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Thread: Mandolins in opera

  1. #1
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    Recently I've been comparing notes with other opera aficionados to see if we could come up with a comprehensive list of all the operas that employ a mandolin in the score. After several days, we've come up with the following list. Want to see if you can name a few we've overlooked?

    Alfano - L'Ombre de Don Juan
    Breton - Dolores
    Coronaro - La Festa a Marina
    Giordano - Il voto
    Henze - Konig Hirsch
    Lehar - The Merry Widow
    Massenet - Don Quichotte*
    Moussorgsky - Sorochintsy Fair
    Pfitzner - Palestrina
    Reznicek - Donna Diana
    Schiff - Gimpel the Fool
    Schillings - Mona Lisa
    Schoenberg - Moses und Aron
    Spinelli - A basso Porto
    Tasca - A Santa Lucia

    *In Don Quichotte, the part is sometimes played by guitar.

    Gilbert & Sullivan also had a mandolin appear onstage in The Gondoliers, H.M.S. Pinafore, and Patience. but in each of those cases the instrument was merely pantomimed by the orchestra.

    Wolki also lists in his history of the mandolin an opera by C. Sernagiotti titled A Cannareggio, but I've never heard of it or been able to find any information about it from other sources.

    I guess we could add my current opera project, The Curious Affair of the Count of Monte Blotto, but it is not yet finished (give me another few weeks!). No doubt there are other composers on the list who have employed the mandolin in some of their works, and I'm sure there are a number of lesser known modern operas that have scored for a mandolin. Let's see if we can compile a comprehensive list of mandolin-friendly operas.
    John Craton
    "Pick your fingers to the bone, then pick with the bone"

  2. #2
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    John:
    I am certainly no expert on opera but what about Mozart's Don Giovanni? I have heard that the mandolin parts are often played by pizz violin, tho.

    Jim



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    Of course! Actually, that's undoubtedly the most famous of the lot. We all knew it so well we forgot to put it on the list
    John Craton
    "Pick your fingers to the bone, then pick with the bone"

  4. #4

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    I know that several Austrian composers have used mandolin in their opera scores, e.g. Cerha, von Einem, Urbanner et al. But the names of the actual scores escape me...

    Your list, operaguy, is most impressive. I would only add that EVERY opera score ought to have at least some mandolin!

    P.S. Oh, among the too-obvious-to-be-listed, there is the bit from Verdi's Otello, if I am not mistaken; some oddity thereto, however, something to do with its scoring for Milanese or Lombard mandolin... ye better informed, inform us, please.
    It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)

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    Hey John,

    A very worthwhile persuit! I think this list is potentially quite long. Tyler (in "The Early Mandolin") draws attention to the wealth of relatively unexplored early 18th-century operas for more good places to look. Maybe you're just the man for the job!

    As it happens I'm preparing "deh vienne alla finestra" from Mozart's Don Giovanni now (on milanese mandolin) along with the aria "Transit Aetas" from Vivaldi's opera "Juditha Triumphans". The latter will be played on a 5-course mandolino. I just met with singers yesterday and both pieces are truly charming.

    In addition to the Vivaldi, don't forget "Saper Bramate" from Paisello's Barber of Seville. I played that years ago and remember it as a very lovely tune.

    Best,

    Eric



    "The effect is pretty at first... It is disquieting to find that there are nineteen people in England who can play the mandolin; and I sincerely hope the number may not increase."

    - George Bernard Shaw, Times of London, December 12, 1893

  6. #6
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Here are a few noted in Paul Sparks The Classical Mandolin:

    Erich Korngold: Violanta and Die tote Stadt
    Hindemith: Das Nusch-Nuschi
    Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper

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  7. #7

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    Say, John... what is your operatic connection, from which your username hails? Mine is, ehm... subterranean: I play bass in the pit of an Italian opera company in New York.

    Victor
    It is not man that lives but his work. (Ioannis Kapodistrias)

  8. #8

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    Not quite opera, but Handel's oratorio Alexander Balus uses mandolin in the aria #Hark! Hark! Hark! He Strikes the Golden Lyre. And according an article in the February 1942 edition of Etude "Nicola Spinelli, in his opera, "A Basso Porto," introduces a charming intermezzo for mandolin and orchestra. Wolf-Ferrari, in his "Jewels of the Madonna," composed a serenade to be played by a group of mandolinists." Ned Rorem has an opera Hearing: a small opera for four singers, that is scored for clarinet/saxophone, trumpet, percussion, piano/harmonium, mandolin, violin, viola, and double bass. Ezra Pound's Le Testament: an opera in one act and two scenes, with song text from Francois Villon is scored for percussion, flute, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, violin, bass, cello and mandolin.

    Barry

  9. #9

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    So glad to see David Schiff's Gimpel the Fool on the list already. I played a production of it 20 years ago in NYC at the Kaufmann Concert Hall.

    I was surprised to see Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper on the list. I have played a number of different productions of this piece (granted it has been a few years) but I don't remember any mandolin in that one. If memory serves, the guitar book included tenor banjo and hawaian guitar as well as bandoneon (which, by strange coincidence, I do play).

    Like I said, it has been a few years but my memory for this kind of thing is pretty good because I do love to collect my "doubling fees"

    Slightly off topic:

    This year I played mandolin with the Indian Hill Symphony (I've played guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo etc. with them over the past few years) in Massachusetts for a performance of Dominic Argento's Casa Guidi. Not an opera, but a very lovely song cycle with orchestra. So, for anyone compiling a list of orchestral works with mandolin...

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by (btrott @ Sep. 24 2004, 11:45)
    Ezra Pound's Le Testament: an opera in one act and two scenes, with song text from Francois Villon is scored for percussion, flute, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, violin, bass, cello and mandolin.
    [QUOTE]Ezra Pound's Le Testament: an opera in one act and two scenes, with song text from Francois Villon is scored for percussion, flute, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, violin, bass, cello and mandolin.

    I would love to hear this one. Pound's ideas on muic theory are fascinating though misunderstood. It would be interesting to hear how he applies his theories (if, in fact, he does).

    I avoid his political ideas like the plague, though...

    Does anyone know of a recording? or perhaps a source for the score?

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by
    Does anyone know of a recording? or perhaps a source for the score?
    Jim,

    The only copy of the score that I see in searching our interlibrary loan database is in the collections at the State University of New York -- Buffalo. In addition to two scores, they have a recording also. Here's the information on it:

    Le testament <sound recording> / text from the poetry of Villon.
    PUBLISHER: Berkeley, CA : Fantasy, p1972.
    PUBLISHER NO.: 12001 Fantasy
    DESCRIPTION: 1 sound disc (51 min.) : analog, 33 1/3 rpm, stereo. ; 12 in.
    NOTES: Title on container: Ezra Pound's opera: Le testament de Villon.
    Sung in Medieval French.
    Program notes and synopsis by Robert Hughes on container; lyrics (<4> p.) inserted.
    Recorded in the Berkeley studios of Fantasy Records on Nov. 18 & 19, 1971.
    PERFORMERS: Soloists of the Western Opera Theater ; Associated Students of the University of California ; Robert Hughes, conductor.

    Here are some other libraries that own the recording:

    VA UNIV OF VIRGINIA VA@ #

    CA BERKELEY PUB LIBR JQF #
    CA CALIFORNIA STATE UNIV, FRESNO CFS #
    CA CALIFORNIA STATE UNIV, HAYWARD CSH #
    CA SAN JOSE STATE UNIV CSJ #
    CA SAN MATEO CNTY LIBR CZA #
    CA SONOMA STATE UNIV CSO #
    CA STANFORD UNIV LIBR STF #
    CA UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY CUY #
    CA UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES CLU #
    CA UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO CUS #
    CA UNIV OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA CUT #

    CO AURORA PUB LIBR COB #
    CO UNIV OF COLORADO AT BOULDER COD #

    CT YALE UNIV LIBR YUS #

    DC AMERICAN UNIV EAU #
    DC LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, SOUND RECORDINGS LCM #

    FL FLORIDA STATE UNIV FDA #
    FL JACKSONVILLE PUB LIBR JPL #

    IL ILLINOIS STATE UNIV IAI #
    IL NORTHBROOK PUB LIBR INO #
    IL NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIV JNA #
    IL UNIV OF ILLINOIS UIU #
    IL WHEATON COL ICW #

    IN INDIANA UNIV IUL #

    MA ANNA MARIA COL LIBR ULB #
    MA BOSTON UNIV BOS #
    MA HARVARD UNIV, LOEB MUSIC LIBR HMU #

    MD ENOCH PRATT FREE LIBR MDB #

    MO UNIV OF MISSOURI, COLUMBIA MUU #

    ND JAMESTOWN COL NDJ #

    NJ FREE PUB LIBR OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY NPL #

    NY EASTMAN SCH OF MUSIC RES #
    NY HAMILTON COL LIBR YHM #
    NY ITHACA COL XIM #
    NY MONROE COMMUN COL LIBR VQT #
    NY NEW YORK UNIV ZYU #
    NY SARAH LAWRENCE COL VVS #
    NY STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK, BINGHAMTON LIBR BNG #
    NY SUNY AT BUFFALO BUF #

    OH BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIV BGU #
    OH DENISON UNIV DNU #
    OH KENYON COL LIBR KEN #
    OH OBERLIN COL, CONSERVATORY LIBR OBM #
    OH UNIV OF TOLEDO TOL #

    OK CAMERON UNIV OKC #

    PA CARNEGIE MELLON UNIV PMC #
    PA DESALES UNIV ALL #
    PA FREE LIBR OF PHILADELPHIA PLF #

    TN UNIV OF MEMPHIS TMA #

    TX DALLAS PUB LIBR IGA #
    TX TRINITY UNIV, COATES LIBR TNY #
    TX UNIV OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN IXA #

    WA UNIV OF WASHINGTON LIBR WAU #

    BC SIMON FRASER UNIV SFB #

    ON UNIV OF WESTERN ONTARIO

    Barry

  12. #12

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    Wow!

    Thanks Barry.

    I'll see if the ILL at the conservatory can get it for me.

    Are you a music librarian?

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by
    Are you a music librarian?
    That would be a delight, but I am actually head of the reference department in a medium sized public library in Virginia.

    Barry

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by (btrott @ Sep. 24 2004, 12:56)
    That would be a delight, but I am actually head of the reference department in a medium sized public library in Virginia.
    We'll try not to take too much advantage of your expertise.

    Thanks again for your help.




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    Quote Originally Posted by (vkioulaphides @ Sep. 24 2004, 11:31)
    Say, John... what is your operatic connection, from which your username hails? Mine is, ehm... subterranean: # I play bass in the pit of an Italian opera company in New York.
    Let's say right off that I'm not a vocalist. I do good to make a joyful noise in my parish choir. I began my career on the violin, but have never played in a pit orchestra. Other than being a long-time opera goer, my principal connection is in composing. I have one full-length opera under my belt (or around my neck, whichever way you want to look at it): Inanna: An Opera of Ancient Sumer (still awaiting a venue) and am near completion of my second, a comic farce that incorporates everything schleppy in opera. I may well be ousted even from the audience after this one.
    John Craton
    "Pick your fingers to the bone, then pick with the bone"

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    Quote Originally Posted by (Operaguy @ Sep. 24 2004, 13:47)
    have never played in a pit orchestra.
    I take that back. I did play rebec once in the pit when our early music consort did the incidental music to Twelfth Night once long ago. That and also sticking a rebec under my arm in The Play of Daniel was the closest I ever came to being in anything theatrical. Funny the things you can remember after a pint of ale.
    John Craton
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  17. #17

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    ...Mmm, ale. #Looks like I missed another day full of good stuff here. #I really don't have much to add other than Handel would have employed a gut-strung mandolino tuned in fourths like that Eric describes using for Vivaldi's "Transit Aetas," and Juditha Triumphans that contains the aria is actually a sacred oratorio, not an opera. #For all Vivaldi's output, he is only credited with four oratorios and Juditha Triumphans, last I knew, is the only to have survived.




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    Actually... I have my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale right here with me... mmm indeed. I suppose you're right Eugene, about Juditha Triumphans, that is... I guess I'd morph the topic a little to "Mandolins in arias"... BTW, if you like this sort of thing, check out a DVD called "Viva Vivaldi!" with Cecilia Bartoli and Il Gardino Armonico... it will simply blow your doors off! There are bits from Juditha Triumphans and Vivaldi's opera Farnance... She makes funny faces but *man* can this woman sing! The band doesn't suck either...

    Eric



    "The effect is pretty at first... It is disquieting to find that there are nineteen people in England who can play the mandolin; and I sincerely hope the number may not increase."

    - George Bernard Shaw, Times of London, December 12, 1893

  19. #19

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    Yeah, I have that audio CD. I think I'll take it with me one the road trip today to work Lake Erie. I really like Il Giardino Armonico, probably my favorite baroque orchestra. They do take some inerpretive liberties that potentially could honk off the musically conservative. The one recording I have of the whole of Juditha... is that of The King's Consort on Hyperion. The sound is lush and tasty, but the tempo of "Transit Aetas" is borderline lethargic. Is there another period-instrument recording somebody out there in cyberland could recommend?

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    Hey Eugene,

    I know *exactly* what you mean about the Kings Consort recording of Juditha. I literally didn't recognize the other aria that Cecilia did on "Viva Vivaldi" ("Furia Furia Furia".. man.. watching her you could believe that she's ready to slice off someone's head with her bare hands). I do really recommend the DVD... this woman plunges herself emotionally into each aria to the extent that you can't help but be dragged along.

    And yes, Transit Aetas on the Kings Consort recording sounds like someone set the CD player on the wrong speed... it really plods along. I don't understand this as the mandolinist is Lynda Sayce... and she's quite an accomplished lutenist/guitarist/mandora-ist, etc.... I'm sure that they weren't slowing it down for her.

    Taking Transit Aetas just a few clicks faster makes it really sparkle... it shouldn't go too fast though... "all is smoke"... you know... I've got my duo partner gently playing the single-line orchestral part (really just plucked violins) on the Baroque guitar. This combo works rather nicely with the mandolino and our young singer (who has a nice clear, non-operatic voice).

    Eric



    "The effect is pretty at first... It is disquieting to find that there are nineteen people in England who can play the mandolin; and I sincerely hope the number may not increase."

    - George Bernard Shaw, Times of London, December 12, 1893

  21. #21

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    I've heard a live recording of Neil Gladd performing it on modern mandolin (his big Germanic Seiffert) with the orchestral part reduced to modern quitar. He hit just the right tempo to make it delicious.

  22. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by (vkioulaphides @ Sep. 24 2004, 11:15)
    P.S. Oh, among the too-obvious-to-be-listed, there is the bit from Verdi's Otello, if I am not mistaken; some oddity thereto, however, something to do with its scoring for Milanese or Lombard mandolin... ye better informed, inform us, please.
    You are as well informed as any of us, Victor. I don't think Verdi specified the mandolin type, but Sparks contends that it fits the instrument of northern Italy better, that which I would call Lombard (I think Sparks might call it Milanese).

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    For fellow obsessive-compulsives who may be trying to compile an eventually exhaustive list, I have come up with three other operas in my research that score for mandolin. Hopefully other researchers will also continue adding to the list as titles are (re)discovered.

    Grétry - L’Amant jaloux
    Paisiello - Il barbiere di Seville
    Salieri - Tarare

    And I suppose we can now add my unworthy contribution as I finally finished The Curious Affair of the Count of Monte Blotto last week. (Don't hold your breath waiting for a venue.) It has a small part for mandolin in two sections.

    I think I next need to petition some of my opera-composing acquaintances to start adding mandolins to their works. This list by all rights should be an ever-expanding one.
    John Craton
    "Pick your fingers to the bone, then pick with the bone"

  24. #24
    Registered User Neil Gladd's Avatar
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    My concert recording of Transit Aetas can be heard online at the website of my singer, Marje Bunday:

    http://www.altodiva.com/june2concert.html

    I had done it slower with another singer years earlier, but Marje kept saying faster, faster, faster! (Because she can.) Eugene, the aria is only scored for voice, mandolin and (unfigured) bass, which we played on guitar. I've also done it with cello. #I got it from a facsimile edition of Vivaldi's manuscript.

    Operaguy, there are at least about 60 operas (oratorios, cantatas, etc.) with mandolin parts. For the next week, I'm busy being Vaudevilleguy, but I'll try to get around to posting them when I have the time.

    P.S. - The Library of Congress has the manuscript for Ezra Pound's Le Testament on microfilm. As I remember, there was just one aria with 2 mandolins and cello. I have a copy of it somewhere....




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    Quote Originally Posted by (ngladd @ Oct. 16 2004, 08:50)
    Operaguy, there are at least about 60 operas (oratorios, cantatas, etc.) with mandolin parts.
    I wouldn't be at all surprised if the number of mandolin-friendly operas is three times that estimate. There are so many operas, especially from the 18th-19th centuries, that are rarely performed these days that a truly exhaustive list may be an impossibility. Still, I'm trying to amass as many as can be found.

    Lovely recoding of the Vivaldi, by the way!



    John Craton
    "Pick your fingers to the bone, then pick with the bone"

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