Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond (Martha, or The Market at Richmond) is a 'romantic comic' opera in four acts by Friedrich von Flotow, set to a German libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese and based on a story by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.
Flotow had composed the first act of a ballet, Harriette, ou la servante de Greenwiche, derived from a text by Saint-Georges, for the ballerina Adèle Dumilâtre. This was first performed at the Grand Opéra in Paris on 21 February 1844. The time available for the composition was short, so the second and third acts were assigned, respectively, to Friedrich Burgmüller and Édouard Deldevez. The opera Martha was an adaptation of this ballet.[1]
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Critical appreciation
According to Gustav Kobbé, Martha, though written by a native of Mecklenburg and first performed in Vienna, is French in character and elegance. Flotow was French in his musical training, as were both the origins of both the plot and the score of this work, effectively in the tradition of Auber.[1]. (Flotow studied composition in Paris under Reicha, 1827-1830, and having left on account of the July revolution returned there from 1835-1848, and again from 1863-1868.)
Performance history
The first performance of Martha took place at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna on 25 November 1847. Other early productions which followed included those at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 4 July 1849.[2]
In the United States, it was produced at Niblo's Garden in New York on 1 November 1852 with Anna Bishop.[3] and New Orleans on 27 January 1860, in French.[3] Further notable performances in France were given at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris on 16 December 1865 with the first inclusion of 'M'appari' (drawn from Flotow's L'âme en peine).[4]
The popularity of Martha received a fresh boost in 1906 when it was staged at the New York Metropolitan Opera in a production that featured the great tenor Enrico Caruso, singing in Italian. Caruso would perform the role of Lyonel many times during subsequent seasons and record extracts from the Italian version of the opera. Recent productions in Great Britain have included those by Opera South in 1986 and 2009[5] and Bel Canto Opera in 2002.[6]
Musical content
The overture itself is among von Flotow's most appreciated works. It begins with a slow A minor introduction, but changes suddenly to an A major theme (that of Lyonel's prayer in Act 3, "Mag der Himmel Euch vergeben"). It reverts to A minor with a busy, agitated motif, representing Lady Harriet and Nancy bustling about, leading into the C major peasant girls' chorus theme from Act 1. Then the agitated theme returns, but now in the major key of A. It leads without further modulation back to the Lyonel's prayer motif, and so the overture ends. The fluctuations of light and shade are reminiscent of Schubertian scoring, or of Weber (e.g. Der Freischütz overture): but without modulation into remote tonalities, they never really portend a tragic conclusion.
Though the powerful overture hints at a darker outcome, the opera ends happily. The heroine's levity and Lyonel's sincerity are its themes. The dramatic music, as between Lyonel and Harriet in Act 4, is weighty, while the scoring of the comic scenes is also (but differently) effective. In his own idiom, like Mozart in Don Giovanni or Verdi in Un ballo in maschera, von Flotow could build convivial music into a tragic dramatic context.
The Thomas Moore traditional Irish melody The Last Rose of Summer, introduced for Martha in Act 2, was a successful inclusion.[7] Popular airs were then often introduced informally to operas as show-pieces by sopranos, for example 'Home, Sweet Home' in the lesson scene of Barber of Seville.[8] Singers such as Jenny Lind or Adelina Patti made much of them. In Martha the custom is formally perpetuated, and the melody then appears as a leitmotif to represent Lyonel's longing. The opera has many original melodies, including fine duet and quartet concerted numbers and several solo arias. However the most famous, 'M'appari' ('Ach, so fromm'), Lyonel's Act 3 romanza, was not originally written for this opera but for Flotow's L'âme en peine (produced at the Grand Opéra Paris in 1846), and was first interpolated into Martha in 1865 at the first Paris production.[4]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 25 November 1847 |
|---|---|---|
| Lady Harriet Durham, maid of honor to Queen Anne ('Martha') | soprano | Anna Zerr |
| Nancy, her servant ('Julia') | mezzo-soprano | Therese Schwarz |
| Plunkett, a young farmer | bass | |
| Lyonel, his foster brother | tenor | Joseph Erl |
| Sir Tristan Mickleford, Lady Harriet's cousin (Farmer Bob) | bass | Carl Just |
| Sheriff | bass | Alois Ander |
| Queen Anne | mute | |
| Chorus: Courtiers, pages, ladies, hunters, farmers | ||
Synopsis
- Time: 1710.
- Place: Richmond, England.
Act 1
Scene 1
Lady Harriet is bored with the life of high society, and especially bored with her suitor Sir Tristan. She and her maid disguise themselves as the country girls 'Martha' and 'Julia' and follow a group of girls to the fair. They convince Sir Tristan to come also, as Farmer Bob....
Scene 2
Traditionally, there is an auction of country girls at the fair. Farmers bid for the fairest girls. The winners take the girls back to their farms, where the girls are hired as workers for the following year. Plunkett (or Plumkett) and Lyonel have come to look for a girl. Their mother has recently died, and they need someone to help with the farm work. The sheriff oversees the auction. The brothers win 'Martha' and 'Julia', while Farmer Bob ineptly tries to win them back.
Act 2
'Martha' and 'Julia' know nothing of farm work. They refuse to hang up clothes and cannot use a spinning wheel. 'Martha' rejects Lyonel's marriage proposal. After night falls, Tristan arrives to rescue the women.
Act 3
A group of hunters, including Plunkett, accompany the queen. Lady Harriet misses Lyonel, but when he arrives, she ignores him. When Lyonel demands that his contract be honored, Tristan has him arrested. Lyonel tries to explain what has happened to the courtiers. He gives the ring he inherited from his father to the queen as she is leaving.
Act 4
Lady Harriet's behavior has enfuriated Lyonel, but she seeks forgiveness. The queen orders that Lyonel be installed as the Earl of Derby, his father's former title. Nancy accepts Plunkett's marriage proposal. The courtiers re-create the country fair, and when Lyonel sees his Martha again, he forgives her.
Noted arias, duets, ensembles
- "Ach! so fromm, ach! so traut (M’apparì tutt’amor)" (Lyonel)
- "Blickt sein Aug"
- "Lasst mich euch fragen (Porter-Lied)" Drinking Song (Plunkett)
- "Letzte Rose (The Last Rose of Summer)" (Martha, later with Lyonel)
- "Mag der Himmel Euch vergeben (Lyonel's Prayer)"
- "Schlafe wohl! Und mag Dich reuen (Good Night Quartet)"
- "Was soll ich dazu sagen? (Spinning-Wheel Quartet)"
Recordings
Audio:
- Schüler/Berger/Tegetthof/Anders/Fuchs, 1944, live in Berlin, Opera d’Oro
- Rother/Berger/—/Anders/Fuchs, 1951, Urania
- Molinari-Pradelli/Rizzieri/Tassinari/Tagliavini/Tagliabue, 1953, Fonit Cetra
- Verchi/los Angeles/Elias/Tucker/Tozzi, 1961, live in New York, Celestial Audio
- Heger/Rothenberger/Fassbaender/Gedda/Prey, 1968, EMI
- Schüchter/Köth?/Steiner?/Schock?/Röhrl?, 1970?, incomplete, Eurodisc
- Heinz Wallberg, conductor; Lucia Popp, Harriet; Doris Soffel, Nancy; Siegfried Jerusalem, Lyonel; Karl Ridderbusch, Plumkett; Siegmund Nimsgern; Chorus of the Bavarian Radio; Munich Radio Orchestra, 1977, RCA
- Netopil/Reinprecht/Bönig/Jordi/Scharinger, 2003, live in Vienna, incomplete, ORF
Video:
- Stein/Peacock/Steiner/Wolhers/Hillebrand, 1972 movie, Premiere Opera
- Hauschild/Laki?/Meier?/Wolhers?/Berger-Tuna?, 1986, Stuttgart
References
- ^ a b G. Kobbé, The Complete Opera Book, Covent Garden, London: Putnam, 1935 printing), p.559.
- ^ H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, Concise Oxford History of Opera, London: OUP, 1974 printing), p. 248.
- ^ a b Kobbé, 1935
- ^ a b Kobbé, 1935, p.546.
- ^ Opera South past productions
- ^ Bel Canto Opera past productions
- ^ Rosenthal and Warrack, 1974, p. 215.
- ^ Rosenthal and Warrack, 1974, p. 182.
External links
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