|
''Le Villi'' (''The Willis'' or ''The Fairies'') is an opera-ballet in two acts (originally one) composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Ferdinando Fontana, based on the short story ''Les Willis'' by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. Karr's story was in turn based in the Central European legend of the vila, also used in the ballet ''Giselle''. The opera, in its original one-act version, was first performed at the Teatro Dal Verme, Milan, on 31 May 1884.〔Playing in the contrabass section of the orchestra that night was the 21-year-old Pietro Mascagni. Comitato Nazionale Celebrazioni Pucciniane〕 ''Le Villi'' is Puccini's first stage work. It was written for an 1883 competition of one-act operas by the publisher Sonzogno in his periodical ''Il teatro illustrato'', but did not even earn an honourable mention. According to Mosco Carner, this may have been because it was written in such haste that the score was all but illegible.〔Carner (1992) p. 40〕 His supporters, who included Arrigo Boito, funded the first production, whose favorable reception led to publication by Giulio Ricordi. Puccini's mother received the following telegram on the night of premiere at the Teatro dal Verme on 31 May 1884: "Theatre packed, immense success; anticipations exceeded; eighteen calls; finale of first act encored thrice"'.〔Dry (1904)〕 Ricordi urged the composer to expand the work, and Puccini did, producing a new version later that year, which was followed by modifications in 1888, and the final version in 1892. A performance typically lasts 64 minutes. ==Performance history== In the libretto, each part of the symphonic intermezzo between Acts 1 and 2 – ''L'Abbandono'' (The Desertion) and ''La tregenda'' (The Spectre) – is preceded by explanatory verses recounting the intervening events. Michele Girardi, citing a letter from Fontana to Puccini on 3 September 1884, has pointed out that the librettist intended for these to be read by the audience but not actually recited by a narrator.〔Girardi (2002) p. 28〕 But according to Mosco Carner, Puccini had intended for the verses to be read out to the audience, although he notes there is no mention of this having actually happened in contemporary reviews of the first production.〔Carner (1992) p. 336.〕 Likewise, there is no record of a narrator having been used at the first performance of ''Le Villi'' at the Metropolitan Opera in 1908.〔Metropolitan Opera archives〕 Nevertheless, a narrator is used in some modern productions of the opera, such as the September 2004 production at the Teatro Dal Verme with Leo Nucci as the narrator, and the August 1994 production at the Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca with Massimo Foschi as narrator.〔''Corriere della Sera'', 19 September 2004, p. 61〕 A narrator (Tito Gobbi) is also used in the Sony 1981 studio recording of the work. A revised, two-act version was performed in at the Teatro Regio, Turin on 26 December 1884. ''Le Villi'' was also performed at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 15 January 1888. However, on that occasion it was not viewed favourably by either the audience or the critics who characterized it as "simply an imitation of Wagner".〔Comitato Nazionale Celebrazioni Pucciniane〕 Puccini continued to revise the work up until 1892 when it premiered in Hamburg conducted by Gustav Mahler. The UK premiere occurred on 24 September 1897 in Manchester and the US premiere of ''Le Villi'' came on 17 December 1908 at the New York Metropolitan Opera〔Holden, p. 699〕 conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Performed as a double bill with Mascagni's ''Cavalleria rusticana'', the Met's production featured Frances Alda as Anna and Alessandro Bonci as Roberto. The work did not receive its premiere at the Vienna State Opera until 23 October 2005 when it was performed in a double bill with Leoš Janáček's ''Osud''. Simone Young conducted the performance with Krassimira Stoyanova as Anna and José Cura as Roberto.〔Vienna State Opera Archives〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Le Villi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|