MERCADANTE I NORMANNI A PARIGI - booklets.idagio.com · SAVERIO MERCADANTE I NORMANNI A PARIGI Tragedia lirica in four acts Libretto by Felice Romani Odone, Count of Paris.....Barry

in association with

Box cover and CD face: Le Comte Eudes défend Paris contre les Normandsby Jean Victor Schnetz (1787–1870). Versailles, château de Versailles et

de Trianon © RMN / Droits réservésBook cover: Charlemagne, King of the Franks (768–814), Roman Emperor

(fr. 800); 747–814. “Deuxième Race, dite Carlovigienne”. (from left; King PippinIII., 714–768, and Bertha, King Charlemagne and Hildegard, Emperor Louis I, ThePious, 778–840, and Judith. Lithograph, c.1860, aft. drawing by Eugène Lejeune

(1818–1894). Paris, Private Collection. Photo: akg-images Opposite: Saverio Mercadante

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MERCADANTE

HIGHLIGHTS

I NORMANNI A PARIGI

SAVERIO MERCADANTEI NORMANNI A PARIGITragedia lirica in four actsLibretto by Felice Romani

Odone, Count of Paris.....................................................................Barry BanksBerta, widow of Carloman, King of France...................................Judith HowarthOsvino, a young French knight.................................................Katarina KarnéusOrdamante, leader of the Normans beneath the walls of Paris......Riccardo NovaroTebaldo, a French prince........................................................Graeme BroadbentEbbone, a French knight......................................................................Aled Hall

Geoffrey Mitchell ChoirFrench and Norman knights; ladies of the French court

Renato Balsadonna – Chorus Director

Philharmonia OrchestraJames Clark, leader

Stuart Stratford, conductor

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Managing Director: Stephen Revell

Producer: Andrew Cornall

Assistant conductor: Philip WalshRépétiteur: Nicholas BosworthItalian coach: Rosalba lo Duca

Studio production assistant: Jim Barne

Article, synopsis and libretto translation: Jeremy Commons

Recording engineers: Jonathan Stokes and Neil HutchinsonEditing: Ian Watson and Jenni Whiteside

The materials for this recording were made for Opera Rara by Ian Schofield

Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, LondonMay 2009

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CONTENTS

I Normanni a Parigi by Jeremy Commons..............................................Page 7

Performance History.............................................................................Page 38

The Story.............................................................................................Page 44

Argument.............................................................................................Page 50

Die Handlung......................................................................................Page 56

Riassunto della Trama...........................................................................Page 63

Libretto................................................................................................Page 69

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I NORMANNI A PARIGI

Duration PageACT ONE

Introduzione – Coro[1] ‘Una Reggente debole’ 6’24 73

Duetto – Berta, Osvino[2] ‘Tu lo volesti’ 4’18 97[3] ‘Cielo, non v’ha fra gli uomini’ 5’24 99[4] ‘Regina!... ancor ti supplico’ 1’22 99[5] ‘Tergi le amare lagrime’ 4’02 100

ACT THREEScena – Odone

[6] ‘Ah! mai non fia’ 1’54 130Aria – Odone, Tebaldo, Ebbone, Coro

[7] ‘Prendi tu la spada mia’ 3’12 132[8] ‘Custodito in carcer sia’ 1’27 132

Cabaletta – Odone, Coro[9] ‘Se dar fede a’ miei nemici’ 3’27 134

Duetto – Osvino, Odone[10] ‘Una preghiera ascolta’ 6’01 136[11] ‘Conte, l’onor ti è reso’ 1’26 137

Terzetto – Berta, Osvino, Odone[12] ‘Che tento? che spero?’ 4’25 139

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Duration Page[13] ‘Francesi... ascoltate...’ 3’51 139[14] ‘Vieni, Osvino’ 3’40 144

ACT FOUR[15] Buresca 0’49 147

Scena e Preghiera – Berta, Ordamante[16] ‘Ove fuggo?’ 3’55 147[17] ‘Rigetta il cielo’ 2’30 150

Duetto – Berta, Ordamante[18] ‘Io t’amai’ 4’24 152[19] ‘Io ti lascio’ 2’49 155[20] ‘Giunge alcun’ 1’54 155

Scena – Berta, Ordamante, Coro[21] ‘Il tuo sangue a me recasti!’ 2’16 161

Aria – Berta[22] ‘Ah! non mai...’ 3’26 161[23] ‘Chi serbar può asciutto il ciglio!’ 4’15 163

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I NORMANNI A PARIGI

NO MATTER ALONG what path we choose to approach Mercadante’sI Normanni a Parigi (Teatro Regio, Turin, early February 1832), we shall findthat it is a most interesting opera that cannot fail to grasp our attention. Thesource of the libretto is an intriguing subject in itself, and the plot fascinatingin its cavalier and even flagrant flouting of authenticity – in its mixture ofhistory and wildly romantic invention. The circumstances of the opera’scomposition are also noteworthy, since it brought together – yoked together inone-sided if not indeed mutual animosity – Mercadante and one of his leastfavourite prima donnas, a singer he had not ceased to slander and denigratemost mercilessly over a period of six or more years in confidential letters which,to his discredit, still survive. And, perhaps most intriguing of all, this very samesinger, Adelaide Tosi, vilified by the composer though she was, succeeded intriumphing in the opera, and in doing so conferred upon it recognition as oneof his most successful works. As we shall see, one influential 19th-century criticand musical historian even proclaimed it his masterpiece.

But let us take these several aspects one by one, beginning with the sourceof the libretto and its extravagantly romantic plot.

The work of Felice Romani, the libretto was based on Le Siège de Paris, afive-act verse tragedy by Victor-Charles Prévot, Vicomte d’Arlincourt – thesame Vicomte d’Arlincourt whose novel, Le Solitaire (1821) was the source ofCarafa’s Le Solitaire (Paris, 1822) and Persiani’s Il solitario (Milan, 1829), andwhose L’Etrangère (1825) was the source for Bellini’s La straniera (Milan, 1829).

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Victor-Charles Prévot,Vicomte d’Arlincourt

A colourful character in his own right, he clearly thought of himself as aquintessentially Byronic romantic author, and sought to present himself to thepublic in this light. Mrs Frances Trollope, the mother of the novelist AnthonyTrollope, tells us in Paris and the Parisians in 18351 that an elderly gentlemanwhom she met in Paris remembered:

“... to have seen at the Louvre [...] a full-length portrait of[Arlincourt] which I thought [...] as perfect a symbol of what is calledin France le style romantique as it was well possible to conceive. He wasstanding erect on the rocky point of a precipice, with eye inspired, andtablets in his hand: a foaming torrent rolled its tortured waters at hisfeet, whilst he, calm and sublime, looked not ‘comme une jeune beautéqu’on arrache au sommeil’, but very like a young incroyable snatchedfrom a fashionable salon to meditate upon the wild majesty of nature,with all the inspiring adjuncts of tempest, wildness, and solitude. Heappeared dressed in an elegant black coat and waistcoat, black silkstockings, and dancing pumps. It would be lost labour” [continuedMrs Trollope’s informant] “should I attempt to give you a more justidea of his style of writing than the composition of this portrait conveys.It is in vain that M. Le Vicomte places himself amidst rocks andcataracts: he is still M. Le Vicomte; and his silk stockings and dancingpumps will remain visible, spite of all the froth and foam he labours toraise around him.”

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____________________________________1 Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (London, 1835), II, Letter XLVIII, pp. 63-64.

Arlincourt produced Le Siège de Paris at the Théâtre Français in Paris on8 April 1826 in an attempt, it is said, to rekindle a reputation that was indanger of flagging. In this it unquestionably succeeded, though its ultimatelyfavourable reception did not at first go unopposed. Indeed when it appearedin print in this same year2, the publication included an ‘Avant-Propos’ by thepublisher which began:

It is part of M. le vicomte d’Arlincourt’s destiny to see his successesand his reputation constantly growing and consolidating in the midstof storms raised against him by ill-will and envy. No tragedy has beenattacked at its first performance with greater rage and insanity than LeSiège de Paris; and yet no tragedy has [ever] been more applauded at itssubsequent performances. One of the important newspapers of thecapital expressed itself thus on this subject, last 17th April:

Never has a tragedy, attacked with such revolting injustice andpartiality had a success equal to that which M. le vicomte d’Arlincourt’sLe Siège de Paris is [now] securing at each performance. Lies, bitterirony, epigrams and ridicule, so baneful in their effect in France – allhave been brought to bear [to discredit it], but in vain. The publicresorts in crowds to the Théâtre-Français, and each day serves only toincrease the number of those who render it justice.

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____________________________________2 Le Siège de Paris, tragédie en cinq actes, par M. Le vicomte d’Arlincourt (Paris, A. Leroux etConstant-Chantpie, Éditeurs, 1826).

Mercilessly savaged at its first performance by both critics and audience – tothe point of being rendered virtually inaudible – it nevertheless managed tosurvive, and very soon aroused as much enthusiasm as it had initially provokedhostility. One 19th century publication3 claims that it achieved as many as 30performances; others put the number at 18.

The reason it attracted so much attention was that it was – and still is – achallenging example of Arlincourt’s particular concept of how to writeromantic historical drama. Ostensibly it deals with the siege of Paris by theNormans in 885-886 A.D., the fourth such siege the city had undergone. Butthough he gave his plays and novels historical settings, in constructing theirplots he made little or no attempt to confine himself to historical facts. Anywork by him can be guaranteed upon inspection to prove a fusion of a genuinehistorical setting with a wildly exaggerated imaginary plot.

Queen Berta, we are told, is the widow of ‘Carlomano’ – not, as we mustunderline right from the start, King Charlemagne, who had died some 70 yearsearlier in 814 A.D., but his great-great-grandson, Carloman II, who came tothe throne conjointly with his brother Louis III upon the death of their father,Louis II le Bègue (‘the Stammerer’) in 879. The two brothers divided thekingdom, Louis reigning over the part of France that lay to the north of theLoire, and Carloman the part to the south, notably Burgundy and Aquitaine.Acting in concert, they achieved an important victory over the Normans in

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_____________________________________3 Ludovic de Magny, Le nobiliaire universel, ou Recueil général des généalogies historiques des mainsonsnobles d’Europe (two series, between 1854 and 1890), p. 124.

881, but neither was destined to live long. Aged only 22, Louis died in 882after a fall from his horse; Carloman, from a similar accident in the huntingfield, in 884. Their deaths left the kingdom a prey to further incursions by theNormans, who between November 885 and February 886 laid siege to Paris.A heroic defence of the city was led by Count Eudes or Odon who, as Odone,would seem to be the only genuinely historical character to appear inArlincourt’s play and Mercadante’s opera. Historically, he was a son of an earlierhero of French resistance against the Normans, Robert le Fort, Count of Tours,and following the siege of Paris he was rewarded by being chosen king of theWestern Franks. He himself had no sons, but through his nephew andsuccessor he became the founder of what eventually became known – fromHugues Capet, who became king of France in 987 – as the Capetian dynasty.

So far so good, but from this point on the plot of the play is the product ofArlincourt’s imagination. And so, too, it would seem, are the characters. Nohistorical account appears to establish whether or not King Carloman wasmarried, or whether or not he left behind an infant son Thierri (Terigi in theopera). We believe we must accept that both this infant son and his mother,Berthe (the operatic Berta), are Arlincourt’s inventions, as is Berthe’s firsthusband, Robert de Poitiers, who appears in the play as the leader of theNormans, Ordamant (Mercadante’s Ordamante). Fictitious, too, inconsequence, is the son of Berta and Robert, Osvin (Mercadante’s Osvino). Injustification of the licence with which Arlincourt had treated history, theprinted text of 1826 also included a ‘Notice Historique’ – whether his ownwork or that of his publisher is not made clear – which stated that ‘The period

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in which the action is placed is so obscure and confused that the poet was ableto give free rein to his imagination. Dense shadows cover the ninth century…’

The liberties taken with history were the principal reason the play metinitially with such hostility. But let us grant, as our final verdict on the subject,that Arlincourt succeeded in constructing a highly theatrical plot which,though impenetrably complicated when first we confront it, proves excellentmaterial for a passionate romantic tragedy, and, in the hands of Romani andMercadante, equally effective material for an atmospheric and melodramaticopera.

Given the plot’s complexity, we would strongly recommend that the reader,even at this early stage, consult the synopsis printed in this booklet. The reasonis that Arlincourt, in this instance following good classical precept, begins hisaction in medias res – and thus presents in his tragedy only the final few hoursof a long-developing situation. In a spoken play this causes no difficulty, forearly in his first act he includes an interview between Queen Berthe and herelderly counsellor Udarin (Ebbone in the opera), in the course of which sheconveniently tells him her history. The play therefore begins with an‘exposition’. In a sung opera this would work less well, and Romani insteadchooses to insert in his libretto a preface in which he explains the action thathas transpired before the curtain rises. We may nevertheless be forgiven if wefeel that the work would almost have been better cast as a two-part opera, thatis to say an opera spread over two nights, for, as it stands at present, it is almostas if we arrive at the theatre to find ourselves a day late, in time for Part Two

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only, and are obliged to struggle to take up the threads at a confusingly latepoint. Yet surprisingly, no contemporary accounts appear to mention this veryreal obstacle to comprehension. Perhaps the most positive comment we canpass on the text of both play and opera is that they seem to be excellentillustrations of the truth that a plot, even though highly complicated in thetelling, can be comparatively easy to grasp when intelligently ‘straightened out’– unfolded and unravelled – in its presentation on stage.

Once we have negotiated this initial obstacle, we shall find that Romani’slibretto reproduces the action of the play with surprising fidelity, while at thesame time skilfully adapting it to the requirements of the romantic opera of theday. The crises which provided the heightened moments of the play arepreserved exactly as the essential crises of the opera: the murder of Terigi (whichlaunches the first finale, the great central point of the opera at the end of ActII), Ordamante’s confrontation with Berta in her private chapel to theaccompaniment of a storm raging outside (which becomes the climax point ofthe opera at the beginning of Act IV), and the death of Osvino (the ultimatecatastrophe).

Romani was also at pains to introduce a male chorus, highly appropriate insuch a chivalric opera, and, having done so, to give it a role of majorimportance4. Its presence contributes materially to the massive scale of the ActII finale, but, even more importantly, allows Mercadante to maintain the

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_____________________________________4 Somewhat surprisingly, there is no female chorus. Perhaps there was none available at the TeatroRegio at the time. Whatever the reason, the ladies of the French court, though listed in the cast,are supernumeraries only.

tension and heightened drama throughout Act III, the interrogation of Osvinobefore the Council of Knights. The terzetto-finale of this third act is to allintents and purposes a further large-scale finale, similar in its proportions to thequintetto-finale of Act II. It was not for nothing that, as we shall see,Mercadante reacted most favourably right from the start to the outline of thelibretto which Romani sent him, and was fully alive to the ‘interest’ of thesituations which it presented to him.

Before leaving this consideration of Romani’s adaptation, we may note twosmall but interesting discrepancies between play and opera. The first concernsthe end of the action. In the play, Ordamant, following the death of Osvin,commits suicide. Romani and Mercadante, writing for Turin, a particularlyconservative capital and court, clearly and probably wisely judged that onedeath was enough. Consequently their Osvino dies, but their Ordamantesurvives, dismissed by Berta in her aria finale to a life of exile and repentance.

The second more important discrepancy concerns the character of the villainof the piece: Théobal in Arlincourt, Tebaldo in Romani and Mercadante. InArlincourt he is an arch-schemer, concealing his devious designs beneathapparently genuine concern for the kingdom and seemingly plausible politicalarguments. Although he is of royal descent and has, therefore, some claim tosucceed to the throne in the event of the death of the young Thierri, he prefersto control the kingdom through manipulating others. He has a daughter, Azélie(who never actually appears), and knows that she and Osvin love each otherdearly. But he is also aware – made privy to the fact by Berthe’s now-dead

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father, Egmont Count of Tours – that Osvin is Berthe’s son, and consequentlya potential candidate for the crown. He therefore seeks to bend him to his willthrough offering him the bait of marriage with Azélie. Fortunately Osvin, wholoves the daughter but cannot abide the father, is able to maintain his moralequilibrium and realise that the fate of France is more important than anypersonal happiness of his own when bought at the price of integrity. Romani,in adapting the play, had the good sense to omit all mention of Azélie – andin consequence the probable necessity of introducing a further very minorcharacter – even if it came at the cost of simplifying the portrait of his Tebaldoand reducing him to a rather more commonplace villain.

* * * *

But it is high time that we turn to the history of the opera itself: how it cameto be written and how it fits into the story of Mercadante’s extreme distaste forhis prima donna, Adelaide Tosi.

We are all of us well aware of the age-old reputation of the theatrical worldas an environment of dubious morals and manners, or, to express it morepungently, as a sink of moral corruption and iniquity. Actors, singers, dancers– throughout history all have had to live in an environment notorious both forits sexual laxity and for its jealousies, cabals and back-biting. It was not fornothing that Mozart composed a satirical opera like Der Schauspieldirektor,and Donizetti Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali. And the present opera,though it is a serious work on an ostensibly historical subject and has nothing

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to do with the exposure of backstage behaviour, provides as fascinating anintroduction to ‘la feccia teatrale’ (‘the theatrical scum’) as one could hope tofind, on account of the antipathy which Mercadante entertained for his primadonna on this occasion, Adelaide Tosi.

Adelaide Tosi was, if the favourable press reports she received are to bebelieved, a highly talented and commendable singer. In 1830, for example, theMilanese journal I Teatri wrote that:

As a singing artist Tosi occupies an eminent position. [She has] goodintonation, excellent support and controlled movement of the voice,in a word a valuable schooling. As an actress she feels what she says anddoes, and we can give our assurance that she has no equal among thesingers we have heard. As a stage presence she is elegant of figure, noble,expressive and positively ‘Roman’. Her accent is that of truth, herdeclamation perfect, her fire inspired.

Like most singers, however, she clearly went through her rough patches, forwhen she sang in Vienna in 1827, the Austrian musicologist and critic FranzKandler reported that:

Tosi, who made her debut in [Pacini’s] L’ultimo giorno di Pompei,revealed herself as very, very weak, but she made her excusesbeforehand, and the public encouraged her. But when the good publicperceived that, having set aside her fear, Tosi – or ‘Tisi’ or Tossi’ [i.e.

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‘Consumption’ or ‘Coughing’] as I call her – had gained nothing eitherin strength, or in vocal technique, or in any of the requisite areas thatare indispensable for a theatrical singer, this partiality in her regarddiminished, and after her sixth appearance poor Tosi was dismissedwith equivocal signs. Certainly no one will wish to see her upon thisstage again. In my opinion she is seriously ill…

Notwithstanding her varied fortunes, she scored many triumphs and hadmany admirers in the musical world. She was a particular favourite of thelibrettist Gaetano Rossi, and earned the gratitude and admiration of thecomposer Nicola Vaccaj when she sang in the premieres of his Zadig ed Astartea(Naples, 1825) and Giovanna d’Arco (Venice, 1827). Among other operas inwhich she created the soprano roles we may mention Bellini’s revised Bianca eFernando (Genova, 1828); Donizetti’s L’esule di Roma (Naples, 1828) and Ilcastello di Kenilworth (Naples, 1829); and Pacini’s Alessandro nell’Indie (Naples,1824) and Il contestabile di Chester (Naples, 1829). It will be noted that mostof these premieres took place in Naples. Between 1824 and 1830 she wasinvolved there in a much-publicised rivalry with Luigia Boccabadati – a rivalrywhich divided the city into opposing factions and which was, at leastoutwardly, resolved only when they sang together and both triumphed in Ilcastello di Kenilworth.

During this same period Tosi also created an opera for Mercadante,Ipermestra (Naples, 1825), but it would seem that singer and composer fell out– and fell out so seriously that their differences left the composer with a lasting

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sense of revulsion. The following year, very possibly influenced by thesedifferences, he left Italy and travelled abroad to Spain and Portugal. But he didnot escape from la Tosi so easily, for in 1830 she arrived in Madrid, where hewas engaged as musical director of the theatre. Whatever their relations inpublic, in private he still harboured bitter resentment, with the result that hewrote back to Francesco Florimo, the librarian at the Naples Conservatorium,a series of scandalously derogatory letters about her singing, and about herconduct both in the theatre and, more generally, in society.

In these letters he calls her l’infame Tosi (‘the infamous Tosi’), and vigorouslydenies a rumour that he is to marry her. With heavy sarcasm he tells Florimothat ‘the attractions of Madamigella are infinite, such as ugliness, dirtiness,unmannerliness – however they are qualities more suited to the nobility thanto composers’.

Here, as in Vienna, she made her debut in Pacini’s L’ultimo giorno di Pompeiand, Mercadante admits, ‘generally pleased, although there were a considerablenumber of people who did not agree, saying that she was sung out, that she hadno agility, that her middle notes were weak, and in sum that she was theleft-overs of a mediocre singer, without talent, and with no resources of tastewith which to conceal the above-mentioned defects’. A little less than a monthlater he adds: ‘This ex-singer has gone continually from bad to worse… If itwere possible, I would have to say that she has become even thinner, to thepoint where her clothes are falling off her back. Her voice has becomecompletely “mysterious”, since she never had any low notes, her middle notes

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have completely disappeared, and [as for] her high notes it is all she can do toproduce them, [even] without any volume…’

And so one could go on. The remarks we have quoted deal mainly with hersinging, but those that treat of her private life are even more scandalous. Allthings must have a term, however, and in 1831 Mercadante doubtless feltinfinitely relieved when he was able to escape her presence and return to Italy,where, besides reproducing at least two of the operas he had composed in Spainand Portugal, La testa di bronzo and Gabriella di Vergy, he proceeded to writea great many new ones, beginning with Zaira (Naples, 31 August 1831) andthe present opera, I Normanni a Parigi (Teatro Regio, Turin, early February1832).

He actually reached Turin a good deal earlier than the date of I Normanni aParigi would suggest, for on 19 September 1831 he announced to Florimo hishappy arrival in the city to mount what was to prove a highly successfulproduction of La testa di bronzo. At this same date he was able, too, to reportthat he was in the happy situation of having received Felice Romani’s libretto,I Normanni a Parigi – but more properly, we believe, an outline or synopsis ofit – for the following carnival. ‘[It] is truly worthy of him – all is well then –let us hope that fortune may wish to continue to keep company with me.’ On12 October he adds that ‘from what Romani writes to me, it seems that he iswell on with his work, and that the book will be most interesting and welladapted to the company’.

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The task of actually composing the opera still lay ahead, and at the end ofthe month, on 30 October, while reporting that ‘my Testa di bronzo continuesto give great pleasure and will bring the season to an end, having at this datealready received nineteen consecutive performances’, he also faces up to thefact that at the beginning of the new month he must ‘withdraw to a cottage,condemned by the terrible need for money and glory to compose I Normannia Parigi, which, God willing, will go on stage in the first days of February’.

But inspiration on this occasion did not come easily to him. On 23November he writes:

I Normanni a Parigi has me very busy, and, in keeping with mycustom, I am never happy with myself. Some things would be moretolerable if I had you here at hand, and were helped by your counsels,whereas now it is quite the reverse – here I am my own victim, andeverything seems to me utterly bad. If you should have some new andbeautiful cabalettas to send me you would give me great pleasure, sincethe introductory movement and the adagio I can find, but that cursedCappaletta [sic], it ruins everything for me, and the more I strive torender it new, the more I perceive that what I come up with is as old ascan be…

What he has not hitherto revealed, though he does so now, is that the castis to be headed by none other than Adelaide Tosi. And his feelings towards her– are they by now somewhat mollified? Anything but! She is that ‘cow’, that‘sow’. On 12 December he writes:

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Tosi arrived here on the fourth of this month, coming from theSpanish capital loaded with sonnets, portraits, press articles, monkeys,parrots, parakeets, cats, dogs (her favourite animal) and mice. She has,too, acquired agility, since, when the rehearsals of La straniera began onthe 9th, I heard her executing runs in the manner of the lightestpossible Trojan Horse. This harpy… has already tried to throweverything into disorder here, but I do not believe she will succeed,given the firmness of the Direction.

He goes straight on to illustrate what he means by her trying ‘to throweverything into disorder’:

The [theatrical] correspondent Merelli had sent here, to perform thepart of Isoletta, a certain Amigò, a beautiful woman, but a bitch [of asinger] of an [altogether] new variety. Having heard her sing out oftune for three consecutive rehearsals, and being called upon for myopinion, I gave it sincerely, and she has been suspended, [the Direction]having already written to Milan to replace her. But Adelaide wished tosupport her, for fear that some other singer of discreet merit mightcome and succeed in arousing her ill-concealed jealousy and hatred.

In this same letter he also announces that, originally engaged to composethe first opera of the season – that is to say, the opera to be presented on thetraditionally dreaded night of St Stephen’s Day, 26 December – he hassucceeded in re-negotiating his contract, and is now scheduled to give the

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second opera instead. He has, he tells Florimo, finished the first act, and is‘happy with the adagios but not with those damned Cabalettas; if time were notso short I would ask you to send me a dozen of those composed by Mandanici,Pagliani and Raimondi. I shall go on stage towards the end of January or in thefirst days of February, and we’ll see what will come of it.’

At this point, unfortunately, there is a major hiatus in the correspondenceand, when it resumes, the premiere of I Normanni a Parigi has come and gone.This premiere presents us with a problem in itself. The date traditionally andinvariably given for it is 7 February 1832, but it seems possible that this maybe incorrect, if only because it had already been reviewed by the GazzettaPiemontese three days earlier, on Saturday 4 February. Mercadante, as we havejust seen, had expected the opera to be staged ‘towards the end of January orin the first days of February’, and we suspect that a truer date might possiblybe either Thursday 2nd or Friday 3rd February. An excellent cast was headedby Adelaide Tosi (Berta), Amalia Brambilla (Osvino), Giovanni Battista Verger(Odone) and Orazio Cartagenova (Ordamante).

And how did it fare? Attended by the King and Queen of Piedmont, it wasa success – a tremendous success – and, irony of ironies, the person who, morethan any other, was responsible for securing its triumph was Adelaide Tosi. Itis true that the critic of the Gazzetta Piemontese began his notice somewhatless than enthusiastically by expressing his surprise that the management haddecided to present a tragedy in carnival, a season traditionally dedicated ‘tolaughter, to pleasures, to madcap joy, in order to temper the tedium and

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GIOVANNI BATTISTA VERGER(1796–after 1844)

The first Odone. This tenorexcelled in the operas of Rossiniand Donizetti, appearing in the

premiere of Donizetti’s Olivio e Pasquale (1828).

sweeten the cares of the rest of the year’. He also took some amusement inpointing out that ‘it would have been so easy to preserve [Osvino] from thesword of the assassin Tebaldo, and [so] spare [Amalia] Brambilla, who acted thepart, from having to lie long and uncomfortably upon an unpadded litter’.Somewhat ruefully, too, he remarked upon the length of the evening, sincenot only was the opera itself in four acts, but there were also two ballets on theprogramme, resulting in a full six-hour spectacle, beginning at 6.30pm andnot ending until half past midnight. Yet having got these gripes off his chest,he went on to praise Felice Romani’s text, Mercadante’s music and theperformances of all four principal singers. And of the prima donna he wrote:

Tosi (Berta), the delight every evening of a Public which appreciatesand rewards true merit, shows just how precious the gifts of Nature arewhen they are trained and perfected by Art… A sonorous voice, limpidlike water from the fountain, a graceful and spontaneous modulation,an expression which goes to the heart, an excellent and modernmethod, and a noble and vigorous action – [all these merits] enable herto evoke the most lively and frequent applause, so that she becomes allthe more animated and never ceases to display to advantage the raregifts that distinguish her.

Her colleagues received almost equal praise. Amalia Brambilla, in real lifethe wife of the tenor Giovanni Battista Verger, we are told –

… has a sweet and extremely pure soprano voice, agile andwell-suited to the trill, which she executes with much grace and

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naturalness. Her singing is of the decorated and passionate variety, andin her Cavatina, and in her duet with Cartagenova and her trio withTosi and Verger, she arouses unequivocal and honourable testimony ofthe esteem in which her virtues and her musical talents are held.

Turning to her husband, he asserts –

No one will wish to deny Verger (Odone) an honourable placeamong the most applauded tenors who tread the stages of Italy at thepresent time. After having sustained with glory an important part in Lastraniera, in I Normanni he holds no less the attention and favour of thePublic, and especially of those who know how to appreciate not onlyhis robust, pliable and grateful voice, but also his great skill in the Art,as a result of which his singing never betrays anything that is risky, neveranything that does not proclaim the Professor.

Finally, Orazio Cartagenova (Ordamante) is described as –

… a singer and actor of great merit. To an imposing stature, a noblecarriage and an expressive use of his eyes, he is fortunate that, in theflower of his years, he is able to link a sonorous bass voice, a clear andopen articulation, a sustained singing of excellent school, suitablyembellished with graceful note clusters and a strong feeling whichproclaims good studies in his greener years.

–26–

AMALIA BRAMBILLA VERGER(1811–1880)

The first Osvino. From afamous family of operasingers, she became thesecond wife of the tenorGiovanni Battista Verger.

At the end of Act II, he tells us, Mercadante and his four principals were allcalled for, while Tosi’s rondò finale at the end of Act IV earned her the honourof a vociferous recall, and a second one which she shared with Mercadante andher three colleagues. The Gazzetta Piemontese critic had no hesitation in endinghis review by stating: ‘We regard the fortunes of I Normanni a Parigi as assured,both in this Teatro Regio and in any other theatre, providing that there aresingers of no lesser quality, accompanied by a choice and numerous orchestrathe equal of our own.’

History fully justified this confidence, for the opera was widely staged inItaly, both in major cities such as Bologna, Genova, Florence, Venice, Romeand Naples, and in smaller towns such as Alessandria, Modena, Lucca, Lodi,Piacenza, Cremona, Foligno, Viterbo and Chieti. Outside Italy it was seen inBarcelona (1833), Vienna (1834 and 1844), Berlin (1835), Lisbon (1836),Mexico and Porto (1837), Palma (1840) and Corfù (carnival 1859-60).Strangely enough, it never seems to have reached Madrid, Paris or London.

One later 19th century commentator, the Marchese Francesco D’Arcais,writing after the composer’s death, judged that of all Mercadante’s operas, thiswas the one which had the greatest right to survive. Fate, we must acknowledge,has decreed otherwise, recognising instead Il giuramento (Milan, 1837) andIl bravo (Milan, 1839) as his masterpieces. But recognition of the very realmusical strengths of I Normanni a Parigi is long overdue, so that we believe thatthe release of this recording is an event of no little significance.

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* * * *

Before we leave the history of Mercadante’s encounters with Adelaide Tosibehind us, let us point out that they did not end here, for at the beginning ofthe carnival of 1832-33 at La Scala in Milan she featured as one of the creatorsof yet another of his operas, Il conte di Essex, in which she sang the role of theDuchessa di Nottingham. Although the opera itself met with little success, thesingers were commended, and the Milanese journal L’Eco declared that‘Madamigella Tosi is always perfectly inside her role, her bearing is noble andmajestic and her acting tragic par excellence, and her singing carries the imprintof true dramatic expression’. The Gazzetta Privilegiata di Milano added that ‘thelast aria she sang left nothing to be desired where execution was concerned’.Although still young and at the height of her career, she soon after this marriedthe Neapolitan Count Ferdinando Lucchesi Palli and retired from the stage.

Whether Mercadante ever relented in his feelings towards her we have notbeen able to ascertain, but it is worth relating that her friendships with otherpeople appear to have been warm and long-lasting. Vaccaj, for instance, had nohesitation in introducing his most promising pupils and protégés to her – thepianist Stefano Golinelli in 1842 and the soprano Giulia Sanchioli inmid-1845. He himself had visited her earlier in 1845 when, following thesuccess in Rome of his last opera, Virginia, he travelled to Naples in the (vain,as it turned out) hope of securing a production there. Not only did they sharehappy memories of her singing in several of his operas, but their confidenceswere sufficiently warm for her to send Giulia, the composer’s wife, who was

–29–

ADELAIDE TOSI(1800–1859)

As well as beingMercadante’s first Berta,

she also created thesoprano roles in Bellini’sBianca e Fernando (1828),

Pacini’s Alessandronell’Indie (1824) and

Donizetti’s Il castello diKenilworth (1829).

expecting her third child, a recipe for a safe and successful delivery5 which hadbeen given her by a German doctor and which she declared she had triedherself with excellent results. Up until the time of her death in 1859 both sheand her husband figured prominently in Neapolitan society, and acted as thepatrons of a number of young singers and other musicians who happened tobe visiting the city.

Orazio Cartagenova also continued his association with Mercadante, for hewas to be the first Corrado in Emma d’Antiochia (Venice, 1834), the first Enricoin La gioventù di Enrico V (La Scala, Milan, 1834) and the first Manfredo inIl giuramento (La Scala, 1837). An interesting singer who had been born inGenova and who had made his debut in Venice in 1825, he had establishedhis reputation both for the beauty of his singing and for his intelligence as anactor. His career was, however, cut short when he died, still comparativelyyoung, in 1841.

* * * *But let us return to the critic of the Gazzetta Piemontese and consider his

remarks on Felice Romani’s libretto and Mercadante’s music.

–31–

____________________________________5 ‘You must make use of antacid, or purified magnesia, for two months in advance, taking atablespoonful a day and increasing the dose in the last month. This keeps the body well-disposed,and results not only in a happy delivery, but freedom from milk fevers as well. Simple magnesiais good, too, but embarrasses the stomach too much; at the most it could serve in the first month.’Letter written by Vaccaj about 22 February 1845 from Naples to his wife Giulia in Pesaro. SeeIl carteggio personale di Nicola Vaccaj (Tolentino, 2008), Part I, no. 318.

FELICE ROMANI(1788–1865)

This distinguished librettistwrote more than 80 libretti,including Zaira for Bellini,Amleto for Mercadante,Rosmonda d’Inghilterra

for Donizetti and Aureliano in Palmira

for Rossini.

His comments on Romani’s contribution are both generous and enthusiastic:

[Let us give] praise to Romani. If he has sinned in terms of length…he succeeds in being brief in the reading6 for his fine canvas, for thepassions which are both forcibly and truthfully expressed there, for theemotions aroused, for the elevation of the thoughts, for the poetictexture, for the dramatic style, for the variety of the metres employedfor the diverse situations, and in general for the harmony of his verse.

He is equally laudatory in his comments concerning Mercadante’s music:

… The style is sublime and purged; the ideas clearly presented; theconduct excellent; each of the inspirations carries the imprint of thesense of the words and the temper of the action, now grave, now tender,and now strong. In all this Mercadante shares the vaunt of valour withthe best of modern composers; but he surpasses them all, not exceptingeven the Pesarese [i.e. Rossini], in instrumentation. Both haverecognised the importance of this, and both have given it serious study,but with the difference that Rossini with his crescendi, with his forti andwith his fortissimi earns himself a glory which lasts as long as the uproarfrom which it derives, and which shows no mercy for the singers, whileMercadante with his smorzandi, with his piani and with his pianissimi,aims at a more lasting merit: that of allowing his singers’ voices to shine

–33–

____________________________________6 That is to say, he succeeds in holding the reader’s attention so that the length of the work goesunnoticed.

without extraordinary forcing, and of leaving in the ears and even morein the hearts of his auditors a far-from-ephemeral most pleasingmemory of his judicious [use of ] force in more heavily orchestratedpassages, and of that harmony that reigns supreme in every one of hiscompositions on account of his masterful employment of hisinstruments – now these, now those – with [such] wise economy.

Glowing though this praise may be, there are few people today who wouldagree with the adverse judgement of Rossini that is delivered here, or with thegrossly over-simplified comparison of his music with that of Mercadante. It istrue enough that Mercadante writes ravishingly beautiful piano and pianissimomovements in his operas: we would draw attention, for example, to two of hisearlier works – Maria Stuarda, regina di Scozia (Bologna, 1821)7 and Andronico(Venice, 1821)8. In this present work there are also numerous examples: thecanon-terzetto, ‘Che tento? Che spero?’ in the finale to Act III9, for example,and the andante section, ‘Io ti lascio e al cor non oso’, in the Act IV duet forBerta and Ordamante10.

What the critic of the Gazzetta Piemontese was in no position to appreciate,however – for he understandably lacked the necessary detachment and foresight– was that in the operas Mercadante wrote upon his return to Italy from Spain

–34–

____________________________________7 Extensive extracts from this opera may be heard on Opera Rara’s recording, ORR224.8 Hear, for example, the duet ‘Nel seggio placido’, track 6 on Opera Rara’s Paventa Insano,ORR236.9 Track 12 on the present recording.10 Track 19 on this recording.

he was developing his orchestration and exploring his harmonic palette, and sogaining a new and increasingly rugged strength (which, we might add, frequentlyresults in music that is quite as forte and fortissimo as anything in Rossini). It wasa development which was to culminate in Virginia (composed in 1849, but notproduced until 1966 in Naples)11.

With this in mind we would particularly draw attention to two items, thefirst the Introduzione to Act I, ‘Una Reggente debole’, and the second thepenultimate item of the score, the extended and climactic duet for Berta andOrdamante, ‘Io t’amai: m’offriva Osvino’.

‘Una Reggente debole’ gets the opera off to an immensely powerful start. Sungby the men’s chorus on their own, it is the finest illustration in the opera of thestrength Mercadante gains from developing the chorus’s role. Beginning softlywith an orchestral introduction which moves stepwise with frequent chromatics,it is also piano in its opening vocal lines, expressive of the gloom and forebodingthat hang so oppressively over the besieged French court. A sudden change tofortissimo develops the emotional range a step further, suggesting a sense ofdetermination arising from desperation. Switches from one dynamic extremeto the other continue, until the whole chorus winds up with a most beautifulorchestral piano postlude. Strong, muscular, sombre, the chorus prepares us forthe doom-laden drama to come…

The Act IV duet for Berta and Ordamante, on the other hand, provides theopera with its ultimate climax. Mercadante writes in the accepted form of the

–35–

____________________________________11 This opera may be heard complete on Opera Rara ORC39.

time for duets of major importance, for it is in three major parts: an introductoryallegro, ‘Io t’amai: m’offriva Osvino’; a central andante, ‘Io ti lascio e al cor nonoso’; and a final lento – allegro, ‘Qui mai più… ma in cielo almeno’. This basicstructure is further expanded and elaborated through the introduction of a brieforchestral prelude depicting a burrasca (storm), and an extended scena (or fullyaccompanied melodic recitative) before the duet proper gets under way. Thereis also a very brief tempo di mezzo (bridge-passage) between the central andanteand the final lento – allegro. All these parts are excellent in their diverse ways. Theburrasca plays an essential role, since it ensures that the drama is wrought to apitch of excitement from the very start. It is, too, an excellent example of the oldliterary-artistic theory that when human emotions are at their most fraught, theywill be – or can be – mirrored in a corresponding turmoil in nature. Or, to putit another way, the internal crisis in human relations may well be most effectivelyillustrated by setting it against an external storm in which the elements similarlyclash and jar. It is an illustration of what post-romantic realism has dismissed as‘the pathetic fallacy’.

The following scena shows Mercadante at his creative and imaginative best, hisinspiration running at white-hot intensity, and we can only recommend that thelistener follow it with particular attention, noting the way in which Mercadantefollows every changing nuance of emotion and colour in Romani’s words, andholds the listener totally gripped through his constant alteration of orchestralfigures and vocal melodies. It is an object lesson in how to conduct an extendeddramatic scene which is technically no more than a melodic recitative,preliminary to the duet proper.

–36–

The interest is maintained in the dramatic first section, the allegro, and thesustained central andante. We leave these, however, to speak for themselves,and pass on to the most unexpected and surprising part of the duet: the finallento-allegro. Here we expect a cabaletta, but, bearing in mind Mercadante’srepeated statements of the difficulty he encountered when seeking motifssuitable for such movements, we may note that he takes an unprecedented andtotally innovative step: he all but suppresses the cabaletta entirely. Instead heagain lets the words dictate their own emotion and form, so that Berta andRoberto-Ordamante, as they hopefully contemplate the possibility of beingreunited in heaven, sing six bars of slow declamation, piano and pianissimo,their voices moving homophonically together. And then the sixth bar, markedaffrettando, moves up the scale and suddenly launches into what can only bedescribed as the ‘peroration’ of a cabaletta: the final rinforzando bars that,leading to the final cadence, wring every jot of emotional empathy from theaudience as they find themselves urged to applause. Hitherto, I must admit, Ihad not regarded Mercadante as a composer who wrenched the structuralforms of his day to new dramatic purposes: he had seemed content, rather, topursue his exploration of expression and his search for new harmonic andinstrumental effects within the accepted forms of the time. Here, however, heshows himself capable of radical modification of form, of startling departurefrom the norm. Here, in a word, he claims his place in the avant-garde of histime, anticipating the reforms and restructuring that Verdi and the second halfof the 19th century were to bring to the Italian operatic stage.

© Jeremy Commons, 2010

–37–

PERFORMANCE HISTORYby Tom Kaufman

City & Theatre Date Berta Osvino Odone OrdamanteTurin, Teatro Regio 7.2.1832 Tosi Brambilla G.B. Verger CartagenovaBologna, Comunale 29.5.1832 Ungher Carobbi Poggi RonconiPadua, Nuovo 11.6.1832 Ungher Carobbi Poggi RonconiVenice, San Benedetto 9.9.1832 Lacinio Biondi Cagnola LodettiLucca, Giglio 18.9.1832 Ungher Merola G.L. Duprez CartagenovaFlorence, Pergola 12.10.1832 Ungher Duprez G.L. Duprez CartagenovaLodi, Sociale 26.12.1832 Rubini De Martini Mollo Marini

SanctisPesaro, del Sole 26.12.1832 Riva-Giunti Boschi Giordani PuzziBergamo, Sociale Jan. 1833 Edvige Belloli Furlani BarroilhetMantua, Sociale 26.1.1833 Vial Spech Nicolini MoncadaPiacenza, Municipale 4.5.1833 Roser-Balfe Martini Nicolini RonconiVenice, San Benedetto 15.5.1833 Taccani Spech Paganini NegriniVicenza, Eretenio Sum. 1833 Tosi Michel Pedrazzi GiordaniMadrid, de la Cruz 20.7.1833 Palazzesi Lorenzani Biacchi BottelliBarcelona, Principal 1.8.1833 Brambilla- Bonini G.B. Verger Badiali

VergerBrescia, Grande 22.8.1833 Sedlazek Manzocchi Bonfigli BarroilhetCremona, Concordia Aut. 1833 Brighenti Cesari Patti CosselliTrieste, Grande Aut. 1833 Roser-Balfe Manzocchi Bonfigli BarroilhetFuligno, Apollo Oct? 1833 A. Duprez G.L. Duprez CosselliViterbo, del Genio Oct. 1833 Pateri-Winter BrunerPalermo, Carolino 30.10.1833 Albini Carobbi Gentili/ Marini

D. GiovanniAlessandria, 2.11.1833 Vial Giovanola De Val NegriniMunicipale

–38–

CAROLINA UNGHER(1803–1877)

She performed the role of Bertain Bologna (1832), Florence(1832), Naples (1834) and

Ancona (1835).

LUIGIA ABBADIA(1821–1896)

She sang the role of Berta inMirandola (1856), Padua

(1856) and Guastalla (1856).

City & Theatre Date Berta Osvino Odone OrdamanteCrema, Sociale 26.12.1833 GiacominoNovara, Nuovo 26.12.1833 Micciarelli- Marosi-Soletti Santi Rodda

SbrisciaGenoa, Carlo Felice 26.12.1833 Edvige Michel Bonfigli CosselliRome, Apollo 31.12.1833 A. Duprez Merola G.L. Duprez InchindiLivorno, Avvalorati Carn. Brighenti Venier Zilioli Schober

1833-4Vienna, Josephstadt 9.4.1834Barcelona, Principal 19.4.1834 Brambilla- Michel G.B. Verger Badiali

VergerPavia, Condomini Sept. 1834 Fontana Pasi Montuchielli Giordani1Naples, San Carlo 30.5.1834 Ungher Del Serre Winter LablacheChieti, San Ferdinando June 1834 Pateri-Winter Marconi Cittadini SalandriMessina, La Munizione Aut. 1834 Franceschini- Vietti Antognini

RossiLa Valletta, Manoel Oct. 1834 Darbois Dagnini Del RiccioCagliari, Civico 27.12.1834 A. Brambilla T. Brambilla De Gattis RigamontiAncona, Muse 4.5.1835 Ungher A. Duprez G.L. Duprez CosselliBerlin, Königstädtische 16.6.1835Pavia, Condomini Spr. 1836 Aman Zoboli ZucconiUdine, Sociale 15.8.1836 Vittadini Milesi RonconiLisbon, São Carlos 18.8.1836 Matthey Brighenti Furlani MaggiorottiGorizia, Sociale Sept. 1836 Vittadini Milesi Linari-BelliniCremona, Concordia 17.9.1836 Strepponi Viale Genero CartagenovaOporto, São João June? 1837 Belloli MaggiorottiMantua, Sociale Spr. 1839 Aman Imoda Ferrari Guscetti

–40–

_____________________________________1 This singer also sang under the name of J.B. Jourdan

FRANCESCO PEDRAZZI(c1802–after 1850)

This tenor sang the role of Odonein Vicenza (1833). For Mercadante

he created the role of Viscardo in Il giuramento (1837).

DOMENICO COSSELLI(1801–1855)

He sang the role of Ordamante inFuligno (1833). He created roles

in several Donizetti operas,including Azzo in Parisina (1833)and Enrico Ashton in Lucia di

Lammermoor (1835).

City & Theatre Date Berta Osvino Odone OrdamanteZadar, Nobile 5.10.1841 Casiglieri Spada Personi CasanovaValencia, Principal Oct. 1841 Bruni SantiAmsterdam, Italien 20.1.1842Modena, Comunale 9.4.1842 Novello Pasini FornasariVerona, Filarmonico Aut. 1842Perugia, Civico 21.8.1843 Forconi RinaldiniVienna, Kärntnertor 26.6.1844 Tadolini Alboni Ferretti RonconiCarpi 18.8.1844 Brambilla Gramaglia Filippini PeregoPadua, Concordi Lent 1856 Abbadia Cruciani SacconiMirandola Sept? 1856 Abbadia CotogniGuastalla, Sociale Nov. 1856 Abbadia CotogniVicenza, Eretenio 16.1.1858 Arrigotti Filippi Bichi Sacconi

–42–

ALMERINDA MANZOCCHIShe sang the role of Osvino in

Brescia (1833) and Trieste(1833). In 1836 she created therole of Aurelio in Donizetti’sL’assedio di Calais (1836).

GILBERT LOUIS DUPREZ(1806–1896)

He sang the role of Odonemany times, in Florence andLucca (1832), Rome (1833)

and Ancona (1835).

THE STORY

FRANCE, EARLY in the 9th century A.D. Many years before the operabegins, Egremont1, Count of Tours, planned to increase his power at court bymarrying his daughter, Berta (Berthe in Arlincourt), to King Carloman. Hediscovered, however, that Berta had secretly entered into a relationship with aFrench knight, Roberto of Poitiers (Robert in Arlincourt), and had in factborne him a son, Osvino (Osvin in Arlincourt). In his wrath upon makingthis discovery, he plotted to assassinate Roberto, kidnap the child and forceBerta to go through with the royal marriage. He offered to restore the child toher if she promised never to reveal to him the secret of his birth (an oath sheeffectively breaks at the end of the opera).

Believing Roberto dead, Berta succumbed to these pressures and agreed tomarry the king. In due course, after the birth of several children who diedyoung, and several still-births, she bore her husband a male heir, Prince Terigi(Thierri in Arlincourt).

Roberto, however, had escaped assassination and, hearing of Berta’s royalmarriage, considered himself betrayed. His thoughts turned to revenge and,quitting the French army, he deserted to the hostile Normans, at that time theterror of Europe, and, assuming the name of Odomante (Ordamante in thelibretto), in due course became their leader and laid siege to Paris.

King Charlemagne died in 814 A.D., and Berta found herself Queen Regentto her infant son, King Terigi. In a political situation which was anything but

–44–

____________________________________1 In the Preface to his printed libretto, Romani gives the name as ‘Egmonte’, and in Arlincourt’splay he is ‘Egmont, comte de Tours’.

secure, she and Terigi were threatened by the scheming of a would-be usurper,Prince Tebaldo, but were protected by a faithful knight and patriot, Odone,Count of Paris.

Ordamante, it should be added, on one occasion managed to infiltrate thecity in disguise, and had discovered that Osvino, now grown to manhood andwidely respected as a valiant knight, was his son. He had also confronted Berta,so that from that moment on she was aware that he was still alive.

It is at this point that the action of the opera begins.

ACT ONEA Gothic hall in the Palace of the Carolingians, where, in council, the Frenchknights deplore the exhausted and demoralised state of the country and expresstheir wish that Berta should strengthen their position by marrying again.Ebbone, an elderly knight, realises that Tebaldo, who acts as the councillors’spokesman, is motivated by personal ambition, but his efforts to counteract hisevil intentions are in vain. When Berta hears of the general determination thatshe should remarry, she reminds Ebbone, who is clearly conversant with herhistory, of her earlier marriage to Roberto. She reveals that Roberto is stillliving, narrating how one evening he interrupted her at her prayers andthreatened dire revenge for what he regarded as her betraying him.

Odone and Osvino return victorious from a skirmish with the Normans,and Odone tells how Ordamante, when he had Osvino at his mercy and mighthave killed him, appeared confused and allowed him to escape. Berta realisesthat Ordamante can be none other than Roberto, and for this reason gently but

–45–

steadfastly refuses to accept an offer of marriage from Odone, even though sherealises that he genuinely loves her.

SCENE TWOA gallery decorated with arms. Tebaldo reports that an ambassador has comefrom the Normans, threatening that unless Paris surrenders forthwith, a fierceassault will be launched and all will be put to the sword. All the knights elect tofight to the bitter end, but Osvino, who is eager to seek the thickest of the fray,is dismayed when the Queen holds him back and appoints him guardian of thecourt and her son Terigi. To prevent him from openly disobeying her, she isforced to reveal that she is acting for his own good: if he confronts the Normans,he will, she tells him, be in danger of killing his own father. She resolutely refusesto inform him of his father’s name, though she insists that he is a Frenchman,not a Norman. When Osvino asks about his mother, she utters the pious liethat his true mother is dead, but that he should seek a surrogate mother in her.

ACT TWOA vestibule in the Palace, with a Gothic chapel to one side. Tebaldo has secretlyallied himself with Ordamante, who, with his followers, stealthily enters thepalace. Tebaldo’s plan is that he himself should murder Terigi, and then accuseOsvino of the actual deed and Odone of the overall conspiracy. Ordamante,now fully aware that Osvino is his son, finds himself playing a double gamesince, while ostensibly the ally of Tebaldo, he is really intent upon protectingOsvino. He still, however, believes Berta guilty of betraying him, so he is morethan happy that the rest of the French should perish.

–46–

Osvino, momentarily absent from his post as guardian of the child king Terigi,encounters Ordamante, whom he recognises as the Norman ambassador.Ordamante, in an attempt to coax him from his extreme hatred of the Normans,reveals that he is himself the Norman leader, though he as yet suppresses the factthat he is also Osvino’s father. He tries to convince the hot-headed young manthat he should think more kindly of his father, whom he speaks of simply as aFrenchman in the Norman ranks.

While they are conversing, a tumult is heard in the palace: Terigi has beenmurdered. Osvino, believing that Ordamante has deliberately detained himfrom his duty, draws his sword to slay him, so obliging him to declare that heis his father. As French soldiers make their appearance, Ordamante makes hisescape. Osvino, on the other hand, is arrested. Tebaldo, declaring that he wasseen speaking to a suspect stranger, accuses him of conspiring with the Normansand of murdering the infant king. Berta, already grief-stricken over Terigi’smurder, is even more distressed when Osvino is unable to deny either hisdesertion of his post or his conversation with the stranger2.

–47–

____________________________________2 There is a discrepancy in the libretto here. Earlier in the scene Ordamante had declared that ‘heand none other’ was Ordamante; yet now, when accused of conversing with a stranger, Osvinoinsists that, though he did indeed hold such a conversation, he does not know the name of the manhe was speaking to. It may be possible to explain away this discrepancy if we imagine that Osvino,his reactions and allegiances confused by the discovery that Ordamante is his father, is unwilling tomention his name.

ACT THREEA subterranean dungeon where Osvino is being held prisoner. Ordamante,admitted by Tebaldo, reveals, as soon as he is alone, that his allegiances andmotives continue to be complex. His collaboration with Tebaldo is simply oneof convenience: while he is prepared to let his treacherous ally seize the Frenchthrone, he has every intention of promptly throwing him off it thereafter. Hisreal concern continues to be for Osvino, for whom his love is genuine and deep.

He goes to release Osvino, but immediately finds himself repulsed: a veryidealistic young man would rather perish where he is than entrust himself tosuch a father. Ordamante tries to convince him that they are both equally thevictims of Osvino’s (still unnamed) mother, and forcibly drags him away.

SCENE TWOThe Council Chamber. Tebaldo informs the Council of Knights of Osvino’sescape and accuses Odone of organising it. As proof he produces a letter, whichhe claims was written by Odone and inadvertently dropped by Osvino: ifgenuine, it would convict Odone of aiming for the throne. He is unable to makethese accusations stick, however, since Osvino himself appears, declaring hisreadiness to give himself up and return to his imprisonment. He dismisses theletter as a forgery perpetrated by whoever it is who wishes Odone dead. Athwarted Tebaldo is obliged to acknowledge Odone exonerated, but he stilldetermines to encompass Osvino’s downfall and death.

A new advocate for Osvino now appears in the form of Berta. She suggeststhat the young man may not be guilty, but her regal intervention provesinsufficient to save him from impending condemnation. She is on the brink of

–48–

declaring him her son when news is brought that the Normans have enteredParis. Odone, Ebbone and all the French knights are about to race to battlewhen Osvino places himself at their head, pleading to be allowed to prove hisinnocence by shedding his blood for his country.

ACT FOURA vestibule in the Palace, as in Act Two. Ordamante has withdrawn from thebattle, demoralised since he sees his son in every French opponent. He findsBerta at her prayers. Learning that she did not willingly betray him, but was,quite as much as he, a victim of circumstances, he is reconciled with her.

The French under Odone and Osvino succeed in routing the Normans, butnot before Tebaldo treacherously and mortally wounds Osvino. The young manis carried in, and before he dies learns from Berta that she is his mother. Bertais left to deplore his loss, and Ordamante-Roberto to expiate his desertion fromFrance in a life of exile and penance.

© Jeremy Commons, 2010

–49–

ARGUMENT

PARIS SOUS LES Carolingiens, vers la fin du IXe siècle. De nombreusesannées avant le début de l’action, Egremont1, comte de Tours, entreprend demarier sa fille, Berta (Berthe chez Arlincourt), au roi Carloman II (879-884)afin de s’assurer une plus grande influence à la cour. Or celle-ci a eu une liaisonamoureuse secrète avec un chevalier franc, Roberto de Poitiers (Robert chezArlincourt), à qui elle a donné un fils, Osvino (Osvin chez Arlincourt).Egremont en conçoit une telle colère, en l’apprenant, qu’il décide d’assassinerRoberto et d’enlever l’enfant pour obliger Berta à épouser le roi. Il ne rendral’enfant à sa mère que si celle-ci promet de ne jamais révéler à son fils le secretde sa naissance (serment qu’elle brisera, en fait, à la fin de l’opéra).

Persuadée que Roberto est mort, Berta cède aux pressions de son père etaccepte d’épouser le roi. Après avoir mis au monde plusieurs enfants morts àla naissance ou en bas âge, elle donne enfin un héritier mâle à la couronne, leprince Terigi (Thierri chez Arlincourt).

Roberto a toutefois échappé à la mort. Apprenant le mariage de Berta, il sesent trahi et décide de se venger. Il déserte de l’armée carolingienne pourrejoindre les Normands qui, à l’époque, terrorisent l’Europe. Sous le nomd’« Odomante » (Ordamante dans le livret), il finit par devenir leur chef etassiège Paris.

À la mort de Carlomano en 814, Berta assume la régence pour son fils Terigi,encore enfant. Dans une situation politique des plus instables, Berta et Terigi

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___________________________________1 Dans la préface du livret imprimé, Romani nomme le personnage « Egmonte », et la pièced’Arlincourt le présente sous le nom d’« Egmont, comte de Tours ».

deviennent la cible d’un complot ourdi par le prince Tebaldo, usurpateur enpuissance, mais bénéficient de la protection du comte de Paris, Odone, chevalierprobe et patriote.

Ordamante, précisons-le, est parvenu à s’introduire secrètement dans la villeet a découvert à cette occasion qu’il a un fils adulte, Osvino, chevalier renommépour son courage. Il a également confronté Berta, qui sait désormais qu’il estvivant.

C’est à ce moment précis que débute l’opéra.

ACTE ISCÈNE 1Une salle gothique à l’intérieur du palais des Carolingiens, où les chevaliersfrancs, réunis en conseil, déplorent la situation du pays, exsangue et démoralisé,et veulent que Berta se remarie afin d’y remédier. Le vieil Ebbone comprendque le porte-parole des conseillers, Tebaldo, est motivé par l’ambitionpersonnelle, mais malgré les efforts du vieillard, celui-ci prévaut. Lorsque Bertaapprend que ses chevaliers souhaitent son remariage, elle rappelle à Ebbone, quiconnaît son passé, sa première union à Roberto. Elle lui révèle que Roberto vittoujours et qu’il est venu, un soir, interrompre ses prières en la menaçant de sevenger de ce qu’il considère comme une trahison.

Odone et Osvino rentrent victorieux d’une escarmouche avec les Normands.Odone raconte comment Ordamante, bouleversé de voir Osvino à sa merci, aépargné la vie du jeune homme et l’a laissé s’enfuir. Berta comprend alorsqu’Ordamante est nul autre que Roberto, aussi refuse-t-elle gentiment l’offrede mariage d’Odone, dont elle se sent pourtant véritablement aimée.

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SCÈNE 2Une galerie décorée d’armes. Tebaldo annonce que les Normands, par la voix deleur ambassadeur, menacent de prendre d’assaut la ville de Paris et de faire unmassacre à moins d’une reddition immédiate. Tous les chevaliers décident derésister jusqu’à la mort et Osvino brûle d’aller au combat. D’où sa vive déceptionlorsque la reine le retient pour lui confier la garde de la cour et du prince Terigi.Pour l’empêcher d’enfreindre ses ordres, elle se voit obligée de lui révéler qu’elleagit pour son bien : dans la lutte contre les Normands il risque, lui dit-elle, detuer son propre père. Elle refuse catégoriquement de révéler à Osvino le nom deson père, tout en lui assurant que c’est un Franc – pas un Normand. Etlorsqu’Osvino interroge Berta sur l’identité de sa mère, elle lui répond que savraie mère est morte mais qu’elle est là pour lui servir de mère.

ACTE IIUn passage qui jouxte la chapelle gothique à l’intérieur du palais. Tebaldo aconclu une alliance secrète avec Ordamante, lequel pénètre subrepticement dansle palais avec ses partisans. Tebaldo a l’intention d’assassiner Terigi de ses propresmains pour ensuite accuser Osvino du meurtre et Odone d’avoir organisé lecomplot. Ordamante, qui n’ignore pas qu’Osvino est son fils, joue un doublejeu : il se prétend l’allié de Tebaldo, mais cherche en vérité à protéger Osvino.Il reste convaincu cependant que Berta l’a trahi et se réjouit à la perspective devoir périr les Francs.

Osvino, qui s’est éloigné un instant du jeune Terigi dont il a la garde, croiseOrdamante et reconnaît en lui l’ambassadeur des Normands. Ordamante

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s’efforce d’adoucir la haine du jeune homme pour les Normands en lui révélantqu’il en est le chef, sans pour autant lui dire qu’il est aussi son père. Il tente deconvaincre le jeune impétueux de ne pas se montrer dur envers son père, dontil parle comme d’un simple chevalier franc parmi les Normands.

Durant cet échange, une clameur retentit dans le palais : Terigi vient d’êtreassassiné. Persuadé qu’Ordamante l’a retenu à seule fin de lui faire négliger sondevoir, Osvino tire son épée pour le tuer, l’obligeant par là à révéler qu’il est sonpère. À l’arrivée des Francs, Ordamante parvient à s’enfuir tandis qu’Osvino estarrêté. Tebaldo déclare qu’il a aperçu celui-ci en conversation avec un mystérieuxinconnu puis l’accuse de conspiration avec les Normands et du meurtre du jeuneroi. Berta, déjà affligée par la mort de Terigi, est encore plus accablée de voirOsvino incapable de démentir son abandon de poste et sa conversation avecl’inconnu2.

ACTE IIISCÈNE 1Un donjon souterrain où Osvino se trouve emprisonné. Ordamante lui rendvisite avec l’accord de Tebaldo. Dès qu’il se retrouve seul avec son fils,Ordamante lui avoue s’être mis dans une situation compliquée. La raison deson alliance avec Tebaldo est purement politique : s’il est prêt à laisser le traître

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___________________________________2 Ici, le livret se contredit. Un moment auparavant, Ordamante a déclaré qu’il est « nul autre »qu’Ordamante. Pourtant Osvino, accusé de s’entretenir avec un étranger, affirme ignorer sonidentité. Cela peut s’expliquer par la confusion d’Osvino qui, venant de découvrir qu’Ordamanteest son père, cherche à le protéger.

s’emparer du trône, c’est pour mieux le renverser par la suite. Sa seule véritablepréoccupation reste son fils, Osvino, auquel il est profondément attaché.

Il se propose de libérer Osvino, mais celui-ci le repousse : pour le jeuneidéaliste, mieux vaut périr que faire confiance à un père comme lui. Ordamanteessaie de convaincre le jeune homme qu’ils sont, l’un comme l’autre, victimesdes machinations de sa mère (dont l’identité reste secrète), puis l’entraîne deforce.

\SCÈNE 2La Salle du conseil. Tebaldo annonce aux chevaliers réunis qu’Osvino s’estéchappé avec la complicité d’Odone. Il en veut pour preuve une lettre de lamain d’Odone abandonnée involontairement par Osvino dans sa fuite : si ledocument est authentique, il permettra d’accuser Odone de briguer le trône,mais Tebaldo n’est pas en mesure de maintenir ses accusations. En effet, Osvinose présente en se déclarant prêt à retourner à sa cellule. Quant à la lettre, c’est,dit-il, un faux dont l’auteur veut la mort d’Odone. Tebaldo, contrarié dans sesplans, est obligé de reconnaître qu’Odone est innocent, mais n’en reste pas moinsdéterminé à provoquer la ruine et la mort d’Osvino.

Osvino trouve un nouveau défenseur en Berta, qui suggère qu’il est peut-êtreinnocent lui aussi, mais en vain. Voyant son intervention inutile, elle est sur lepoint de révéler qu’il est son fils afin de le sauver, lorsque l’entrée des Normandsdans Paris est annoncée. Alors qu’Odone, Ebbone et tous les chevalierss’apprêtent à courir au combat, Osvino demande à prendre leur tête afin deprouver son innocence en versant son sang pour le royaume.

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ACTE IVUn passage à l’intérieur du palais comme à l’Acte II. Ordamante s’est retiré dela bataille, accablé, car il croit reconnaître son fils dans chacun des combattantsennemis. Il trouve Berta en prière. Apprenant qu’elle ne l’a pas trahivolontairement, mais qu’elle s’est trouvée, comme lui, victime des circonstances,il se réconcilie avec elle.

Les Francs menés par Odone et Osvino parviennent à mettre les Normandsen déroute, mais pas avant que Tebaldo ait infligé, par traîtrise, une blessuremortelle à Osvino. Le jeune homme est amené au palais, où Berta elle-même luiapprend qu’elle est sa mère. Berta reste seule à lamenter sa perte tandisqu’Ordamante-Roberto va expier sa désertion de l’armée carolingienne dansl’exil et le remords.

© Jeremy Commons, 2010Traduction : Mireille Ribière

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DIE HANDLUNG

PARIS, HAUPTSTADT des karolingischen Königreichs, Ende des 9.Jahrhunderts n.Chr. Viele Jahre, bevor die Handlung der Oper einsetzt, betriebEgremont1, Graf von Tours, im Versuch, seinen Einfluss bei Hof zu stärken, dieHochzeit seiner Tochter Berta (bei Arlincourt „Berthe“) mit König KarlmannII. (879-884), dem Ur-Urenkel Karls des Großen. Allerdings musste erfeststellen, dass Berta hinter seinem Rücken eine Beziehung mit dem RitterRoberto von Poitiers (bei Arlincourt „Robert“) eingegangen war und aus dieserVerbindung auch ein Sohn, Osvino (bei Arlincourt „Osvin“), hervorgegangenwar. In seinem Zorn beschloss er, Roberto zu ermorden, das Kind als Geisel zunehmen und Berta dadurch zur Hochzeit mit dem König zu zwingen. Ergelobte, ihr das Kind zurückzugeben, wenn sie verspreche, Osvino nie dasGeheimnis seiner Geburt zu verraten (ein Versprechen, das sie im Lauf derOper bricht).

Da Berta ihren Geliebten für tot hielt, gab sie dem väterlichen Druck nachund heiratete Karlomann. Nach der Geburt einiger Kinder, die sehr frühstarben, und mehreren Totgeburten schenkte sie ihrem Mann einenmännlichen Erben, Prinz Terigi (bei Arlincourt „Thierri“).

Roberto war dem Mordanschlag allerdings entkommen und glaubte, als ervon Bertas Heirat erfuhr, sie habe ihn hintergangen. Aus Rache sagte er sichvon den Karolingern los und lief zu den feindlichen Normannen über, diedamals ganz Europa in Angst und Schrecken versetzten, nahm den Namen

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___________________________________1 Im Vorwort zum gedruckten Libretto nennt Romani ihn „Egmonte“, in Arlincourts Dramaheißt er „Egmont, comte de Tours“.

Odomante an (im Libretto „Ordamante“), wurde nach einiger Zeit ihr Anführerund belagerte Paris.

König Karlmann war 884 gestorben und Berta zur Regentin ihres kleinenSohns König Terigi ernannt. In einer politisch höchst instabilen Situationwurden sie und Terigi von einem Ränke schmiedenden Usurpator bedroht, demFürsten Tebaldo, doch der getreue Ritter und Patriot Odone, Graf von Paris,stellte sich schützend vor sie.

Einmal war es Ordamante in Verkleidung gelungen, nach Paris vorzudringen,und dabei hatte er erfahren, dass Osvino, der mittlerweile zum Mannherangewachsen war und großes Ansehen als tapferer Ritter genoss, sein Sohnwar. Zudem hatte er sich Berta zu erkennen gegeben, das heißt, ihr war bekannt,dass er noch am Leben ist.

Vor diesem Hintergrund setzt die Handlung ein.

1. AKT1. SZENEEin gotischer Saal im Palast der Karolinger, wo die fränkischen Ritter bei einerRatssitzung den geschwächten Zustand des Reichs beklagen und den Wunschäußern, Berta möge zur Stärkung ihrer Macht eine neue Ehe eingehen. Derältere Ebbone erkennt, dass Tebaldo, der als Sprecher des Rats auftritt, auspersönlichem Ehrgeiz spricht, scheitert aber mit seinen Bemühungen, dessenhinterhältige Absichten zu vereiteln. Als Berta erkennt, mit welcherEntschlossenheit ihre Verehelichung betrieben wird, erinnert sie Ebbone, derihre persönliche Geschichte eindeutig kennt, an ihre frühere Ehe mit Roberto.Sie berichtet, dass er noch am Leben ist, und schildert, wie er sie eines Abends

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beim Gebet überraschte und grausame Rache schwor für den angeblichenVerrat, den sie an ihm begangen habe.

Odone und Osvino kehren siegreich von einem Gefecht mit den Normannenzurück. Odone berichtet, dass Ordamante Osvino in seiner Gewalt hatte undihn hätte töten können, in offenkundiger Verwirrung jedoch entkommen ließ.Berta erkennt, dass es sich bei Ordamante um keinen anderen als Robertohandeln kann, und lehnt aus diesem Grund freundlich, aber standhaft OdonesHeiratsantrag ab, auch wenn sie weiß, dass er sie aufrichtig liebt.

2. SZENEEine mit Waffen geschmückte Galerie. Tebaldo berichtet, ein Botschafter derNormannen sei gekommen und habe mit einem unerbittlichen Angriff gedroht,bei dem alle hingemetzelt würden, wenn Paris nicht unverzüglich kapituliere.Alle Ritter stimmen dafür, sich bis zum bitteren Ende zu wehren. Umsobestürzter ist der vor Kampfeslust brennende Osvino, als die Königin ihnzurückhält und zum Bewacher des Hofes und ihres Sohnes Terigi ernennt. Umzu verhindern, dass er sich ihr offen widersetzt, sieht sie sich gezwungen, ihmzu eröffnen, sie tue dies nur zu seinem eigenen Besten: Wenn er gegen dieNormannen kämpfte, sagt sie, liefe er Gefahr, seinen eigenen Vater zu töten.Sie weigert sich beharrlich, ihm den Namen seines Vaters zu nennen, betontjedoch, dass er ein Franke und kein Normanne ist. Als Osvino nach seinerMutter fragt, behauptet sie in frommer Lüge, seine leibliche Mutter seigestorben, doch solle er sie als Ersatzmutter betrachten.

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2. AKTEin Vestibül im Palast, an einer Seite schließt sich eine gotische Kapelle an.Tebaldo hat sich insgeheim mit Ordamante verbündet, der mit seinenAnhängern in den Palast schleicht. Tebaldos Plan sieht vor, Terigi umzubringen,die Tat aber Osvino zur Last zu legen und Odone der umfassendenVerschwörung zu bezichtigen. Ordamante ist mittlerweile davon überzeugt, dassOsvino sein Sohn ist, und spielt ein doppeltes Spiel, gibt sich als VerbündeterTebaldos aus, während es ihm letztlich nur darum geht, Osvino zu schützen.Allerdings glaubt er nach wie vor, Berta habe ihn hintergangen, und frohlocktdeshalb über die Aussicht auf den Tod der übrigen Franken.

Osvino hat seine Bewachung des Kindkönigs Terigi kurz unterbrochen undbegegnet Ordamante, in dem er den normannischen Botschafter wiedererkennt. Im Versuch, seinen Sohn von dessen unendlichem Hass auf dieNormannen abzubringen, offenbart er sich als deren Anführer, gibt sich abernach wie vor nicht als sein Vater zu erkennen. Vielmehr redet er demhitzköpfigen jungen Mann gut zu, nicht allzu schlecht von seinem Vater zudenken, den er lediglich als einen Franken im normannischen Heer bezeichnet.

Noch während sie sprechen, dringt vom Palast Lärm herüber: Terigi istermordet worden. Osvino ist überzeugt, dass Ordamante ihn absichtlich vonseiner Pflicht abhielt und zieht das Schwert, um ihn zu erschlagen, so dass diesersich gezwungen sieht, sich als sein Vater zu offenbaren. Als fränkische Soldatenerscheinen, gelingt Ordamante die Flucht. Osvino hingegen wirdfestgenommen, Tebaldo erklärt, man habe ihn mit einem verdächtigen Fremdenreden sehen, und wirft ihm vor, gemeinsame Sache mit den Normannen zumachen und den jungen König ermordet zu haben. Bertas Kummer über den

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Mord an Terigi wächst noch, als Osvino weder abstreiten kann, dass er seinenPosten verließ, noch, dass er sich mit dem Fremden unterhielt.2

3. AKT1. SZENEEin unterirdischer Kerker, in dem Osvino gefangen gehalten wird. Ordamantewird von Tebaldo vorgelassen, und sobald Vater und Sohn unter vier Augensind, gesteht er, dass seine Loyalitäten und Motive sehr komplex seien. SeineVerbrüderung mit Tebaldo habe nichts zu besagen: Sein hinterhältigerVerbündeter dürfe gerne den fränkischen Thron besteigen, er werde ihn alsbaldwieder davon entfernen. Seine wahre Sorge gelte Osvino, den er aufrichtig liebt.

Er will gehen, um Osvino freisetzen zu lassen, doch der idealistische jungeMann weist sein Ansinnen wütend von sich: Er werde lieber in diesem Kerkersterben als sich der Gnade eines solchen Vaters ausliefern. Ordamante versucht,ihm zu erklären, sie seien beide gleichermaßen das Opfer von Osvinos (nochimmer ungenannter) Mutter, und schleppt ihn gewaltsam fort.

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___________________________________2 Hier widerspricht sich das Libretto. Etwas früher in dieser Szene hatte Ordamante beteuert, „erund kein anderer“ sei Ordamante, jetzt aber behauptet Osvino, er habe zwar in der Tat mit einemFremden gesprochen, doch kenne er den Namen des Mannes nicht. Zur Erklärung diesesWiderspruchs könnte man vielleicht anführen, Osvino sei derart verwirrt ob der Enthüllung, dassOrdamante sein Vater ist, und sich seiner Loyalitäten derart ungewiss, dass er dessen Namen nichtnennen will.

2. SZENE Der Ratssaal. Tebaldo berichtet den versammelten Rittern von Osvinos Fluchtund schmäht Odone als Komplizen des jungen Mannes. Zum Beweis legt ereinen Brief vor, der angeblich von Odone stammt und den Osvino aus Versehenfallen ließ. Wäre das Schreiben echt, hätte Odone sich der Anmaßung desThrons schuldig gemacht. Allerdings kann Tebaldo seine Behauptung nichtlange aufrechterhalten, denn Osvino selbst erscheint und erklärt sich bereit,freiwillig in die Gefangenschaft zurückzukehren. Er enttarnt den Brief alsFälschung, geschrieben von einem, der sich Odones Tod wünsche. Unter diesemDruck muss Tebaldo zugeben, dass Odone entlastet ist, doch ist er nach wie vorentschlossen, Osvinos Sturz und Tod herbeizuführen.

In dem Moment tritt auch Berta als Fürsprecherin Osvinos auf und gibt zubedenken, der junge Mann könne möglicherweise doch unschuldig sein. Alsaber selbst das Einschreiten der Königin seine Verurteilung nicht abzuwendenvermag, will sie ihn gerade als ihren Sohn zu erkennen geben, als die Nachrichteintrifft, dass die Normannen in Paris eingefallen sind. Odone, Ebbone undalle fränkischen Ritter wollen sich in die Schlacht stürzen, und Osvino stelltsich an ihre Spitze und bittet sie, seine Unschuld beweisen und für sein LandBlut vergießen zu dürfen.

4. AKTEin Vestibül im Palast, wie im 2. Akt. Ordamante hat sich aus der Schlachtzurückgezogen, zu bedrückt, um zu kämpfen, denn er sieht in jedem Gegnerseinen Sohn. Er trifft Berta im Gebet versunken an. Als er erfährt, dass sie ihnnicht willentlich betrog, sondern ebenso wie er zum Opfer der Umstände wurde,ist er mit ihr versöhnt.

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Unter Odone und Osvino gelingt es den Franken, die Normannen in dieFlucht zu schlagen, doch erst, nachdem Tebaldo Osvino eine tödliche Wundebeigebracht hat. Sterbend wird der junge Mann in den Palast getragen underfährt von Berta, dass sie seine Mutter ist. Berta bleibt zurück, um seinen Todzu beweinen, und Ordamante/Roberto, um mit Exil und Sühne zu büßen, dasser sich dereinst von den Franken lossagte.

© Jeremy Commons, 2010Übersetzt von Ursula Wulfekamp

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RIASSUNTO DELLA TRAMA

PARIGI, CAPITALE del regno dei Carolingi, alla fine del IX secolo. Moltianni prima dell’inizio dell’opera, per accrescere il proprio potere alla corte,Egremont1 Conte di Tours aveva dato sua figlia Berta (Berthe nel dramma diArlincourt) in sposa al re Carlomanno II (879-884), pronipote di Carlomagno.Aveva però scoperto che Berta aveva una relazione segreta con un cavalierefrancese, Roberto di Poitiers (Robert per Arlincourt), a cui aveva addiritturadato un figlio, Osvino (Osvin per Arlincourt). In un empito di sdegno, avevatentato di fare assassinare Roberto e rapire il bambino per obbligare Berta allenozze con il re. Si era detto disposto a restituire il bambino se la figlia avessepromesso di non rivelargli mai il segreto della sua nascita (la donna rompe ilgiuramento solo alla fine dell’opera).

Convinta che Roberto fosse morto, Berta aveva ceduto a queste pressioni eaccettato di sposare il re. Dopo aver partorito neonati morti o bambini chemorivano in tenera età, finalmente aveva dato al marito un erede, il principeTerigi (Thierri per Arlincourt).

Roberto, però, era sfuggito all’attentato mortale e, avendo saputo delmatrimonio di Berta con il re, si era convinto di essere stato tradito. Pervendicarsi aveva disertato l’esercito dei Franchi per passare a quello deiNormanni nemici, che all’epoca terrorizzavano l’Europa. Con il nome diOdomante (Ordamante nel libretto), era divenuto in seguito il loro capo eaveva stretto d’assedio Parigi.

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___________________________________1 Nella Prefazione alla stampa del suo libretto, Romani lo chiama ‘Egmonte’; nel dramma diArlincourt invece lo stesso personaggio è ‘Egmont, comte de Tours’.

Alla morte di re Carlomanno nell’anno 844, Berta diventava Reggente perconto del figlio bambino, re Terigi. In una situazione politica che era tuttotranne che stabile, madre e figlio subivano i minacciosi complotti di un sedicenteusurpatore, il principe Tebaldo, ma godevano della protezione di Odone, contedi Parigi, patriota e fedele cavaliere.

Bisogna aggiungere che una volta Ordamante era riuscito a penetraretravestito in città e aveva scoperto che Osvino, ormai adulto e rispettato per ilsuo valore di cavaliere, era suo figlio. Aveva anche rivisto Berta, la quale da allorasapeva che l’uomo era ancora vivo.

È a questo punto che inizia la vicenda del melodramma.

ATTO PRIMOSCENA PRIMAUn salone gotico nel Palazzo dei Carolingi. I cavalieri francesi in consigliodeplorano lo stato di prostrazione e demoralizzazione del Paese ed esprimono ildesiderio che Berta rafforzi la propria posizione risposandosi. Ebbone, unanziano cavaliere, capisce che il portavoce dei consiglieri, Tebaldo, agisce spintodalla propria ambizione personale, ma si adopera invano per contrastarne lemalvagie intenzioni. Quando Berta viene a sapere che tutti desiderano le sueseconde nozze, ricorda ad Ebbone, chiaramente al corrente del suo passato, il suoprecedente matrimonio con Roberto. Rivela che Roberto è ancora vivo: unasera l’ha interrotta mentre pregava, accusandola di averlo tradito e minacciandouna spietata vendetta.

Rientrano Odone e Osvino, vittoriosi dopo un piccolo scontro con iNormanni. Odone riferisce che Ordamante aveva catturato Osvino e avrebbepotuto ucciderlo ma, preso da apparente confusione se lo era lasciato sfuggire.

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Berta capisce che Ordamante non è altri che Roberto; per questo respinge congarbo, ma con fermezza, un’offerta di matrimonio di Odone, anche se capiscedi essere veramente amata da lui.

SCENA SECONDAUna galleria decorata con armi. Tebaldo riferisce che è arrivato un ambasciatoredei Normanni: se Parigi non si arrenderà immediatamente, il nemico minacciaun duro assalto e tutti saranno passati a fil di spada. Tutti i cavalieri decidonodi lottare fino all’ultimo sangue ma Osvino, che desidera lanciarsi nel mezzodella mischia, è sgomento quando la Regina lo trattiene e lo nomina custodedella corte e di suo figlio Terigi. Per impedirgli di disobbedirle apertamente, laregina è costretta a rivelargli che agisce per il suo bene: affrontando i Normannirischierebbe di uccidere suo padre. Rifiuta risolutamente di rivelargli il nome delpadre, ma insiste che si tratta di un francese e non di un normanno. QuandoOsvino le chiede di sua madre, la donna risponde con una pietosa menzogna:la sua vera madre è morta, ma può considerare lei madre putativa.

ATTO SECONDOUn vestibolo nel Palazzo, affiancato da una cappella gotica. Tebaldo ha strettoun’alleanza segreta con Ordamante che, con i suoi seguaci, entra furtivamentenel palazzo. Tebaldo medita di uccidere personalmente Terigi, per poi accusareOsvino del delitto e Odone della congiura. Ormai certo che Osvino sia suofiglio, Ordamante si ritrova a fare il doppio gioco: ufficialmente alleato diTebaldo, in realtà è deciso a proteggere Osvino. Pensa ancora che Berta siacolpevole di averlo tradito e per questo non si cura della sorte degli altri Francesi.

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Allontanandosi per un momento dal suo posto di custode del re bambinoTerigi, Osvino incontra Ordamante e riconosce in lui l’ambasciatore del nemico.Nel tentativo di persuaderlo a non odiare i Normanni, Ordamante rivela diessere il loro capo, ma senza rivelare ancora la sua identità al figlio. Cerca diconvincere il giovane esaltato a pensare con meno astio al proprio padre e lodefinisce un semplice Francese tra le file dei Normanni.

Durante la conversazione, si verifica un trambusto nel palazzo: Terigi è statoassassinato. Convinto che Ordamante lo abbia trattenuto apposta, Osvinosguaina la spada per ucciderlo e così lo costringe a svelare la sua vera identità dipadre. Mentre arrivano i soldati francesi, Ordamante si dà alla fuga. Osvinoinvece viene arrestato. Dichiarando di averlo visto a colloquio con un estraneosospetto, Tebaldo lo accusa di complottare con i Normanni e di aver ucciso il rebambino. Berta, già sconvolta dall�