Libretto

The article is devoted to Mozart’s Singspiel “Zaide” (1778/79), an incomplete “German light opera” which was discovered after the composer’s death. This work remained in the shadow of another composition with a similar Turkish plot, namely “Die Entführung aus dem Serail”. It is not surprising that its evaluation has little changed since Otto Jahn and Hermann Abert’s time when Mozart’s Singspiel was regarded as not quite successful, and they thought of its libretto as its weak side, which had been made by Andreas Schachtner, a Salzburg musician and poet. The first part of the article sheds light on the libretto and discusses some reasons of why it sought a negative opinion, moreover it reveals what subjective and objective reasons led to the work remaining incomplete and not being staged during Mozart’s lifetime and why during the Romanticism Schachtner’s text was perceived as “not poetic and inept”, though the composer and his contemporaries praised the verses quite high. In the second part of the article the texts of two Italian arias (No 9 and 13) are considered in a context of physiognomic views of the-then time, which were deeply rooted in the antiquity, namely in Aristotle’s physiognomics doctrine. They are obviously characterised by reminiscences of an Italian opera opposition of common animal images of a lion and tigress as the brightest representation of fauna masculine and feminine types, respectively, rooted the in ancient zoophysiognomics. In Schachtner-Mozart’s Singspiel this opposition is not treated with the classicism unambiguity as in libretti by P. Metastasio which was imitated by the poet, but it rather stands out as a masterly played contamination of these animal metaphors, a peculiar game of masks, which is more inherent in baroque poetics. Such a treatment seems to be reasonable in connection with the gender problematic, that was peculiar to creative works by Mozart as a whole, mostly, certainly to his scenic works, which is shown by the analysis of male and female musical language in “Le nozze di Figaro” performed by the Austrian musician J. Wallnig.

В статье идет речь о зингшпиле В. А. Моцарта «Заида» (1778/79), неоконченной музыкальной пьесе, которая была обнаружена уже после смерти композитора. Это произведение оказалось в тени другого сочинения на похожий турецкий сюжет, «Похищение из сераля». Неудивительно, что его
оценка претерпела мало изменений со времен О. Яна и Г. Аберта, которые считали зингшпиль Моцарта не вполне удачным, причем его слабую сторону они видели в либретто, якобы неумело составленном зальцбургским музыкантом и поэтом Андреасом Шахтнером. В первой части статьи исследуются вопросы, как складывалось отрицательное мнение о либретто зингшпиля, какие субъективные и объективные причины повлияли на то, что произведение не было завершено и поставлено на сцене при жизни композитора и почему в романтическую эпоху текст Шахтнера воспринимался как «не поэтический и неумелый», хотя и сам композитор, и его современники считали стихи хорошими. Во второй части статьи в контексте физиогномических воззрений эпохи, истоки которых следует искать в античности, в учении Аристотеля о физиогномике, анализируются тексты двух итальянских арий-сравнений (№ 9 и 13). В них явно присутствуют реминисценции итальянской оперной традиции противопоставления образов-метафор льва и тигрицы как наиболее ярких представителей соответственно мужественного и женственного типов в животном мире, что восходит к античной зоофизиогномике. В зингшпиле Шахтнера-Моцарта это противопоставление явлено не с классицистической однозначностью, свойственной либретто П. Метастазио, на которые ориентировался поэт, но представляет собой тонко разыгранную контаминацию указанных звериных метафор, своеобразную игру масок, присущую, скорее, поэтике барокко. Такая трактовка представляется резонной в русле гендерной проблематики, свойственной творчеству Моцарта в целом, конечно, прежде всего его сценическим произведениям, о чем, в частности, говорит анализ мужского и женского музыкального языка в «Свадьбе Фигаро», предпринятый австрийским музыкантом Й. Валлнигом.

The article publishes the first "libretto" ever written. That is an unknown manuscript version of "Dafne" by Ottavio Rinuccini, the poet who then wrote "Euridice" (1600) the "opera in musica" staged at the wedding of Maria de' Medici and king Henry IV of France. The article, by analyzing the metric forms, reconsidering the theatrical genre, comparing the inedit text and what remains of its music, and shed new light on the cultural and social context which led to the birth of opera.

L’articolo riguarda la fortuna dell’oratorio italiano nella Polonia di Stanislao Augusto Poniatowski. Gli anni 1764–1795 in Polonia vengono tradizionalmente considerati un periodo di dinamico sviluppo dei generi teatrali, drammatici e musicali all’insegna degli influssi stranieri. Le opere italiane svolsero un ruolo importante nella vita teatrale dell’epoca e costituirono, insieme alla drammaturgia francese, la fonte d’ispirazione principale per gli autori polacchi. Accanto all’opera lirica italiana, anche gli oratori venivano di frequente cantati in Polonia e i loro libretti venivano pubblicati non solo in italiano ma anche tradotti in polacco, alcuni perfino in più versioni. I motivi per cui si preparavano le traduzioni dei libretti in polacco erano diversi. I testi polacchi accompagnavano di frequente i concerti ed erano distribuiti tra il pubblico per facilitare la comprensione del testo, ma vi furono anche tentativi di eseguire i testi tradotti con la musica originale italiana. La destinazione della versione polacca influiva dunque sulla forma definitiva della traduzione. Nel presente lavoro, in base ad un’analisi comparata di tre libretti d’oratorio italiani con le rispettive traduzioni in polacco, si procede alla verifica se e come il transfer da una lingua all’altra influiva sul libretto d’oratorio inteso come genere musicale-letterario.

"Su una struttura conforme alle convenzioni operistiche italiane, Enea nel Lazio innesta soluzioni drammaturgicamente innovative, organizzate in una forma spettacolare coerente e originale. Il ripensamento di topoi teatrali e letterari alla luce dell'erudizione antiquaria, l'impiego della danza in funzione narrativa, il ruolo di primo piano rivestito dalla scenotecnica, dai movimenti e dalle macchine convergono a dare vita a una drammaturgia incentrata sul primato non della musica né delle parole; bensì dell'azione.
La relazione si propone di illustrare, attraverso il caso emblematico di Enea nel Lazio, gli aspetti visivi in cui si esprime l'esperimento riformista torinese nel secondo Settecento, e come mediante il loro apporto questa si connoti come strumento di affermazione della Corte sabauda e giustificazione del potere regio.

Second opera of Turin's Teatro Regio 1760 carnival season, Tommaso Traetta's Enea nel Lazio,
composed on a libretto by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna, represents a significant moment among the
several attempts of operatic reform occurred during the second half of the eighteenth century.
In a structure consistent with the Italian opera seria conventions, Enea nel Lazio introduces
elements of an innovative dramaturgy, organized in a coherent and original form. The
reformulation of theatrical and literary topoi through the filter of antiquarian erudition, the narrative
use of dance, the role played by scenography, staging and machinery converge to define a drama
based on the primacy not of the music or the word, but of the action.
The report aims to illustrate, through the emblematic case of Enea nel Lazio, the visual aspects
of Turin's Teatro Regio reformed operas, and their use as an instrument of affirmation of the Court
and justification of the royal power.
"

From the librettist’s perspective, the traditional working methods which tend to dominate in the creation of new music drama, often result in a situation where the initial intentions are lost along the way. How can we get away from a rigid methodology, where the different professionals involved in the creation of new music drama have to succumb to a procedure which can be likened to a whispering game? A procedure, where the dramatic content, rather than undergoing an emotional enrichment in its transformation into music, often loses the crucial connections to the initial intentions. This doctoral project aims to reach beyond the whispering game by seeking alternative working methods in the creation of a new music drama with the working title "Borderlands", circling around the subject matter of flight and borders - inner as well as outer. The research identified cross–border methods which, borrowing from the terminology of Martin Buber, can be seen as an attempt to countera...

... 12/13/11 12:20:25 PM Page 3. His bloody materials 57 ... These forms have something of the timeless nature of beautifully made objects – like the wood-fired Raku ceramics of a Japanese tea Figure 2: Dili Diey shows his bullet wounds. JJKC_3.1_Strickson_55-64.indd 57 ...

... 12/13/11 12:20:25 PM Page 3. His bloody materials 57 ... These forms have something of the timeless nature of beautifully made objects – like the wood-fired Raku ceramics of a Japanese tea Figure 2: Dili Diey shows his bullet wounds. JJKC_3.1_Strickson_55-64.indd 57 ...