carolina Bassi in 1824; and for the Paris performance of 25 September
1825, where a new recitative and cabaletta were added for Giuditta Pasta.
The words show Romani at his most succinctly poetic, a song of loss,
with its submerged metaphor of tidal ebb and the flow of grief, its elegiac
refrain, and interwoven rhymes:
Oh! come rapida
Fuggì la speme!
Oh! come piangere
Mio ben dovrò!
Con te credevami
Felice appieno.
Amor medesimo
Mi lusingò!
Or ei ci scioglie.
A me ti toglie.
Oh! come piangere
Mio ben dovrò!
L'Esule was performed so late in the season that only nine
performances could be given. Only one other staging has been traced: to
Florence in September 1826, with Pisaroni again as Almanzor.
The Librettist
Felice Romani (b. Genoa, 31 Jan. 1788; d. Moneglia, 28 Jan. 1865). His
first libretti were written in Milan for Mayr. He moved to Turin to take up
an editorship, and developed skills which made him the most sought after
librettist of his day, with over 100 composers setting his texts. He
collaborated with Rossini (Il Turco in Italia), Meyerbeer (Margherita
d'Anjou, L'Esule di Granata), and Verdi (Un giorno di regno), but his
most significant work was done with Donizetti and Bellini. His classical
training gave him an overriding sense of balance, so that he used Romantic
ideas rather than being overtaken by them. His dramatic instinct and
elegant verse was supremely suited to the musical sensibilities of Donizetti
and Bellini. The number of his commissions meant that much of the work
was done in haste, and was hence often less than profound and not free of
clichés. His best books are among the most enduring of the early 19c, like
the pastoral idylls La Sonnambula and L'elisir d'amore, and the tragic
dramas Anna Bolena and Norma.
The Meyerbeer Libretti
xv
Il Crociato in Egitto
WORLD PREMIÈRE
7 March 1824
Venice, Teatro La Fenice
Palmide................................................................. Enrichetta Méric-Lalande
Armando................................................................ Giovanni Battista Velluti
Adriano................................................................................ Gaetano Crivelli
Felicia ............................................................................... Brigida Lorenzani
Aladino ................................................................................ Luciano Bianchi
Osmino ............................................................................(Signor) Boccaccio
Alma ..................................................................................(Signora Bramati)
A letter Meyerbeer wrote to the famous bass Nicholas Levasseur on 5 July
1822 revealed the direction of his artistic thinking.
"...I can assure you that it would be even more glorious to have the honor
of writing for the French Opéra than for all the Italian stages. (I have
indeed, given my works in all the major Italia houses.) Where else,
therefore, but in Paris can the vast resources be found which the French
xvi
Giacomo Meyerbeer
offer to an artist who wants to write truly dramatic music? Here, there is a
lack of good libretti, and I know your unbiased public welcomes all types
of music, if allied to genius."3
The recent failure and the lack of proper libretto threw Meyerbeer's
long relationship with Rossi into some critical perspective. Yet they were
soon at work again, and their long correspondence during 1823 about their
next common venture repeated the composer's deep concern with the
effectiveness of opera as drama. Rossi new text, Il Crociato in Egitto, was
again chosen from a French mélodrame by J.-A.-M. Monperlier, Le
Chevaliers de Malte (1813). The opera was to have its unique niche in
history as being the last celebrated work to use a castrato in the heroic
eighteenth-century mode. The principal role was written for Giambattista
Velluti (1781-1861), regarded as the last example of this kind of singer,
and renowned for his powers of ornamentation.4
The plot is set after the Sixth Crusade in the Saracen sultanate of Egypt
between 1200-1218 when Aladino, the brother of the famous Saladin, was
ruler. Armando d'Orville, a knight of Rhodes, is assumed dead in the
Crusade; but under the name of Elmireno he has become the confidant of
the sultan. He has fallen in love with Palmide, Aladino's daughter, and has
secretly converted her to Christianity. Their secret liaison has resulted in a
son who is concealed in the harem. Adriano, the Grand Master of the
Knights Hospitaler of St John of Jerusalem, who is also Armando's uncle,
arrives to sue for peace, but Elmireno's true identity is discovered, and he
and the other captured Christians are sentenced to death. Armando,
however, is able to save the sultan's life after a plot to overthrow him. A
peace treaty is signed, and Armando and Palmide are reunited.
Once again motives and situations familiar from the earlier Italian
operas are repeated. The Crociato presents a strange anomaly, since on the
one hand it maintains practices of the eighteenth century, long since
superceded, like high-voiced hero, the secco recitatives, the simple
romanza type of aria, the unadorned cadenzas left for the singer to
embellish. On the other hand, it is full of dynamic experimental features
that prefigure later operatic developments. Indeed, one could say that the
opera, building on the novel elements in L'Esule, is the transitional stage
leading to a new era in Meyerbeer's creativity. While the external shape is
3
MEYERBEER, Giacomo. Briefwechsel und Tagebücher. Berlin: De Gruyter,
1960, 1970, 1975, 1985, 1998.
—. Vol. 1 (up to 1824). Ed. Heinz BECKER (1960).
4
EVERIST, Mark. "Meyerbeer's Il Crociato in Egitto: Mélodrame, Opera,
Orientalism". Cambridge Opera Journal 8:3 (1997): 215-50.
The Meyerbeer Libretti
xvii
still determined by conventional forms, absolute melody is no longer allpervasive. The exigencies of the drama are more and more pressing, so
that routine concepts mingle freely with much of deeper worth.
As in L'Esule, there is a completely new approach to the introduction.
The melancholy prelude is now the accompaniment to a pantomime where
the Christian slaves are depicted at their wearisome labors. The sad
harmonies give way to a tumultuous surge of energy that leads right into
the opening chorus expressing the pain of captivity.
The frequent ensembles also reveal careful workmanship, and attain a
new importance. This particularly the case with the huge finale to act 1.
Here the increased size of the orchestra is innovative, with use for the first
time of the contrabassoon, of six specially disposed trumpets and a full
wind orchestra on the stage. All this demonstrates the well-calculated
sound effects of several music choirs, the use of the spatial potential in
dividing the banda into four sections, on and off stage.
The chorus is also used as an essential dramatic element, and employs
various contrapuntal and a cappella effects, sometimes using only male
voices to offset the predominantly high-pitched distribution of voices
among the soloists, with Aladino the only bass. Each act is punctuated by
particularly rich and imaginative choruses: of Christian prisoners,
Egyptians, female slaves, imams and priests, Knights of Rhodes in act 1:
of conspirators, emirs and condemned Knights in act 2.
There is a sense of scenic vastness. The arrival of the flotilla of the
Knights of Rhodes and the ensuing tableau of confllict is the great
spectacle of act 1. The Prison Scene, the Inno di Morte, is the extended
and visionary heart of act 2, a vast aural mural of despair, prayer and
exultation, a threnody of grief and affirmation of faith using a spectrum of
vocal timbres and instrumental colors in achieving the grandiose highpoint
of Meyerbeer’s operatic writing to that point. Rossi provided pared verses
of impressively minimal power
Suona funerea
L’ora di morte;
Dell’uom la sorte
Si compie già
Incomprensibile.
Fra auguste tenebre
A noi presentasi
L’eternità.
Speriamo in te, Signore,
De’ figli tuoi pietà.
In a scenario where plot is still inclined to take precedence over
xviii
Giacomo Meyerbeer
characterization, music provides an evocative means of setting individual
scenes, by establishing a flow of moods, or by breaking up the set patterns
of arias to achieve a more coherent or unified dramatic action. All these
features already point to the developments to come in French grand opéra.
The huge success of the Crociato would soon carry it around the world,
and its influence can be discerned in many works. Take for example
Halévy's La Juive which both textually and musically has many
similarities with the scene in which Armando confesses he is a Christian,
to the fury of Aladino who threatens him with a dagger; Palmide, however,
protects him from her father's fury.
Soon after the Paris premiere, Count Brühl requested the work for
Berlin. Meyerbeer’s frank answer, written in Berlin in 11 December 1825,
indicates the directions his dramaturgical thinking was now taking:
“The answer to your question about whether there is a German translation
of the opera Il Crociato in Egitto is quite simply ‘no’. Several poets have
already asked me for the score with this aim in mind, but I have
consistently refused since it is my firm conviction that the Crociato in a
German arrangement on the German stage would have a completely
unsuccessful reception; consequently, I have not brought the score here
with me. My reasons for this, for example, rest with the libretto itself
which, because of the endless complications of the drama, is so
monotonous and tiring, so unmotivated and fragmentary, that one could
expect only disappointment in this respect. This is particularly the case
with the interpolated role of Felicia, a situation that today’s dramatically
sophisticated public simply will no longer tolerate. However, from a
musical point of view (particularly in the ensembles) this role is has
become so important that in spite of its dramatic nullity, it cannot be
omitted , and, especially because of the trio, it cannot be reshaped. —
Even in the music some of the details of the vocal parts (determined by the
individuality of the Italian singers and the taste of the Italian public) would
not appeal to the German public, especially as the product of a German
composer. And yet these vocal parts, however incidental or essential they
may seem, are so intimately woven into the nature of the whole, that even
the smallest change to them would result in the destruction of the total
effect. — Finally the casting of the Crociato (this vital factor for the
success of any opera, especially an Italian one) presents endless
difficulties. — However unpleasant it would therefore be for me to have
Crociato in German translation in Berlin, it would, conversely, be a joy to
write an original work for the Royal stage of my native city, especially
tailored to the individuality of the present excellent singers and the taste of
the public.”5
5
Briefwechsel.
The Meyerbeer Libretti
xix
The opera immediately traveled across Italy: Florence (7 May 1824);
Trieste (winter 1824-25); Padua (summer 1825). A pirate edition appeared
in Paris (19 January 1825). Two of the most important productions were at
The King's Theatre in London (30 June 1825) and the official French one
at the Théâtre Italien (25 September 1825). It was given in Italian also in
Munich (July 1825); Barcelona (22 December 1822); Dresden (14
November 1826); Oporto (spring 1827); Lisbon (25 April 1828); Havana
(1828); Mexico (1837); Corfu (autumn 1838); Constantinople (carnival
1839). In the German translation by J. Kupelwieser, it was given in
Pressburg (7 October 1826); Munich (14 November 1826); Graz (1
September 1827); Budapest (8 March 1828); Prague (20 March 1828);
Vienna (24 May 1829); Berlin (Königstätisches Theater, 15 October
1832); Hamburg (15 April 1832); Bucarest (1835). It reached St
Petersburg in Russian (spring 1841).
Velluti as the Crociato
xx
Giacomo Meyerbeer
The Librettist
Gaetano Rossi (b. Verona, 18 May 1774; d. Verona, 25 January 1855).
He worked in Venice and Verona, writing some 120 libretti for many
composers, including Carafa, Coccia, Donizetti (incl. Linda di
Chamounix), Mayr, Mercadante (incl. Il Giuramento), Meyerbeer
(Romilda e Costanza, Semiramide, Emma di Resburgo, Il Crociato in
Egitto), Nicolai (Il Templario), Pacini (Adelaide e Comingio, Carlo di
Borgogna ) and Rossini (La cambiale di matrimonio, Tancredi,
Semiramide). While of no great literary ambitions, and tending to
prolixity, his work nonetheless tapped an extensive range of sources, and
injected many of the recurrent themes of Romanticism into operatic
currency. His plots were derived from classical and historical drama, and
also used fashionable Spanish, Nordic and British subjects. His literary
techniques did much to loosen the set forms characteristic of the reforms
of early 19c opera. However, neither his verse nor choice of subject
showed the same sensitivity and aesthetic judgement as his greatest rival,
Romani.
L’ESULE DI GRANATA
MELODRAMMA SERIO IN DUE ATTI
Poesìa di
Felice Romani
Musica di
Giacomo Meyerbeer
THE EXILE OF GRANADA
SERIOUS OPERA IN TWO ACTS
Libretto by
Felice Romani
Music by
Giacomo Meyerbeer
2
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Personaggi (Dramatis personae)
Almanzor, re di Granata, amante di... (Almanzor, King of Granada, in
love with...)
Azema, giovane principessa, figliuola di... (Azema, a young princess,
daughter of...)
Sulemano, antico re di Granata (Suleiman, former King of Granada)
Alamar, capo dei Zegridi (Alamar, leader of the Zegris)
Alì, uffiziale di Alamar (Ali, an officer of Alamar)
Omar, capo degli Abenseragi (Omar, leader of the Abenserages)
Fatima, donzella di Azema (Fatima, Azema’s lady-in-waiting)
Zegridi, Abenseragi, imani, donzelle, popolo, soldati (Zegris,
Abenserages, imams, female attendants, people, soldiers)
La scena si finge in Granata circa l’anno 1490 A.D. (The action takes
place in Granada around the year1490 A.D.)
WORLD PREMIÈRE
12 March 1822
Milan, Teatro alla Scala
Almanzor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benedetta Rosamunda Pisaroni
Azema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Adelaide Tosi
Sulemano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Luigi Lablache
Alamar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Berardo Winter
Alì . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carlo Siber
Omar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lorenzo Biondi
Fatima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carolina Sivelli
The Meyerbeer Libretti
3
SOURCES CONSULTED FOR TRANSLATION
L’Esule di Granata; melodramma serio in due atti.
Felice Romani (Poesìa), Giacomo Meyerbeer (Music). Milan: Giacomo
Pirola, 1822.
[First edition of the published libretto. Five excerpts from the opera
were published by Ricordi, but neither a full orchestral score nor a
piano-vocal score was ever published. A manuscript of the score is
held in Milan.]
Excerpts from the early Italian operas (1817-1822) / Giacomo
Meyerbeer.
A facsimile edition of printed piano-vocal excerpts with an introduction by Philip Gossett. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1991.
[Five musical excerpts from the opera: Almanzor’s Cavatina, “Pace io
reco” (Ricordi, 1822); the Scena e Terzetto, “Cara, il soave istante”
(Ricordi, 1822); the Scena e Cavatina Azema, “Vieni nel sonno, amor”
(Ricordi, 1822); the Duetto Almanzor e Sulemano, “Sì, mel credi”
(Ricordi, 1822); the Scena, Rondò e Finale II, “Oh! come rapida”
(Ricordi, 1822).]
ARGOMENTO
Son noti abbastanza nella storia dei Mauri gli Abenseragi e i Zegridi,
due potentissime tribù di Granata, le cui funeste discordie trassero a
ruina quel regno. Da queste discordie prende argomento il presente
melodramma. Boadil, capo de’ Zegridi, balzato dal trono l’Abenserage
Sulemano, regnò due lustri in Granata, e lasciò l’usurpata corona a suo
figlio Almanzor. Costui principe generoso ed umano, richiamò gli
Abenseragi, raccolse la figlia di Sulemano, e sollevandola al trono, si
attirò l’odio dei Zegridi, i quali istigati dal feroce Alamar, primiero complice
di Boadil, congiurarono contro di lui. In questo frattempo l’esule Sulemano,
informato che l’unica sua figlia ancor vive, giunge sconosciuto in Granata
per sottrarla ai Zegridi, e avere in essa questo conforto nelle sue sventure;
ma trovatala nel momento ch’era vicina a sposarsi col figlio del suo nemico,
4
Giacomo Meyerbeer
nè potendo in altra maniera impedire così aborrevoli nozze, deliberò di
uccidere Almanzor. Come tentò di eseguire il suo disegno, e quel che
poscia ne avvenne farà palese il melodramma.
Forse il lettore troverà in esso alcune situazioni drammatiche non del
tutto comuni. In quanto ai difetti che risguardano l’orditura e lo stile non
sono ignoti all’autore, ma pure furono imposti da inevitabili circostanze.
INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS
Well known from Moorish history are the Abenserages and the Zegris,
two powerful families of Granada whose terrible discords pulled that
kingdom to destruction. The present opera takes its subject from those
discords. Boabdil, leader of the Zegris, drove the Abenserage Suleiman
from the throne, reigned in his place in Granada for ten years, and
bequeathed the appropriated crown to his son Almanzor. That generous
and compassionate prince, having recalled the Abenserages to the city,
chose the daughter of Suleiman to be his bride and, elevating her to the
throne, earned the enmity of the Zegris, who, incited by the fanatical
Alamar, Boabdil’s accomplice, conspired against him. In the meantime,
the exiled Suleiman, learning that his only daughter was still alive, came
in disguise to Granada to rescue her from the Zegris and have her as
consolation in his misfortunes; but, coming upon her at the moment she
was about to wed the son of his enemy, and not being able in any other
manner to prevent the loathsome marriage, resolved to murder Almanzor.
How he attempted to accomplish his plan and what happened because of
it, will be revealed in the opera.
Perhaps the reader will find in this opera some dramatic situations
which seem out of place with the whole. The shortcomings which concern
the structure and style of the drama are not unknown to the author, but,
unfortunately, were imposed by unavoidable circumstances.
6
Giacomo Meyerbeer
ATTO PRIMO
Scena Prima
Riva amenissima presso i giardini dell’Alambra, i cui cancelli d’oro si veggono da un lato. Dall’altro vedesi una moschea. In fondo di prospetto si
scorgono i monti Alpuxari. E’ notte.
Tratto tratto si veggono passare dei drapelli
di Zegridi i quali vengono spiando, e a poco a poco
si uniscono. Esce quindi Alì, per ultimo Alamar.
CORO 1
Sempre tacer! soffrire!
CORO 2
Del dì celarsi ai rai!
CORO 3
Sempre bramar ferire!
CORO 4
E non ferir giammai!
TUTTI
Oh! vituperio indegno!
L’antico ardor dov’è?
ALÌ
Freno allo sdegno,
Non vi tradite, amici:
Giova il mistero all’opre;
Propizia all’ire ultrici
O scurità le copre...
Del nostro onor la luce
Dall’ombre sorgerà.
CORO
Il duce ov’è, che fa?
The Meyerbeer Libretti
ACT ONE
Scene One
A charming river bank near the gardens of
the Alhambra, the golden gates of which can be seen
on one side. On the other side is a mosque. In the
background can be seen the Alpujarres mountains. It is
night.
Small groups of Zegris enter furtively and gradually gather together. Ali appears, then, later, Alamar.
CHORUS 1
Always keeping silent! Suffering!
CHORUS 2
Hiding from the light of day!
CHORUS 3
Always longing to strike!
CHORUS 4
But never striking!
ALL
Oh, contemptible disgrace!
Where’s our former spirit?
ALI
Keep your anger in check,
Don’t betray yourselves, friends:
Our work requires secrecy;
Let propitious darkness provide
Cover for our vengeful wrath...
Our honor’s splendor will emerge
From the shadows once more!
CHORUS
Where’s our leader, what’s keeping him?
7
8
Giacomo Meyerbeer
ALAMAR (presentandosi in mezzo a loro)
Eccovi il duce.
Inoperoso e lento
Non rimane Alamar... Notte non passa
Che all’ombre non confidi
Del suo furor, delle sue smanie i gridi.
Tutti siam noi?
CORO
Sì, tutti.
ALAMAR
Oh prodi!... In quei sembianti io leggo l’ira,
E il desio di vendetta.
CORO
E l’attendiam... l’affretta.
ALAMAR
Un re Zegrida
I Zegridi deprime...
ALÌ
Osa l’ingrato
Insultarci dal soglio...
CORO
Ove l’alzasti tu.
ALAMAR
Della rival tribù desta l’orgoglio.
CORO
Primieri in campo, in corte
Gli Abenseragi or sono.
ALAMAR
Donna dell’empia stirpe
The Meyerbeer Libretti
ALAMAR (appearing and joining them)
Here’s your leader.
Alamar hasn’t remained
Idle and inactive... A night doesn’t pass
That he doesn’t confide the cries
Of his rage and frenzy to the darkness.
Are we all here?
CHORUS
Yes, all of us!
ALAMAR
Oh, brave men!... I read in those faces your anger,
Your desire for revenge!
CHORUS
We long for it... may it come soon!
ALAMAR
A Zegri king
Is oppressing the Zegris...
ALI
The ungrateful man dares
To insult us from the throne...
CHORUS
Where you placed him!
ALAMAR
He incites the arrogance of our rival tribe.
CHORUS
First on the field, now the Abenserages
Are in the royal court.
ALAMAR
We’ll soon see a woman from that reviled
9
10
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Vedrem salire al trono
Si prevengan gli audaci.
Non più soffrir...
CORO
Non più.
ALAMAR
Leviam la fronte.
CORO
Mille spade son pronte.
TUTTI
Sì, vendetta... pera... cada...
Sacro nodo omai stringiamo.
Sì, giuriam per questa spada,
Alla notte, al ciel giuriamo...
Ai Zegridi eterna fede,
Onta e morte al traditor.
(Comincia il giorno: la sacra squilla dà il segno della
preghiera: il tempio s’apre. Musica religiosa si
fa sentire dall’Alambra.)
TUTTI
Ma silenzio... albeggia il giorno...
S’apre il tempio al sacro rito.
Fausto implora il suo ritorno
Questo popolo avvilito.
Torni, torni e in lui sia spento
Di Granata il disonor...
Rammentiamo il giuramento...
Onta e morte al traditor.
(I Zegridi si ritirano. Segue a farsi udire da lontano
la musica religiosa. Indi escono dall’Alambra gl’imani e gli Abenseragi che vanno al tempio per implorare
dal Cielo il ritorno del re. Azema con un drapello di