La cena delle beffe
Encyclopedia
La cena delle beffe is an opera in four acts composed by Umberto Giordano
to an Italian libretto
by Sem Benelli
adapted from his play of the same name. The story, set in Florence
at the time of Lorenzo de' Medici
, recounts the rivalry between Giannetto Malespini and Neri Chiaramantesi for the affections of the beautiful Ginevra and Giannetto's thirst for revenge over a cruel joke played on him by Neri and his brother Gabriello. Giannetto's revenge "joke" ultimately leads Neri to murder both Ginevra and (by mistake) his own brother. The opera ends with Neri's descent into madness.
, from his verse play, La cena delle beffe. Described as a poema drammatico (dramatic poem), it premiered in 1909 at the Teatro Argentina
in Rome with original music composed by 14 year-old Manoah Leide-Tedesco
. Like several other works by Benelli it is written in neo-romantic florid verse, with an historical setting and a melodramatic, violent plot. Benelli's play was an immediate and extraordinary success in Italy. At one time it was being performed simultaneously by four different Italian touring companies, and continues to remain in the repertoire today. A version of the play adapted by Jean Richepin
and titled La beffa (The Joke), was performed in Paris in 1910 with Sarah Bernhardt
playing the role of Giannetto. It ran for 21 performances, but her plan to present the play in New York later that year had to be abandoned when the wrong sets were shipped from Paris. Considerably more successful was the 1919 English adaptation by Edward Sheldon, The Jest, starring John Barrymore
as Giannetto Malespini and Lionel Barrymore
as Neri Chiaramantesi, which ran for 256 performances at the Plymouth Theatre in New York City.
Giordano approached Benelli in 1917 to propose setting the play as an opera. Benelli initially refused as the composer Tommaso Montefiore had obtained the right to compose a work based on the play in 1910, although by 1917, he had still not begun work on it. After lengthy negotiatons via Giordano's publisher, Casa Sonzogno
, Giordano finally obtained the rights to compose the opera on 15 September 1923. Benelli himself adapted his play for the libretto.
on 20 December 1924 at La Scala
in a performance directed by Giovacchino Forzano
and conducted by Arturo Toscanini
, with Carmen Melis
as Ginevra and Hipólito Lázaro
as Giannetto. The sets and costumes were designed by Galileo Chini, who had also designed the premiere production of Benelli's original play in 1909.
The opening night was a triumphal success with the conductor and cast taking 24 curtain calls. and this success at La Scala led to performances throughout Italy and abroad, including its US premiere at New York's Metropolitan Opera
in 1926. The following year La cena delle beffe had its first performances at La Fenice
and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
. Its US premiere was at the Metropolitan Opera
on 2 January 1926 with a stellar cast that included Frances Alda
as Ginevra, Beniamino Gigli
as Giannetto, and Titta Ruffo
as Neri.
By 1930, the opera had been seen in more than 40 cities around the world. However, it only ran for 12 performances over two seasons at the Met, and performances after 1930 have become sporadic although the opera has never completely dropped out of the repertoire. It had major revivals in 1987 at Wexford Festival Opera
and in 1999 at Zurich Opera
and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in a production directed by Liliana Cavani
. It also received a concert performance by Teatro Grattacielo
at Alice Tully Hall
in 2004.
river. Bent on vengeance, Giannetto convinces Neri, who has become drunk at Tornaquinci's dinner, to dress in his full armour and seek out a fight in an unsalubrious quarter of Florence. After rumours spread by Gianetto's servant, Neri is branded as a mad man and is locked up for the night, while Giannetto spends the night with Ginevra, who in the darkness believes him to be Neri.
Source: Recordings of La cena della beffe on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
Umberto Giordano
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.He was born in Foggia in Puglia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples...
to an Italian 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 Sem Benelli
Sem Benelli
Sem Benelli was an Italian playwright and librettist who provided the texts for several noted Italian operas, including Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re and L'incantesimo, and Umberto Giordano's La cena delle beffe. He was a native of Prato....
adapted from his play of the same name. The story, set 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....
at the time of Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...
, recounts the rivalry between Giannetto Malespini and Neri Chiaramantesi for the affections of the beautiful Ginevra and Giannetto's thirst for revenge over a cruel joke played on him by Neri and his brother Gabriello. Giannetto's revenge "joke" ultimately leads Neri to murder both Ginevra and (by mistake) his own brother. The opera ends with Neri's descent into madness.
Composition history
The libretto for Giordano's opera was adapted by the Italian playwright and poet, Sem BenelliSem Benelli
Sem Benelli was an Italian playwright and librettist who provided the texts for several noted Italian operas, including Italo Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re and L'incantesimo, and Umberto Giordano's La cena delle beffe. He was a native of Prato....
, from his verse play, La cena delle beffe. Described as a poema drammatico (dramatic poem), it premiered in 1909 at the Teatro Argentina
Teatro Argentina
The Teatro Argentina is an opera house and theatre located in the Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. It is one of the oldest theatres in Rome, and was inaugurated on January 31, 1732 with Berenice by Domenico Sarro....
in Rome with original music composed by 14 year-old Manoah Leide-Tedesco
Manoah Leide-Tedesco
Manoah Leide-Tedesco was an Italian-American composer, conductor and violinist.- Biography :Tranquillo Manoah Leide-Tedesco was born in Sinigaglia, Italy, but grew up in Naples...
. Like several other works by Benelli it is written in neo-romantic florid verse, with an historical setting and a melodramatic, violent plot. Benelli's play was an immediate and extraordinary success in Italy. At one time it was being performed simultaneously by four different Italian touring companies, and continues to remain in the repertoire today. A version of the play adapted by Jean Richepin
Jean Richepin
Jean Richepin , French poet, novelist and dramatist, the son of an army doctor, was born at Médéa, French Algeria.At school and at the École Normale Supérieure he gave evidence of brilliant, if somewhat undisciplined, powers, for which he found physical vent in different directions—first as a...
and titled La beffa (The Joke), was performed in Paris in 1910 with Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...
playing the role of Giannetto. It ran for 21 performances, but her plan to present the play in New York later that year had to be abandoned when the wrong sets were shipped from Paris. Considerably more successful was the 1919 English adaptation by Edward Sheldon, The Jest, starring John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
as Giannetto Malespini and Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
as Neri Chiaramantesi, which ran for 256 performances at the Plymouth Theatre in New York City.
Giordano approached Benelli in 1917 to propose setting the play as an opera. Benelli initially refused as the composer Tommaso Montefiore had obtained the right to compose a work based on the play in 1910, although by 1917, he had still not begun work on it. After lengthy negotiatons via Giordano's publisher, Casa Sonzogno
Edoardo Sonzogno
Edoardo Sonzogno was an Italian publisher.A native of Milan, Sonzogno was the son of a businessman who owned a printing plant and bookstore; when he inherited the business upon his father's death he set about turning it into a publishing house, Casa Sonzogno, which opened in 1874...
, Giordano finally obtained the rights to compose the opera on 15 September 1923. Benelli himself adapted his play for the libretto.
Performance history
La cena delle beffe premiered in MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
on 20 December 1924 at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in a performance directed by Giovacchino Forzano
Giovacchino Forzano
Giovacchino Forzano was an Italian playwright, librettist, stage director, and film director. A resourceful writer, he produced opera librettos for most of the major Italian composers of the early twentieth century, including the librettos for Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica and Gianni...
and conducted by Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
, with Carmen Melis
Carmen Melis
Carmen Melis was an Italian operatic soprano who had a major international career during the first four decades of the 20th century. She was known, above all, as a verismo soprano, and was one of the most interesting singing actresses of the early 20th century...
as Ginevra and Hipólito Lázaro
Hipólito Lázaro
Hipólito Lázaro was a Spanish/Catalan opera singer. Lázaro was born in Barcelona, Spain....
as Giannetto. The sets and costumes were designed by Galileo Chini, who had also designed the premiere production of Benelli's original play in 1909.
The opening night was a triumphal success with the conductor and cast taking 24 curtain calls. and this success at La Scala led to performances throughout Italy and abroad, including its US premiere at New York's 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 1926. The following year La cena delle beffe had its first performances at La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
. Its US premiere was 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...
on 2 January 1926 with a stellar cast that included Frances Alda
Frances Alda
Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the...
as Ginevra, Beniamino Gigli
Beniamino Gigli
Beniamino Gigli was an Italian opera singer. The most famous tenor of his generation, he was renowned internationally for the great beauty of his voice and the soundness of his vocal technique. Music critics sometimes took him to task, however, for what was perceived to be the over-emotionalism...
as Giannetto, and Titta Ruffo
Titta Ruffo
Titta Ruffo , born as Ruffo Titta Cafiero, was an Italian opera star who had a major international singing career. Known as the "Voce del leone" , he was greatly admired, even by rival baritones, such as Giuseppe De Luca, who said of Ruffo: "His was not a voice, it was a miracle" Titta Ruffo (9...
as Neri.
By 1930, the opera had been seen in more than 40 cities around the world. However, it only ran for 12 performances over two seasons at the Met, and performances after 1930 have become sporadic although the opera has never completely dropped out of the repertoire. It had major revivals in 1987 at Wexford Festival Opera
Wexford Festival Opera
The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...
and in 1999 at Zurich Opera
Zurich Opera
Oper Zürich is an opera company based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company gives performances in the Opernhaus Zürich which has been the company’s home for fifty years.-History:...
and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in a production directed by Liliana Cavani
Liliana Cavani
Liliana Cavani is an Italian film director and screenwriter. She belongs to a generation of Italian filmmakers that came into prominence in the 1970s and includes Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Marco Bellochio. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature...
. It also received a concert performance by Teatro Grattacielo
Teatro Grattacielo
Teatro Grattacielo is a professional opera company based in New York City specializing in concert performances of rarely heard verismo operas. The company's past performances have included the North American premieres of Mascagni's Il piccolo Marat and Riccardo Zandonai's I cavalieri di Ekebù and...
at Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assisted in the construction of the hall...
in 2004.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 20 December 1924 (Conductor: Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Ginevra | 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... |
Carmen Melis Carmen Melis Carmen Melis was an Italian operatic soprano who had a major international career during the first four decades of the 20th century. She was known, above all, as a verismo soprano, and was one of the most interesting singing actresses of the early 20th century... |
| Giannetto Malaspini | 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... |
Hipólito Lázaro Hipólito Lázaro Hipólito Lázaro was a Spanish/Catalan opera singer. Lázaro was born in Barcelona, Spain.... |
| Neri Chiaramantesi | 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... |
Benvenuto Franci |
| Gabriello Chiaramantesi | tenor | Emilio Venturini |
| Tornaquinci | 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... |
Fernando Autori |
| Calandra | bass | Giuseppe Menni |
| Fazio | baritone | Aristide Baracchi |
| Cintia | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Gina Pedroni |
| Lapo | tenor | Palmiro Domenichetti |
| Doctor | baritone | Ernesto Badini |
| Trinca | tenor | Francesco Dominici |
| Laldomine | mezzo-soprano | Cesira Ferrani Cesira Ferrani Cesira Ferrani was an Italian operatic soprano who is best known for debuting two of the most iconic roles in opera history, Mimì in the original 1896 production of Giacomo Puccini's La bohème and the title role in Puccini's Manon Lescaut in its 1893 world premiere... |
| Fiammetta | soprano | Lina Lanza |
| Lisabetta | soprano | Cesarina (Cesira) Valobra |
| Singer | tenor | Alfredo Tedeschi |
| Servants of Tornaquinci and the Medici | ||
Synopsis
- PLace: 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: Lorenzo de' MediciLorenzo de' MediciLorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...
's time
Act 1
Lorenzo de' Medici has ordered Tornaquinci to host a dinner at his house to make peace between Giannetto Malespini and the Chiaramantesi brothers, Neri and Gabriello. Neri had taken Giannetto's mistress, Ginevra, for himself, and as a "joke", both he and his brother had tormented Giannetto by putting him into a sack, pricking him with their swords, and throwing him into the ArnoArno
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber.- Source and route :The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a southward curve...
river. Bent on vengeance, Giannetto convinces Neri, who has become drunk at Tornaquinci's dinner, to dress in his full armour and seek out a fight in an unsalubrious quarter of Florence. After rumours spread by Gianetto's servant, Neri is branded as a mad man and is locked up for the night, while Giannetto spends the night with Ginevra, who in the darkness believes him to be Neri.
Act 2
In Ginevra's house the next morning, she learns who her real lover had been the previous night. She is pleased rather than appalled, regretting only that she did not know it at the time as it would have made the tryst all the more exciting. Neri bursts in and is enraged by both Ginevra's reaction and Giannetto's perfidy. The Medici servants enter and drag Neri off again.Act 3
Neri is tied up in the Medici cellars. Giannetto and a doctor pretend to treat him for his madness by bringing in several people whom he has wronged in the past to taunt him. Lisabetta, one of the women Neri had wronged is still in love with him and feels pity for him. When the others leave, she urges him to act truly mad, whereupon she will ask for him to be released into her custody. Giannetto returns and is horrified to see that he has actually driven Neri mad. He begs Neri's forgiveness, but Neri continues to behave like a madman and ignores him. Giannetto decides to continue with his revenge by telling Neri that he will once again sleep with Ginevra that night.Act 4
In her house, Ginevra awaits another tryst with Giannetto. Unbeknownst to her, Giannetto has told Gabriello that Ginevra loves him and is waiting for him that night. Neri, now freed from the Medici cellars, bursts into Ginevra's bedroom and stabs both Ginevra and the man he believes to be Giannetto to death. He then encounters Giannetto waiting for him outside the room. Neri now realizes that Giannetto's last "joke" has led him to killing his own brother. He rushes back into the bedroom and emerges now genuinely insane and calling out for Lisabetta. Giannetto's revenge is now complete, but tormented by what he has done, he takes no pleasure in his victory.Recordings
There are no complete studio recordings of the work. Remastered recordings of live performances released on CD include:.- Oliviero De Fabritiis (conductor), Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano della RAI, with Antonio Annaloro as Giannetto, Gigliola Frazzoni as Ginevra, and Anselmo Colzani as Neri. Live recording of a radio performance in Milan, 1956. Label: Myto CD
- Gian Paolo Sanzogno (conductor), Orchestra Sinfonica di Piacenza, with Fabio ArmiliatoFabio ArmiliatoFabio Armiliato is an Italian tenor.-Career:Born in Genoa, he has had an impressive career and has being hailed by critics as "the best Chénier of our time"....
as Giannetto, Rita Lantieri as Ginevra, and Marco Chingari as Neri. Live recording of a stage performance in PiacenzaPiacenzaPiacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
, 1988. Label: Bongiovanni CD
Source: Recordings of La cena della beffe on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
External links
- Full text of La cena delle beffe: poema drammatico in quattro atti, the play by Sem Benelli which was later adapted as a libretto for Giordano's La cena delle beffe (in Italian).