Stiffelio

Giuseppe Verdi

Operas Oberto (1839) Un giorno di regno (1840) Nabucco (1842) I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843) Ernani (1844) I due Foscari (1844) Giovanna d'Arco (1845) Alzira (1845) Attila (1846) Macbeth (1847) I masnadieri (1847) Jérusalem (1847) Il corsaro (1848) La battaglia di Legnano (1849) Luisa Miller (1849) Stiffelio (1850) Rigoletto (1851) Il trovatore (1853) La traviata (1853) Les vêpres siciliennes (1855) Simon Boccanegra (1857) Aroldo (1857) Un ballo in maschera (1859) La forza del destino (1862) Don Carlos (1867) Aida (1871) Otello (1887) Falstaff (1893)

v • d • e

Stiffelio is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer by Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois. The opera was first performed on 16 November 1850 at the Teatro Grande, Trieste.

The original plot of Stiffelio excited vigorous censorship, since it involved a Protestant minister of the church with an adulterous wife, and a final church scene in which he forgives her with words quoted from the New Testament.

A revised version of the opera, entitled Guglielmus Wellingrode (with the hero a German Prime Minister), was presented in 1851, without either Verdi or his librettist Piave being responsible for it^[1]. Verdi's own reworking of Stiffelio was presented in 1857 as the four-act opera Aroldo, a more radical alteration, with the action transferred to thirteenth-century England, and with the final scene entirely replaced by a wholly new fourth act.

Performance history

After it was revised and presented as Aroldo, Stiffelio was not performed again on stage in its original version until the Teatro Regio in Parma produced it in 1968^[1]. It is believed to have received its first British performance in an English language production at the Collegiate Theatre, London by the University College London Music Society, on 14 February 1973^[2]. Although vocal scores were known, no full score existed until the discovery of a copyist's score at Naples Conservatory, and a new performing edition was prepared for Messrs Barenreiter. This edition was the basis of performances at Naples and Cologne, but it cut material (especially from the Act 1 overture and choruses), and added in sections from Aroldo which were not in the original score. For the University College production microfilm of the copyist's score was obtained to restore the composer's intentions as far as possible. Since even the original premiere was partly cut by the censors, therefore this was probably one of the first ever authentic performances of the work.^[3]

The first US performance is said to have been presented on 17 February 1978 in Boston^[2], although it is claimed that Vincent La Selva (now of the New York Grand Opera) gave the US premiere of the opera in 1976 ^[4]. However, it was presented as part of their comprehensive and chronological "Viva Verdi" series from 1994 when it launched the "Verdi Cycle" of all of Verdi's operas.

In 1985—1986 the Teatro La Fenice in Venice mounted the two operas back to back; in tandem with the production, an international scholarly conference was held there in December 1985^[1][5].

While not widely performed in modern times, the Royal Opera in London presented the house premiere on 25 January 1993 and it was given at the Metropolitan Opera between October 1993 and 1999, where it has received eighteen performances in all. Both productions are preserved on DVDs with Placido Domingo (New York) and Jose Carreras (London) in the title roles.

However, it was the Met's production which presented the first complete production from the critical edition prepared by the University of Chicago's Kathleen Kuzmick Hansell and utilizing all the material which Verdi actually wrote.^[6]

The Sarasota Opera presented Stiffelio in 2005 as part of its "Verdi Cycle" of all of the composer's operas to be completed by 2013.

Roles

Synopsis

Place: Stankar's castle by the River Salzbach, Germany

Time: Early 19th Century

Act 1

Scene 1: A hall in Count Stankar's castle

Stiffelio, a priest, is expected to return from a mission. His wife Lina, her father Stankar, her cousins Dorotea and Federico are waiting for him. In addition, there is Raffaele who, unknown to all, is Lina 's lover. Stiffelio arrives and recounts how the castle's boatman has told him the strange story of having seen a man and a woman escaping from a castle window and, as they did so, dropping a packet of letters, which Stiffelio now holds. Refusing to learn by opening the package who was involved, he throws the letters into the fire much to the relief of Lina and Raffaele. Secretly, Raffaele communicates to Lina that he will leave instructions as where they may next meet inside a locked volume in the library.

After he has been greeted by friends, Lina and Stiffelio are left alone: (Non ha per me un acento – "She has no word for me, not a glance”) . He tells her of the sin he has witnessed (Aria: Vidi dovunque gemere – "Everywhere I saw virtue groan beneath the oppressor’s yoke") and then notices that her wedding ring is not on her finger. Angrily, he demands to know why (Ah v'appare in fronte scritto – "Ah, clearly written on your brow is the shame that wages war in your heart"), but Stankar arrives to escort him to the celebrations being arranged by his friends. Alone, Lina is filled with remorse (A te ascenda, O Dio clemente - "Let my sighs and tears ascend to thee, O merciful God…")

Scene 2: The same, later

Deciding to write a confession to Stiffelio, Lina begins to write, but her father enters and grabs the letter, which he reads aloud. Dite che il fallo a tergere - "Tell him that your heart lacks the strength to wash away your sins”, he tells her, but Stankar is determined to preserve family honor and cover up his daughter's behavior: Ed io pure in faccia agli uomoni - "So before the face of mankind I must stifle my anger". In their duet, father and daughter come to some resolve: O meco venite - "Come now with me; tears are of no consequence" and they leave.

Now Raffaele enters to place the note in the volume, which has been agreed to. Jorg, the elderly preacher, observes this just as Federico arrives to take the volume away. Jorg's suspicions fall upon Federico and he shares what he knows with Stiffelio. Seeing the volume and realizing that it is locked, he is told that Lina has a key. She is summoned, but when she refuses to unlock it, Stiffelio grabs it and breaks it open. The incriminating letter falls out, but it is quickly taken up by Stankar and torn into many pieces, much to the fury of Stiffelio.

Act 2

A graveyard near the castle

Lina has gone to her mother's grave at the cemetery to pray (Ah dagli scanni eternei - "Ah, from among the ethereal thrones, where, blessed, you take your seat"), but Raffaele joins her. She immediately asks him to leave. Lina, Lina! Perder dunquevoi volete - "Lina, then you wish to destroy this unhappy, betrayed wretch" he responds: Io resto - "I stay". When Stankar arrives, he demands that his daughter leave and then challenges Raffaele to a duel. With Stiffelio's arrival, announcing that no fighting can take place in a cemetery, there is an attempt at conciliation whereby the priest takes Stankar's hand and then Raffaelo's, joining them together. However, Stankar reveals that Stiffelio has touched the hand of the man who betrayed him! Not quite understanding at first, Stiffelio demands that the mystery be solved. As Lina returns demanding her husband's forgiveness, Stiffelio begins to comprehend the situation: Ah, no! E impossibile - "It cannot be. Tell me at least that it is a lie". Demanding an explanation, he challenges Raffaelo to fight but, as he is about to strike the younger man, Jorg arrives to summon the priest to the church from which the sound of the waiting congregation can be heard. Filled with conflicting emotions, Stiffelio drops his sword, asks God to inspire his speech to his parishioners, but, at the same time, curses his wife.

Act 3

Scene 1: A room in Count Stankar's Castle

Alone in his room, Stankar reads a letter which tells him that Raffaele has fled and that he seeks to have Lina join him. He is in despair over his daughter's behaviour: Lina pensai che un angelo in te mi desse il cielo - "Lina, I thought that in you an angel brought me heavenly bliss". For a moment, he resolves to commit suicide and begins to write a letter to Stiffelio. But Jorg enters to give him the news that he has tracked down Raffaele who will be returning to the castle. O gioia inesprimibile, che questo come irondi! - "Oh, the inexpressable joy that floods this heart of mine!", Stankar exclaims, as he sees revenge being within reach.

Scene 2: Stiffelio's house

Stiffelio confronts Raffaele and asks him what he would do if Lina were free, offering him a choice between "a guilty freedom" and "the future of the woman you have destroyed". The younger man does not respond, and the priest tells him to listen to his encounter with Lina from the other room. Stiffelio lays out the reason that their marriage can be annulled: Oposto è il calle che in avvenire - "Opposite are the paths that in future our lives will follow". Lina's reaction, when presented with the divorce decree, is to swear an on-going love for her husband: "I will die for love of you". Appealing to Stiffelio more as a priest than as a husband, Lina confesses that she has always loved him and she still does. Stankar enters to announce that Raffaele is dead and Jorg tries to convince Stiffelio to come to the church service: Ah si, voliamo al tempio - "Ah, yes, let us flee to the church".

Scene 3: A church

In the church, Stiffelio mounts the pulpit and opens the bible to the story of the adulterous woman. As he reads the words of forgiveness - perdonata - he looks at Lina and it is clear that she too is forgiven.

Recordings

Note: "Cat:" is short for catalogue number by the label company; "ASIN" is amazon.com product reference number.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Lawton, David, "Stiffelio and Aroldo", Opera Quarterly 5 (23): 193, 1987.
2. ^ ^{a b} Holden, Amanda, ed., The Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Puttnam, Inc, 2001, p. 990
3. ^ Programme, February 1973 (University College London).
4. ^ NYGO's web site claim
5. ^ The proceedings of the international congress have been published in Italy with the title Tornando a Stiffelio: popolarita, rifadimenti, messinscena e altre, 'cure' nella drammaturgia del Verdi romantico, ed. Giovanni Morelli (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1987).
6. ^ Notes on the critical edition of Stiffelio at uchicago.edu: "All previous modern editions, including the score prepared by Edward Downes and first performed in January 1993 at Covent Garden, were based largely or entirely on secondary sources, such as the early printed vocal score and defective 19th-century manuscript copies of the full score. For the Covent Garden performances, with Jose Carreras as Stiffelio, Philip Gossett made preliminary corrections of the vocal parts only, based on the newly recovered autograph materials. Those materials had been exhumed by the Carrara Verdi family with the Metropolitan Opera production in view, and only happenstance permitted the Verdi edition to share some of the most important aspects with Downes. Verdi's autograph was not utilized, however, for any of the orchestral fabric, for which Downes's edition relied entirely on a 19th-century copy".
7. ^ List of singers taken from Budden, Julian: The Operas of Verdi (Cassell), vol 1, p. 448.

References

• Chusid, Martin; Kuzmick Hansell, Kathleen; Gossett, Philip (Editors), Verdi's Middle Period: Source Studies, Analysis, and Performance Practice, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998 ISBN 9780226106595 ISBN 0226106594

External links

• Italian libretto from www.giuseppeverdi.it
• Notes on University of Chicago's critical edition prepared in 2003 by Kathleen Kuzmik Hansell and 1993 Covent Garden performances and DVD