La serva padrona: Difference between revisions
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| translated_name = ''The Maid Turned Mistress'' |
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| description = [[Intermezzo]] |
| description = [[Intermezzo]] |
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| librettist = [[Gennaro Federico]] |
| librettist = [[Gennaro Federico]] |
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| premiere_location = [[Teatro San Bartolomeo]], [[Naples]] |
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'''''La serva padrona''''' |
'''''La serva padrona''''', or ''The Maid Turned Mistress'', is a 1733 [[intermezzo]] by [[Giovanni Battista Pergolesi]] (1710–1736) to a [[libretto]] by [[Gennaro Federico]], after the [[Play (theatre)|play]] by Jacopo Angello Nelli. It is some 45 minutes long, in two sections without overture, and was written as light-hearted staged entertainment between the acts of Pergolesi's serious opera [[Il_prigionier_superbo|Il prigionier superbo]]. |
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Federico's libretto was also set by [[Giovanni Paisiello]], in 1781. |
Federico's libretto was also set by [[Giovanni Paisiello]], in 1781. |
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Revision as of 10:03, 28 September 2020
| La serva padrona | |
|---|---|
| Opera buffa by G. B. Pergolesi | |
 Title page of a vintage opera program | |
| Description | Intermezzo |
| Translation | The Maid Turned Mistress |
| Librettist | Gennaro Federico |
| Language | Italian |
| Based on | La serva padrona by Jacopo Angello Nelli |
| Premiere | 5 September 1733 |
La serva padrona, or The Maid Turned Mistress, is a 1733 intermezzo by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) to a libretto by Gennaro Federico, after the play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. It is some 45 minutes long, in two sections without overture, and was written as light-hearted staged entertainment between the acts of Pergolesi's serious opera Il prigionier superbo.
Federico's libretto was also set by Giovanni Paisiello, in 1781.
Performance history
La serva padrona was originally an intermezzo to Pergolesi's opera seria, Il prigionier superbo (The Proud Prisoner). The two were premiered at the Teatro San Bartolomeo on 5 September 1733, the first performance after a 1732 earthquake in Naples had caused all theatres to be closed. Both works were written to celebrate the birthday of Holy Roman Empress Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel a few days earlier, 28 August.[1]
Il prigioniero superbo was unsuccessful in its day[2] and is not a part of today's operatic repertoire. Eventually La serva padrona was separated out from Il prigioniero superbo and started to be performed as a stand-alone work. Audiences found it appealing because of its relatable characters, the cunning maid and her aging master, and it became famous in its own right. It is often seen as the quintessential piece bridging the gap from the Baroque to the Classical period. With a new finale, the French version played a large part in the Querelle des Bouffons.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast[3] 5 September 1733 |
|---|---|---|
| Uberto, an old man | buffo bass | Gioacchino Corrado |
| Serpina, his maid | soprano | Laura Monti |
| Vespone, his servant | silent actor |
Synopsis
Intermezzo 1 – Dressing room
Uberto, an elderly bachelor, is angry and impatient with his maidservant, Serpina, because she has not brought him his chocolate today. Serpina has become so arrogant that she thinks she is the mistress of the household. Indeed, when Uberto calls for his hat, wig and coat, Serpina forbids him from leaving the house, adding that from then on he will have to obey her orders. Uberto thereupon orders Vespone to find him a woman to marry so that he can rid himself of Serpina.
Intermezzo 2 – Same dressing room
Serpina convinces Vespone to trick Uberto into marrying her. She informs Uberto that she is to marry a military man named Tempesta. She will be leaving his home and apologizes for her behavior. Vespone, disguised as Tempesta, arrives and, without saying a word, demands 4,000 crowns for a dowry. Uberto refuses to pay such a sum. Tempesta threatens him to either pay the dowry or marry the girl himself. Uberto agrees to marry Serpina. Serpina and Vespone reveal their trick; but Uberto realizes that he has loved the girl all along. They will marry after all; and Serpina will now be the true mistress of the household.
Recordings
- Virginia Zeani opposite her husband Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (1959)
- Renata Scotto and Sesto Bruscantini (c. 1960)
- Anna Moffo and Paolo Montarsolo (1962)
- Maddalena Bonifacio and Siegmund Nimsgern (with Collegium Aureum in Deutsche Harmonia Mundi) (1969)
- Carmen Bustamante and Renato Capecchi (1973)
- Julianne Baird and John Ostendorf (1989)
- Mariella Adani and Leonardi Monreale, Pomeriggi Musicali del Teatro Nuovo di Milano, Ettore Gracis conducting; Nonesuch Records H-71043 (1960s)
- Patricia Biccire and Donato Di Stefano, La Petite Bande conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken Accent ACC 96123 D (1996)
- Gordana Minov-Jevtović and Nikola Mitić, PGP RTB (1976)
- Katalin Farkas and József Gregor, Pál Németh (conductor), Capella Savaria; Hungaroton (1986)
Scores
The scores of the opera vary wildly. Edwin F. Kalmus has a score with massive omissions, wrong notes, and much spoken dialogue. Boosey & Hawkes has the score in an operetta adaptation by Seymour Barab, with highly simplified accompaniment and much spoken dialogue. Casa Ricordi presents the opera as sung-through and is the version most used in performance today. W. W. Norton & Company includes excerpts of the full score (for strings and continuo) that has numerous melodic differences from the Ricordi edition, but that correlate with the accompanying recording by Siegmund Nimsgern.[4]
Film versions
- Italian director Mario Lanfranchi made an opera-film version in 1958 with Anna Moffo, Paolo Montarsolo, and Giancarlo Cobelli.[5]
- Brazilian director Carla Camurati made a feature film version in 1999 with Sylvia Klein (Serpina), José Carlos Leal (Uberto) and Thales Pan Chacon (Vespone).[6]
- An Australian TV version with June Bronhill aired in 1962.[7][8]
References
Notes
- ^ "Prigioniero superbo, Il" by Dale E. Monson, Grove Music Online
- ^ Grout and Williams (2003), p. 232
- ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "La serva padrona, 5 September 1733". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
- ^ Palisca, pp. 1–15
- ^ La serva padrona (1962) at IMDb
- ^ La serva padrona (1999) at IMDb
- ^ Program listing, ABV Channel 2, listed at 8:30, in the 1 November 1962 edition of The Age, via Google News Archive
- ^ La serva padrona (1962 TV) at IMDb
Sources
- Grout, Donald Jay and Hermine Weigel Williams (2003), A Short History of Opera, Columbia University Press, pp. 229–232. ISBN 0-231-11958-5
- Palisca, Claude V. Norton Anthology of Western Music: Volume 2: Classic to Modern. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001 ISBN 0-393-97691-2
- Warrack, John and Ewan West (1992) The Oxford Dictionary of Opera. ISBN 0-19-869164-5
External links
Librettos
- Federico, Gennaro Antonio (1739). La serva padrona. Intermezzo per musica da rappresentarsi nel teatro formagliari il Novembre 1739. Bologna: Bayerische StaatsBibliothek digital. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- Federico, Gennarantonio. "La Serva Padrona. Intermezzo in due parti". www.librettidopera.it. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
Scores
- Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista (1757). La serva padrona. Intermezzo del Signore Giovanni Battista Pergolese rapresentato in Pariggi nell' Autunno 1757 (1805 by Auguste Le Duc, reprint ed.). Paris: Radicciotti-Cherbuliez. Retrieved 13 January 2013. at University of North Texas
- La serva padrona: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
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