The Marriage (opera)
Encyclopedia
The Marriage is a comic opera
in 2 acts by Bohuslav Martinů
, to the composer's own libretto
, after the play of the same name by Nikolai Gogol
. The opera was commissioned for television by the NBC
, and the NBC Opera Theatre
performed the work's world premiere on their television program NBC TV Opera Theatre for a national broadcast in the United States on 2 July 1953. The opera has subsequently been adapted for the stage and recorded on CD.
, and their executive producer, Samuel Chotzinoff. Martinů had already been contemplating setting Gogol's play to music, and his suggestion to Adler and Chotzinoff was readily accepted. Martinů commensed on writing both the music and the libretto. Interestingly, while the NBC announced that they were mounting a new opera with music by Martinů, they refused to disclose to the press who the author of the libretto was prior to the premiere. Olin Downes
of The New York Times
described this lack of disclosure as a "dense secret". Of the libretto Downes stated, "The book is effective, funny without being cheep, and it preserves a folk quality with whatever modern colloquialism
s are woven in. The simple flavor of the original is not lost."
At its 1953 television premiere, The Marriage was a triumphant success. As usual with almost all of the NBC Opera Theatre productions, Chotzinoff served as producer and Adler served as music director/conductor. John Block directed the production, Otis Riggs designed the sets, and Liz Gillan designed the costumes. Downes wrote in his review that "The production was of an excellent quality in the 1840s Russian costumes and scenic designs, and in the admirable level of the singing and English Diction. The show was produced and directed by master hands, in a way that would have made a less interesting score, less well designed for television presentation, worth while." Downes further praised Martinů for his successful marriage of the music with the text, stating the work "has droll characterization, adroit instrumental commentary, and certain motival phrases that bind the beginning and the end of the opera amazingly together."
, Germany
, when it was conducted by Horst Stein
. A revised version of the opera premiered was premiered by Theater Bonn
on 21 September 1989 with Udo Zimmermann
conducting.
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
in 2 acts by Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Martinu
Bohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
, to the composer's own 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...
, after the play of the same name by Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
. The opera was commissioned for television by the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, and the NBC Opera Theatre
NBC Opera Theatre
The NBC Opera Theatre was an American opera company operated by the National Broadcasting Company from 1949 to 1964. The company was established specifically for the purpose of filming both established and new operas for television...
performed the work's world premiere on their television program NBC TV Opera Theatre for a national broadcast in the United States on 2 July 1953. The opera has subsequently been adapted for the stage and recorded on CD.
Television premiere
Martinů was first approached to compose an opera for the NBC Opera Theatre by the company's Artistic Director, the conductor Peter Herman AdlerPeter Herman Adler
Peter Herman Adler was an American conductor born in Austria–Hungary in Gablonz an der Neiße, which is now in the Czech Republic....
, and their executive producer, Samuel Chotzinoff. Martinů had already been contemplating setting Gogol's play to music, and his suggestion to Adler and Chotzinoff was readily accepted. Martinů commensed on writing both the music and the libretto. Interestingly, while the NBC announced that they were mounting a new opera with music by Martinů, they refused to disclose to the press who the author of the libretto was prior to the premiere. Olin Downes
Olin Downes
Olin Downes was an American music critic.He studied piano, music theory, and music criticism in New York and Boston, and it was in those two cities that he made his career as a music critic—first with the Boston Post and then with the New York Times...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described this lack of disclosure as a "dense secret". Of the libretto Downes stated, "The book is effective, funny without being cheep, and it preserves a folk quality with whatever modern colloquialism
Colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...
s are woven in. The simple flavor of the original is not lost."
At its 1953 television premiere, The Marriage was a triumphant success. As usual with almost all of the NBC Opera Theatre productions, Chotzinoff served as producer and Adler served as music director/conductor. John Block directed the production, Otis Riggs designed the sets, and Liz Gillan designed the costumes. Downes wrote in his review that "The production was of an excellent quality in the 1840s Russian costumes and scenic designs, and in the admirable level of the singing and English Diction. The show was produced and directed by master hands, in a way that would have made a less interesting score, less well designed for television presentation, worth while." Downes further praised Martinů for his successful marriage of the music with the text, stating the work "has droll characterization, adroit instrumental commentary, and certain motival phrases that bind the beginning and the end of the opera amazingly together."
Stage productions
The Marriage was first performed in a live theatrical production on 31 March 1954, at the Hamburg State OperaHamburg State Opera
The Hamburg State Opera is one of the leading opera companies in Germany.Opera in Hamburg dates back to 2 January 1678 when the "Opern-Theatrum" was inaugurated with a performance of a biblical Singspiel by Johann Theile...
, Germany
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...
, when it was conducted by Horst Stein
Horst Stein
Horst Walter Stein was a German conductor.- Biography :...
. A revised version of the opera premiered was premiered by Theater Bonn
Theater Bonn
Theater Bonn is a theatrical organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Bonn, Germany. The organization operates several performance venues throughout the city.-External links:*...
on 21 September 1989 with Udo Zimmermann
Udo Zimmermann
Udo Zimmermann was born in Dresden on October 6, 1943. He is a German composer, music director, and conductor.- Biography :Zimmermann was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor from 1954 to 1962. He then continued his music education at the Dresden Music School. He studied composition with Johannes...
conducting.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
Premiere cast, 2 July 1953 (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Peter Herman Adler Peter Herman Adler Peter Herman Adler was an American conductor born in Austria–Hungary in Gablonz an der Neiße, which is now in the Czech Republic.... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Podkolyosin, a government official and bachelor | 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... |
Donald Gramm Donald Gramm Donald Gramm was an American bass-baritone whose career was divided between opera and concert performances. His appearances were primarily limited to the United States, which at the time was unusual for an American singer... |
| Agafya, daughter of a merchant and spinster | 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... |
Sonia Stollin |
| Kokhkaryov, Podkolyosin's friend | 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... |
Michael Pollock Michael Pollock (tenor) Michael Pollock was an American operatic tenor, opera director, and voice teacher. He notably worked as both a performer and director at the New York City Opera during the 1940s and 1950s.-Biography:... |
| Fyokla Ivanovna, a matchmaker | 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... |
Winifred Heidt |
| Arina, Agafya's aunt | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Ruth Kobart Ruth Kobart Ruth Kobart was an American performer, whose six-decade career encompassed opera, Broadway musical theatre, regional theatre, films, and television.-Life and career:... |
| Ivan, a government official | 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... |
Lloyd Harris |
| Anuchkin, a retired army officer | tenor | Andrew McKinley Andrew McKinley Andrew McKinley was an American operatic tenor, violinist, arts administrator, music educator, and school administrator. Although he mainly performed in the United States, he had an active international singing career with major opera companies and symphony orchestras from the 1940s through the... |
| Zhevakin, a retired naval officer | tenor | Robert Holland |
| Stepan, Podkolyosin's servant | spoken role | Leon Lishner Leon Lishner Leon Lishner was an American operatic bass-baritone. He was particularly associated with the works of Gian Carlo Menotti, having created parts in the world premieres of four operas by that composer... |
| Dunyashka, Agafya and Arina's maid | spoken role | Anne Pitoniak Anne Pitoniak Anne Pitoniak was an American actress. She was nominated twice for Broadway's Tony Award: as Best Actress in 1983, for night, Mother, and as Best Actress in 1994, for a revival of William Inge's Picnic.-Early life:Pitoniak was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of Sophie and John... |