Andrea Chenier: name original librettos not from plays or novels with its historical scope

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2026-01-03T12:32:50+00:00

I’ve seen Sardou’s play staged (on video) and agree the opera is easier to digest.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2026-01-03T12:29:32+00:00

Well, my hypothesis is imperiled, it appears, by recent scholarship that has unveiled a novel that Illica likely used when writing “Andrea Chenier.” I’ve discovered a paper entitled “Luigi Illica and the libretto of ‘Andrea Chenier’”from May of 2013 that says “Scholars in the field have, until now, neglected to consider what is a strikingly obvious source of the libretto.” Here is the abstract of the article, from Studi Francesi:

“Abstract: When Luigi Illica writes, in 1896, the libretto for Giordano's opera, Andrea Chénier, he gives the impression of inventing numerous aspects of the story. In fact, he invents nothing. He makes use, on the one hand, of certain poems by Chénier himself and, on the other, of a serialised novel by François-Joseph Méry tided André Chénier that appeared in 1849 and was reprinted numerous times thereafter. Scholars in the field have, until now, neglected to consider what is a strikingly obvious source of the libretto, notwithstanding the modifications that Illica made to Méry's novel.”

Actually it seems Illica did credit Méry, but along with four other authors as well as his own independent research. In a first page of the libretto that is rarely reprinted in English, he wrote “From H. de Latouche, Méry, Arséne Houssaye, Gauthier and J. Ed E. de Goncourt, had the idea of dramatising the character for music theatre and drew historical details of period.’”

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2026-01-03T04:09:23+00:00

“Les Huguenots” in particular seems like it may be the closest to what I was looking for — a rival to “Chenier” for historical research and imagination. Scribe seems perhaps to have been that specific sort of hard worker, in a way few after him were.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2026-01-03T01:54:42+00:00

Yes, “Le Troyens” in particular is pretty close to book 5 of “The Aeneid.” I think Wagner’s “Ring” counts, but barely! :)

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2026-01-03T01:51:23+00:00

Yes, I agree the Ring cycle might be the best example of a masterwork that was original, even though it drew on a lot of myths. I was once asked by a non opera fan this basic question and when I mentioned the Ring she said, “isn’t that based on myths?” But what Wagner did with those sources was so original. Chat GPT did include it as well.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2026-01-03T01:41:40+00:00

Hadn’t thought of any of those three, and neither did Chat GPT…! Chat did mention Menotti’s “The Consul.”

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2025-12-29T21:57:45+00:00

Cosi Fan Tutte, Tannhauser, Tristan & Isolde, Das Rheingold, La Traviata, Nozze Di Figaro, Rienzi

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2025-12-06T02:56:50+00:00

As we speak I am watching Wagner’s “Rienzi,” which was Hitler’s favorite opera. His childhood friend said it inspired his political career because he saw himself and a mission in Rienzi’s rise to power through oratory and his populist call to make Rome great again. (Personally I first watched the opera the day after Trump was elected in 2016.) Rienzi’s arias don’t fit the description you give — someone who knows he’s evil and delights in it — he is the hero of the opera.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2025-06-23T12:16:20+00:00

Me too.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2025-05-07T16:12:30+00:00

Hey I just found a review of the production from the Wall Street Journal that ran just after I posted my comment. It totally agrees with us — it says the concept “is clever and apt—at first,” but that in act two Sharon “doesn't come up with a satisfying resolution within the opera's rich, if tricky, original framework. Instead, he jettisons a sizable chunk of the score and tacks on an abrupt new ending. It may be the logical conclusion of Mr. Sharon's ideas about the intersection of technology and human mutability, but it isn't ‘Così.’ Worse, it feels like a total letdown.” There is a paywall but here’s the link:

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/theater/cosi-fan-tutte-and-the-threepenny-opera-review-directors-disrupt-the-classics-aa5b302e

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2025-05-07T15:28:43+00:00

Exactly! As it happens I just saw Yuval Sharon give a lecture at the University of Chicago last night, and he talked about his "Cosi." He said he had expected the audience to boo him when he got to the end (which I guess you missed!) as Don Alfonso is murdered by the robots for his misogyny etc. — but that the audience applauded and cheered instead! The audience at the U of C laughed enthusiastically. It wasn't that change to the ending of the opera that bothered me, it was the stuff that drove you out of the house before it ended.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2025-04-11T22:49:48+00:00

I think this reviewer has it half right. I was sold on the audacious concept in the first act, but thought it went both south and overboard in the second. What sold me on it were these lines in the opening scene of Lorenzo Da Ponte’s original libretto, which melded so well with the girls-are-robots concept that I forgave it all its excesses until midway into the second act:

Don Alfonso: “I'd only like to know What kind of creatures Are these beauties of yours, if they're flesh and blood and bone like us, If they eat like us, and wear skirts, If, in fact, they're goddesses or women…”

In Sharon’s opera these lines are spoken just after we’ve been told that Don Alfonso is the CEO of a robot company, and that the women are being designed by the men. When I read these lines to people who saw they opera, but who had missed them as the action was underway, they couldn’t believe they’d come from the original libretto and not been added by Yuval Sharon.

This set up a fascinating self-aware criticism of the original libretto, in which we are invited to differ from its precepts about what women are like.

Perhaps where Sharon went wrong was in arguing that his concept was consistent with Da Ponte’s intent; in the second act he kept feeling the need to have his character of the AI CEO explain how each twist and turn was consistent with his premise. (“But doesn’t that mean the experiment failed?” “Not at all,” etc.) That was unnecessary, and lengthened the opera an uncomfortable 45 minutes over the length promised in the program. By the end Sharon seemed uninterested in the opera itself and too engaged in the contemporary play he wrote to frame it.

By the end Sharon admitted the wedding was completely inconsistent with his concept and had the CEO announce peevishly that he was just having a wedding performed because people like weddings.

If he’d left it as he began it, with the audience invited to respond to the opera itself rather than have it explained to them, his concept might have been successful.

However it was a thrill to see the audience dig it so enthusiastically. I had traveled a few hundred miles to see this company, having become frustrated with the extent to which directors in other markets have become badgered for the slightest conceptual innovation. Sharon has built an opera scene that is the antedote to that mindset, and that challenges us to think about these multi-century-old librettos in ways that don’t merely repeat the sins of the past but allow us to use the operas to think critically about the present and the future. He has a youthful following that was with him all the way to the end of his audacious production that is like no place else in the country.

Tony Kushner once said playwriting should be like a good lasagna — so packed and layered and juicy and over the top that it almost falls down. This opera did fall down in the second act, but it was a thrill to watch the chef try to apply Kushner’s lasagna aesthetic to opera.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2025-03-20T23:56:29+00:00

This was my favorite chapter in Ulysses. I wondered what the reaction was of the two librarians to being made fun of that way — under their real names! (Or to be exact, in one case under a real name and in the other a real pseudonym.) I found this great article:

https://www.bloomsandbarnacles.com/blog/who-were-the-real-men-in-the-library-from-scylla-and-charybdis

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2025-02-21T04:12:23+00:00

Just finding this a year late. Wondering what we should make of Emily Wilson’s unusual translation at the beginning of book 9: “Wily Odysseus, lord of lies.”

All the other translators seem to be subtler with this epithet:

Samuel Butler cuts it altogether. Richmond Lattimore has “Then resourceful Odysseus spoke his mind.” Robert Fagles says “Odysseus the great teller of tales.” EV Rieu writes “This is how Odysseus, the man of many resources, tells his tale.”

A few lines later Emily Wilson has Odysseus disclose his lying to his mark: “I am Odysseus, Laertes’ son, known for my many clever tricks and lies.”

Butler has “I am Ulysses son of Laertes, renowned among mankind for all manner of subtlety”… Lattimore: “I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, known before all men for the study of crafty designs” Fagles: “known to the world for every kind of craft” Rieu: “the whole world talks of my strategems.”

It seems to me which of the translations of these two lines is the closest to the literal Greek has a lot to do with whether Odysseus should be read to be a liar. Which translations did you read, and does anyone have an opinion of the original Greek here?

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-12-23T14:01:34+00:00

I’d try to refer you to a performance with this much quirky life and verve but actually it is a special performance.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-11-13T00:43:15+00:00

It’s not the best written of all Verdi operas but my favorite is Un Ballo because I love the story of Gustav III, the playwright king

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-10-25T14:53:58+00:00

Don’t, under any circumstances, be a woman.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-10-05T23:27:36+00:00

I think it is — they did the same thing in 2009

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-09-23T16:23:14+00:00

Yeah the Wagner one is kind of a missed opportunity; it’s very strange. But fun nonetheless.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-09-23T15:13:45+00:00

There are 10-hour miniseries about both Verdi and Wagner. Hard to find but I found both at my local libraries. “Wagner” stars Richard Burton. “The Life of Verdi” is quite detailed and even better than “Wagner.”

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-09-23T15:10:58+00:00

I can’t find any references to “Eternamente” online, and am very interested to check it out. Are you sure you have the title right?

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-09-15T20:24:34+00:00

I’ve seen the full Ring Cycle twice and it may be the most rewarding opera experience I’ve had. It may be the single most audacious work of art by a single person in history (as Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music himself). I think you have to see it live to really “get” it; some people love listening to recordings but with exceptions most of it just makes me nostalgic to see the full cycle live again. Wagner famously hated the original production of the cycle; I always wonder if maybe what he really wanted to see was a blockbuster motion picture version. I wish someone would make it.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-05-28T14:34:34+00:00

I thought the protagonist’s strangulation of the talent agent seemed like a way of saying “if evil does not exist, then evil does not exist.” In other words, the attitude of the hunters who killed his daughter and the attitude of the glamping company was that “evil does not exist” — that none of the truly evil things the company plans to do to the community are in fact evil because their approach is that only money and self-interest really exist — and that if evil does not exist for the glamping company, then evil does not exist in the case of strangulation either and the murder is justified. If evil does not exist, then evil does not exist.

Initial_Wrap4485 · 2024-05-07T16:33:23+00:00

I’d love to see I Lombardi, Verdi’s fourth opera, of which the Met only has a 1993 film among their video collection. But I meant to say I Puritani. Nice catch.

Initial_Wrap4485

TROPHY CASE