Classical Principle Weekly
May 16, 2023
Tragedy in Opera: Classical or Romantic Part 2
Lohengrin and Rigoletto: Intermezzo
In the last episode, we examined the first parts of two operas, Wagner's “Lohengrin” and Verdi's “Rigoletto”. This week, we follow up on both of them, looking at, not so much "how it turns out", but "why it turns out" the way it does. To do that, we must have an intermezzo to examine some finer tuning.
Let us briefly review Part One and add a bit to it. Let us also add Mozart into the equation.
Rigoletto
The groundwork for what follows, is all laid in Act One, Scene One, at the Duke's debauched ball.
It opens with the Duke saying that he has seen an unknown beauty attending church, who he would possess. For tonight though, he sets his sights on the wife of Count Ceprano, boasting:
And if one woman pleases me today,
tomorrow, likely as not, another will.
Fidelity – that tyrant of the heart –
I shun like the plague.
The duplicitous Rigoletto encourages the Duke, even going so far as to suggest cutting off Count Ceprano's head. The Duke warns Rigoletto (who believes that, as the Duke's favorite, no one can touch him), that he takes his jokes too far, and might endanger himself.
Meanwhile, the courtiers have discovered that it is Rigoletto who has been accompanying the unknown beauty to church. Perhaps Rigoletto's own immoral behavior at court, helps lead them to conclude that he is an old lecher, and Gilda is his mistress.
Next, in a scene at least somewhat reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe's "Mask of the Red Death", and certainly of the statue of the Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni, the Duke's mad ball suddenly freezes, when an old man, Monterone intervenes in a loud, commanding voice:
MONTERONE
I would speak with him. (Chi'o gli parli)
DUKE
No!
MONTERONE (coming forward)
I shall!
BORSA, RIGOLETTO, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS (in a shudder)
Monterone!
Rigoletto foolishly taunts Monterone on behalf of the Duke, mimicking, and distorting Monterone's "Chi'o Gli parli" ( I would speak with him). Rigoletto goes so far as to taunt Monterone:
Rigoletto:
What mad impulse is this, that night and day
you make complaint about your daughter’s honor?
Little does Rigoletto suspect that his own daughter has already been targeted! Monterone is not dissuaded:
MONTERONE
(fixing the Duke with a look of fearless pride)
Yes, Monterone. My voice, like thunder,
shall make you quake wherever you go...
Ah yes! I shall disrupt your orgies; I shall come here to complain
so long as the atrocious insult to my family remains unpunished.
And if you give me over to your hangman, I shall haunt you as a terrifying spectre,
carrying my skull in my hand, crying to God and man for vengeance!
He curses Rigoletto, who he calls a serpent. Curses were taken very seriously at the time.
BITTER IRONY
In Part 1, we mentioned the bitter irony in Gilda's aria, “Caro Nome”. She is in love, and is celebrating it in song! The only problem is, she is languishing over her lover's name, Gaultier Malde, and it is not even his real name. The Duke disguised himself as a poor student, and made up that name, in order to seduce her.
Verdi follows the example of the great Mozart, whose opera “Don Giovanni”, was about a sex-crazed pervert similar to the Duke in Rigoletto. Compare the bitter irony in Gilda's aria, “Caro Nome” (discussed in Part 1) to the famous duet, "La ci Darem la Mano" in Mozart's Don Giovanni.
In that duet, they sing of an innocent love. Ha! Innocent? The Don attempts to seduce a peasant girl, Zerlina, simply because it is her wedding day. It would be a notch in his belt! That is his only interest in her. Like Verdi in Rigoletto, Mozart makes it beautiful. You have to appreciate the beauty and the bitter irony at the same time- a real challenge for the listener.
In the following excerpt, the duet does not begin until 07:20. Up until then, there is the joyous anticipation of a coming wedding. At 7:30 the famous duet begins. The sleaziness of Don Giovanni, however, is well portrayed, in contrast to the usual romantic renditions. They sing of an innocent love! Innocent?! Zerlina was getting married that day. Don Giovanni's only interest in this peasant girl was to see if he could seduce her on her wedding day. At 10:25, the would-be idyllic scene is interrupted by one of his former "conquests" who now realizes how she was used. Neither Mozart's Don Giovanni, nor Verdi's Duke, are able to find much rest between confrontations. Like certain Hollywood moguls, they have left too many victims behind.
The same revelation irony takes place in a duet between the Duke and Gilda in Rigoletto. Most tenors crescendo up to the high Bb in this passage. They are more interested in displaying their vocal technique than conveying the poetic intent. In the following short audio, we compare a typical rendition by Swedish tenor Jussi Bjorling, to the great Soviet-Ukrainian Ivan Kozlovsky, who does an amazing decrescendo up to that Bb, because the Duke is lying to Gilda, telling her sweet nothings, just to get her into bed.
Adunque amiamoci, donna celeste
D'invidia agli uomini sarò per te
So let us love together celestial woman,
I will be the envy of all men, for you.
Listen to the file as it demonstrates the difference between a performance that shows off the voice, and one that shows the Duke is lying his head off to Gilda: https://drive.google.com/…/15Sno6W_V2mIvjfP3K4w7A5pbu…/view…
After the ball scene, a greatly disturbed Rigoletto approaches his home, muttering "that old man cursed me." He is confronted by temptation, in the form of a professional murderer, Sparafucile, who offers him his services. Rigoletto declines "for the time being", but asks how to get in touch with him. Sparafucile's wavering low tone, might remind us of how Beethoven portrays evil in his "Ghost trio".
Lohengrin
Elsa of Brabant has been accused by Count Telramund, of killing her younger brother, Gottfried, to become Dutchess of Brabant. Telramond claims the land for himself, being the lawful guardian of Gottfried. The King of Saxony calls on her to answer the awful charges. She responds by singing of a knight in shining armor, who will protect her.
The courtiers call for trial by combat, and call for this mysterious knight to appear. After a long wait, Lohengrin appears, in a boat, drawn by a swan. He defeats Telramund in combat, but spares his life.
Lohengrin promises to marry Elsa on one condition: she never try to find out his real name.
Lohengrin is a sort of Superman, empowered by the Holy Grail. Telramund and Ortrun are secret pagans, worshippers of the Norse Gods. Ortrun slowly reveals herself to be a witch, and tells her husband:
ORTRUD
What would you give to find out
if I told you that, were he forced
to reveal his name and origin,
that strength would vanish
that is granted him by magic alone?
This may upset some readers, but early comic book heroes were loosely determined by Nietzsche's and Wagner's ideas. Thus, Superman is vulnerable to magic, and can never have his secret identity revealed.
They conspire to involve Elsa in tricking the knight into revealing his name.
Act Three begins with an energetic, triumphant and rousing Prelude that anticipates the marriage of Elsa and her mysterious new husband. The background scene in this prelude is the wedding feast, and the bridal bed.
It is followed by one of the most famous and beloved bridal marches of all time. The original is much better than what you may have heard. Hear the full thing.
After a protracted bedroom scene that consists mostly of talking, Elsa expresses normal human doubt...
ELSA
Ah, what power have I
to bind you to me?
Full of magic is your being,
a miracle brought you here;
how can I ever hope to be happy,
how can I ever be sure of you?
...and she soon pleads with him
ELSA
Nothing can bring me peace,
nothing can tear me from my madness,
save - even if it should cost me my life -
knowing who you are!
LOHENGRIN
Elsa, what do you venture to say?
ELSA
Ill-fatedly noble man!
Hear the question I must ask you!
Tell me your name!
LOHENGRIN
Stop!
ELSA
Whence did you come?
LOHENGRIN
Woe unto you!
ELSA
What is your origin?
LOHENGRIN
Woe unto us, what have you done?
Brahms' associate Hanslick, wrote:
“We find ourselves on Elsa's side as she succumbs to 'culpable curiosity' and loses her husband. In vain, she pleads at Lohengrin's feet that he remain as 'witness of her penance.' He has no other answer than: "I must go, I must; the Grail will be angry with me if I remain."”
If you think we are exaggerating, read the libretto:
LOHENGRIN
I must, I must! My sweet wife!
The Grail is already angry that I have not returned!
People in Wagner's operas seldom act out of free will. They are under the command of a love potion or a spell.
To be continued