Mona Lisa (opera)
Encyclopedia
Mona Lisa, Op. 31 is an opera by the German
composer
Max von Schillings
on a libretto
by Beatrice von Dovsky
. It was dedicated to the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Heidelberg, where the composer was awarded the title of professor.
by Leonardo da Vinci
had been stolen from the Louvre
in 1911, and rediscovered in Florence
in 1913.
in Stuttgart
, with the composer conducting. In the same year it was also performed in Vienna (with Maria Jeritza
in the title role), Berlin (Richard Strauss
conducting the first two performances), Breslau, Hamburg and Budapest.
The North American premiere took place at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York on 1 March 1923, Artur Bodanzky
conducting, with Barbara Kemp, Michael Bohnen (both making their Met debut) and Curt Taucher in the principal roles.
Post war revivals at the Städtische Oper Berlin in 1953 and at the Badischen Staatstheater
in Karlsruhe in 1983 were cut in length. It was revived complete at the Kiel Opera House
in November 1994 and subsequently performed at the Wiener Volksoper
in 1996.
Francesco explains to Pietro why he is consumed with jealousy. On the painting made by Leonardo, his wife smiles in a way that she has never smiled at him. She has always been reserved and serious towards him, and Francesco wants to solve the enigma of her smile.
Giovanni has come on behalf of the pope to purchase a pearl form Francesco's famous collection, which is kept in a shrine specifically designed in a way that no one can breathe in it for longer than an hour. In order to preserve the pearls' brightness Lisa has to wear them every night.
Lisa and Giovanni know each other, they have been in love before she was unhappily married to Francesco. Giovanni persuades her to flee with him the next morning, when he will come back to collect the pearl. When Francesco returns, he sees the mysterious smile on his wife's face and suspects he has a rival. He systematically locks all exits, so Giovanni has no other choice than to hide himself in the pearls' shrine. Francesco plays a diabolical game with Lisa, pretending not to have noticed anything, intentionally misinterpreting her unrest and fear for Giovanni's life as love and desire. Lisa goes along with this after Francesco promises her to fulfil a wish. She succumbs to his desire, and then asks for the key to the shrine. Again, Francesco intentionally misinterpets this as her being jealous of the pearls, and to prove his "love" he throws the only key into the river.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Max von Schillings
Max von Schillings
Max von Schillings was a German conductor, composer and theatre director. He was chief conductor at the Berlin State Opera from 1919 to 1925....
on a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Beatrice von Dovsky
Beatrice von Dovsky
Beatrice von Dovsky was an Austrian poet, writer, and actress. She is best known for writing the libretto for Max von Schillings's opera Mona Lisa which she presented to the composer in the spring of 1913...
. It was dedicated to the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Heidelberg, where the composer was awarded the title of professor.
Composition history
In the spring of 1913, Beatrice von Dovsky presented the libretto to the composer, who prepared a piano sketch during the following summer. He completed the opera during his eight-month military duty as a medical soldier in France and Belgium. The subject was very topical at the time, because the paintingMona Lisa
Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...
by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
had been stolen from the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
in 1911, and rediscovered in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
in 1913.
Performance history
The opera was first performed on 26 September 1915 in the HofoperStaatsoper Stuttgart
The Staatsoper Stuttgart is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, Germany.-History:The Stuttgart Staatsoper forms part of the Stuttgart State Theatre , which is a a three-branch-theatre complex and represents the largest theatre of its kind in Europe...
in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, with the composer conducting. In the same year it was also performed in Vienna (with Maria Jeritza
Maria Jeritza
Maria Jeritza , born Marie Jedličková, was a celebrated Moravian soprano singer, long associated with the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera...
in the title role), Berlin (Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
conducting the first two performances), Breslau, Hamburg and Budapest.
The North American premiere took place at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York on 1 March 1923, Artur Bodanzky
Artur Bodanzky
Artur Bodanzky was an Austrian-American conductor particularly associated with the operas of Wagner.- Career :...
conducting, with Barbara Kemp, Michael Bohnen (both making their Met debut) and Curt Taucher in the principal roles.
Post war revivals at the Städtische Oper Berlin in 1953 and at the Badischen Staatstheater
Badische Staatskapelle
The Badische Staatskapelle is a symphony orchestra based in Karlsruhe, Germany. The orchestra is affiliated with the Badisches Staatstheater . The historical roots of the orchestra date back to 1662. The precursor ensemble was the Hofkapelle der Markgrafen von Baden-Durlach...
in Karlsruhe in 1983 were cut in length. It was revived complete at the Kiel Opera House
Kiel Opera House
The Peabody Opera House is a civic performing arts building in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded as the Kiel Opera House, it opened it 1934 and operated until 1991, when it and the adjacent Kiel Auditorium were closed so the auditorium could be demolished and replaced by the Scottrade Center...
in November 1994 and subsequently performed at the Wiener Volksoper
Vienna Volksoper
The Vienna Volksoper is a major opera house in Vienna, Austria. It gives about three hundred performances of twenty-five productions during an annual season running from September through June....
in 1996.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 26 september 1915 (Conductor: Max von Schillings Max von Schillings Max von Schillings was a German conductor, composer and theatre director. He was chief conductor at the Berlin State Opera from 1919 to 1925.... ) |
|---|---|---|
| In prologue and epilogue | ||
| Ein Fremder (A Foreigner) | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
John Forsell John Forsell John Forsell, born Carl Johan Jacob Forsell, , was a prominent Swedish baritone, opera administrator and teacher of voice. He was the leading baritone of the Royal Swedish Opera from 1896–1918, and thereafter sang roles periodically with the company until his last stage performance in 1938. From... |
| Seine junge Frau (His young wife) | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Hedy Iracema-Brügelmann Hedy Iracema-Brügelmann Hedy Iracema-Brügelmann was a German operatic soprano of Brazilian birth. In 1916 she was awarded the Charlottenkreuz.-Professional career:... |
| Ein Laienbruder (A Lay Brother) | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Karl Aagard Østvig Karl Aagard Østvig Karl Aagaard Østvig was a Norwegian operatic tenor, opera director, and voice teacher. The Norwegian Music History Archive states that he is the greatest dramatic tenor in Norwegian history, and that he was particularly admired for his portrayals in operas by Giacomo Puccini, Richard Strauss and... |
| In Acts 1 and 2 | ||
| Francesco del Giocondo | baritone | John Forsell |
| Mona Fiordalisa, his young wife | soprano | Hedy Iracema-Brügelmann |
| Giovanni de Salviati | tenor | Karl Aagard Østvig |
| Pietro Tumoni | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Reinhold Fritz |
| Arrigo Oldofredi | tenor | George Maeder |
| Alessio Beneventi | tenor | Felix Decken |
| Sandro da Luzzano | baritone | Benno Ziegler |
| Masolini Pedruzzi | bass | Albin Swoboda, Jr. Albin Swoboda, Jr. Albin Swoboda, Jr. was a German operatic bass-baritone. Born in Dresden, he was the son of tenor and actor Albin Swoboda, Sr. and soprano Friederike Fischer; both of whom were luminaries of the "Golden Age" of Viennese operetta. His grandfather Joseph Wilhelm Swoboda also had an important career... |
| Dianora, Francesco's little daughter from his first marriage | soprano | |
| Mona Ginevra ad Alta Rocca | soprano | |
| Piccarda, Mona Lisa's maid | alto Alto Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,... |
|
| Sisto, Francesco's servant | tenor | Felix Decken |
Synopsis
- Place: the house of Francesco del Giocondo in FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
- Time: present (prologue and epilogue), 1492 (Acts 1 and 2)
Prologue
A couple is visiting a palace in Florence. A lay brother tells them the history of the house and its occupants, among them Fiordalisa Gherardini, Francesco Giocondo's wife painted by Leonardo da Vinci.Act 1
Together with his guests, Francesco is celebrating the last night of the Carnival, while his wife, the beaufiful Mona Lisa, has gone out for confession. A procession led by the courtesan Ginevra passes, but the preacher Savonarola together with a chorus of monks interrupts the Carnival activities with a call to do penance. Ginevra is invited into the house, and explains to Lisa, just returning from confession, that sin is the salt of all delight.Francesco explains to Pietro why he is consumed with jealousy. On the painting made by Leonardo, his wife smiles in a way that she has never smiled at him. She has always been reserved and serious towards him, and Francesco wants to solve the enigma of her smile.
Giovanni has come on behalf of the pope to purchase a pearl form Francesco's famous collection, which is kept in a shrine specifically designed in a way that no one can breathe in it for longer than an hour. In order to preserve the pearls' brightness Lisa has to wear them every night.
Lisa and Giovanni know each other, they have been in love before she was unhappily married to Francesco. Giovanni persuades her to flee with him the next morning, when he will come back to collect the pearl. When Francesco returns, he sees the mysterious smile on his wife's face and suspects he has a rival. He systematically locks all exits, so Giovanni has no other choice than to hide himself in the pearls' shrine. Francesco plays a diabolical game with Lisa, pretending not to have noticed anything, intentionally misinterpreting her unrest and fear for Giovanni's life as love and desire. Lisa goes along with this after Francesco promises her to fulfil a wish. She succumbs to his desire, and then asks for the key to the shrine. Again, Francesco intentionally misinterpets this as her being jealous of the pearls, and to prove his "love" he throws the only key into the river.
Act 2
The next morning, Lisa can hardly remember what happened the night before. She blames herself for having done nothing to save Giovanni, hopes for a sign of life from the shrine, but in vain: Giovanni has suffocated. Lisa's stepdaughter Dianora enters, and gives her the key to the shrine she had found in her boat the night before. Francesco appears, irritated by his wife's self-control. When she presents him with the key, he assumes Giovanni has escaped. Lisa now insists on wearing the pearls, and with a smile she waits for the moment Francesco enters the shrine. She then locks the door behind him.Epilogue
The lay brother's story comes to an end. The couple leave and the lay brother thinks he recognises Mona Lisa in the woman.Recordings
- In 1995 CPOClassic Produktion OsnabrückClassic Produktion Osnabrück is a record label founded in 1986 by Georg Ortmann and several others. Its declared mission is to fill niches in the recorded classical repertory, with an emphasis on romantic, late romantic and 20th-century music...
released a 1994 recording, with Klauspeter Seibel conducting the KielKielKiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
Philharmonic Orchestra. - In 2003 Preiser Records released a 1953 live recording from the Städtische Oper Berlin, with Robert HegerRobert HegerRobert Heger was a German conductor and composer from Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine.He studied at the Conservatory of Strasbourg, under Franz Stockhausen, then in Zurich under Lothar Kempter, and finally in Munich under Max von Schillings. After early conducting engagements in Strasbourg he made his...
conducting, and Inge BorkhInge BorkhInge Borkh is a German soprano.Borkh was born Ingeborg Simon in Mannheim, Germany, in 1921. She was initially an actress and had some training in dance, both of which served her well in opera: she became known both for her voice and for her dramatic intensity - the "singing actress" exemplified,...
, Hans BeirerHans BeirerHans Beirer was an Austrian heldentenor and Kammersänger. He was a regular company member at the Deutschen Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and Hamburgischen Staatsoper and is best known internationally as an interpreter of the work of Wagner.-Source:* K. J. Kutsch und Leo Riemens: Großes...
and Mathieu Ahlersmeyer in the principal roles.