Palestrina (opera)

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Palestrina is an opera (called by him a Musikalische Legende) by the German composer Hans Pfitzner. The libretto, which is by Pfitzner himself, is based on a legend about the Renaissance composer Giovanni Palestrina. The theme is of how he saved the art of contrapuntal music for the Church in the 16th century, through his composition of the Missa Papae Marcelli. In the second act, the Council of Trent is depicted, along with the character of Cardinal Borromeo.

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It first performed at the Prinzregententheater, Munich on 12 June 1917. The title role was created by the tenor Karl Erb. Pfitzner wrote to him:

'Ich erachte es als einen der seltenen Glückumstände in meinem Kunstlerleben, dass mein grösstes Werk bei seinem ersten Erscheinen in der Welt fur seine Haupt- und Titel-rolle einen solch idealen Vertreter gefunden hat, wie Sie, lieber Karl Erb es sind. Ihr Name ist mit diesem Stück deutscher Kunst fur alle Zeiten ruhmreich verbunden.'[1]
(I consider it as one of the very occasional fortunate circumstances in my life as an artist, that my greatest work at its first appearance in the world has found for its chief and title role such an ideal interpreter as you, dear Karl Erb, are. Your name is for all time praiseworthily united with this piece of German art.)

In the original performances, Maria Ivogün (later wife of Karl Erb) sang the role of Ighino, Fritz Feinhals and Dr Emil Schipper sang Borromeo, and Bruno Walter conducted the performance.

More recently the role of Palestrina has been played by Julius Patzak, a successor to the style of tenor singing developed or maintained by Karl Erb. A photograph in Volume I of The Record of Singing[2] claims (and appears) to show the East Prussian tenor Felix Senius (1868-1913) in the title-role of Palestrina. Since he died in 1913 and the first public performance was in 1917, he cannot have publicly performed it.

Palestrina was Pfitzner's most successful opera and is still regularly performed in German-speaking countries, though revivals abroad are rarer. The first UK performance was a semi-professional production in 1981 at Abbey Opera, and the first fully professional UK production was at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1997.[3]

Claire Taylor-Jay has discussed Pfitzner's depiction of the political relationship between Palestrina and the Council of Trent, in the light of several German "artist-operas" such as Paul Hindemith's Mathis der Maler.[4] Mosco Carner has written on Pfitzner's own expression of the role of spontaneous inspiration in composition, as expressed in Palestrina.[5] Several scholarly articles have delved into Pfitzner's musical and ideological conservatism, as expressed in this opera.[6] [7] Gottfried Scholz has written of Pfitzner's depiction of the title character as a surrogate for himself.[8] Karen Painter has discussed commentary on the opera in the Nazi Germany.[9]

Palestrina is also the title of an opera by Sachs (1886).

  • Abdisu, Patriarch of Assyria (tenor)
  • Anton Brus von Müglitz, Archbishop of Prague (bass)
  • Avosmediano, Bishop of Cadiz (bass-baritone)
  • Bernardo Novagerio, cardinal legate (tenor)
  • Bishop of Budoja (tenor)
  • Carlo Borromeo, a Roman cardinal (baritone)
  • Cardinal Christoph Madruscht, Prince Bishop of Trent (bass)
  • Giovanni Morone, cardinal legate (baritone)
  • Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (tenor)
  • Ighino, his son (soprano)
  • Silla, his pupil (mezzo-soprano)
  • Count Luna, ambassador of the King of Spain (baritone)
  • The Cardinal of Lorraine (bass)
  • Pope Pius IV (bass)
  • Theophilus, Bishop of Imola (tenor)
  • Bishop Ercole Severolus, Master of Ceremonies of the Council of Trent (bass-baritone)

  1. ^ M. Müller-Gögler, c.1948, 81.
  2. ^ M. Scott, The Record of Singing, I (Duckworth, London 1977), 204-205, Fig 179.
  3. ^ Guy Rickards, "First Performances: Pfitzner's 'Palestrina'". Tempo (New Ser.), 201, pp. 35-37 (July 1997).
  4. ^ Claire Taylor-Jay, The Artist-Operas of Pfitzner, Krenek, and Hindemith: Politics and the Ideology of the Artist, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004.
  5. ^ Mosco Carner, "Pfitzner v. Berg, or Inspiration v. Analysis". The Musical Times, 118(1611), pp. 379-380 (May 1977).
  6. ^ Michael P. Steinberg, "Opera and Cultural Analysis: The Case of Hans Pfitzner's Palestrina". The Musical Quarterly, 85, 53-62 (2001).
  7. ^ Leon Botstein, "Pfitzner and Musical Politics". The Musical Quarterly, 85, 63-75 (2001).
  8. ^ Gottfried Scholz (translated Irene Zedlacher), "The Image of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina in Pfitzner's Palestrina". The Musical Quarterly, 85, 76-84 (2001).
  9. ^ Karen Painter, "Symphonic Ambitions, Operatic Redemption: Mathis der Maler and Palestrina in the Third Reich". The Musical Quarterly, 85, 117-166 (2001).

  • Viking Opera Guide edited by Amanda Holden (Viking, 1993)
  • M. Müller-Gögler, Karl Erb, Das Leben eines Sängers (Verlag Franz Huber, Offenburg c 1948).
  • H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (London 1974).
  • M. Scott, The Record of Singing to 1914 (Duckworth, London 1977).
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestrina_%28opera%29"
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