Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 1-Ernani

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 30 Speaking of Ernani While Ernani isn’t performed very often, it has remained in the repertoire for a long time. What explains its charm? MAZZOLA I don’t know if “charm” is really the correct word for the question, because “charm” suggests that you can just sit and enjoy it in a very pleasant way. Every operatic event is to be enjoyed, of course, but there is tremendous energy in Ernani . A dark power, if you will—the violence of the jealousy, of the misunderstanding, of the price and cost of honor. ANDRE For Verdi, Ernani is kind of a new beginning. He had gotten settled with four operas at La Scala, the best-known northern Italian theater, first with Oberto (1839), which was a success. Then Un giorno di regno (1840), a comedy that flopped. Then you get Nabucco (1842), and I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843), which were both popular, and then offers start coming in. The La Fenice theater in Venice comes calling and Verdi is like, “Sure, I’m interested. Sounds great. Something for a theater outside Milan.” MAZZOLA Ernani was an immediate, huge success, and it remained popular throughout the 19th century. It was still By David Zivan performed at the beginning of the 20th century, when it became something of a rarity—it didn’t disappear, but it was never a big hit again. And what is strange is that, probably until Il trovatore (1853) or La traviata (1853) or even Rigoletto (1851), Ernani was actually the most—in Italian we say un cavallo i vertalia libertalia . ANDRE A war horse! MAZZOLA Yes. And that’s why our audience should come to experience Ernani . It’s wonderful to explore a great opera by the young Verdi at his most energized, impassioned, and sincere. ANDRE Ernani is Verdi at an international moment. Along with Nabucco it was the first to be heard in London (in 1845) and it was Verdi’s first opera to be translated into English. This is also his first opera closer to the present— it’s set in the 16th century, whereas the others were from biblical times or the Middle Ages. MAZZOLA Also Verdi’s use of the work of Victor Hugo was terribly modern. He was one of the most controversial writers of the time. It was really an act of courage to portray onstage the weakness of a king or the aristocracy when confronted Lyric began its survey of the early operas of Giuseppe Verdi in the 2019/20 Season with Luisa Miller (1849) and continues now with Ernani (1844), a crucial work in the composer’s development.We arranged for a conversation between Enrique Mazzola, Lyric’s Music Director, and Dr. Naomi Andre, the newly appointed David G. Frey Distinguished Professor in Music at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Both are renowned aficionados of these works, and they agree: Ernani has tremendous significance—as an exemplar of bel canto style, as a pivotal moment in Verdi’s career, and as a glorious achievement that hints of something larger (and perhaps darker) on the horizon.