Lyric Opera 2022-2023 Issue 1-Ernani

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 32 quotation from an 1843 letter: “Let’s have as few words as possible…Remember that brevity is never a fault…. I never try to shackle the genius of my poets…but I do insist on brevity because that’s what the public wants.” MAZZOLA This is one of the most important points about Ernani . Verdi wanted an extremely compact opera. He didn’t want to write a huge, sprawling work, a Don Carlos or a Boccanegra . That insistence with Piave was because he was convinced that brevity is the key to success. Ernani is written in four acts but it’s actually about the length of a normal two act opera. It was the same for Donizetti, with Poliuto [premiered at the Paris Opera as Les Martyrs in 1840]. It’s absolutely concise, and I would say that this is a characteristic of the composers of the 1830s and 1840s— trying to go into the drama in a very fast, impactful way. ANDRE Wow—people don’t usually mention Poliuto ! Yet you make an excellent point that Donizetti was an important force for reworking le solite forme to heighten the theatrical energy. People want to make Verdi the maverick, and he was very knowledgeable. But he went to everything; he was listening and watching opera all over Italy and Paris. And he was a great synthesizer, especially in his works— like Ernani —from the 1840s. He got many ideas from other composers—particularly Donizetti. MAZZOLA Brevity was an important ingredient in the big pot of what we call bel canto style. ANDRE Ernani lets us see Verdi, just as you’re saying, really embracing the bel canto , which I frequently refer to as the primo ottocento [roughly the first half of the 19th century, when Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Verdi, and numerous other minor composers thrived]. MAZZOLA Yes. There is an emphasis on climactic cabalettas: a very fast, athletic, high-gear style at the end of the scenes. Bel canto in Verdi’s hands—he embraces it. It was not a language; it was the language. Then slowly, starting with the trilogy of Rigoletto , Il trovatore , and La traviata , he started breaking away from the constraints. His extraordinary creativity couldn’t be contained within the rules of bel canto , so he broke and eventually abandoned them. This is a musical evolution you cannot compare with anyone else’s. Among all composers, maybe with the exception of Wagner, Verdi is the one who made the longest journey, reinventing himself, rebuilding himself. From the first Donizetti to the last Donizetti is not a big trip. But from Oberto to Otello (1887), we have a half century of completely new compositional and dramaturgical inventions. ANDRE You’re absolutely right. Ernani is Verdi becoming Verdi. In this opera we see him pointing us towards the well-known chestnuts, particularly that middle trilogy. Abramo Basevi, a critic of that time, uses a helpful term— tinta —to describe the specific colorings in Verdi’s operas. Verdi’s works have different vocal and orchestral moods, sounds, a different tinta to express their different personalities. A great example is Simon Boccanegr a, one of his darkest operas. Though you get all those male voices, Ernani isn’t as dark as Boccanegra ; instead, it has a heroic sound, with all the brass and the military connections. Yet Ernani is still dark in terms of the male voices and this focus on what is defined as the ‘men’s business’ of honor and war and politics. Salvatore Licitra and Sondra Radvanovsky in Lyric’s 2009/10 production of Ernani . Dan Rest