Lot n° 252
Estimation :
5000 - 6000
EUR
Result without fees
Result
: 4 500EUR
VERDI Giuseppe (1813-1901).
L.A.S. "G. Verdi", Paris 23 November 1848, to Salvatore CAMMARANO in Naples; 3 1/4 pages in-8, address; in Italian.
Long and important letter to his librettist, notably about his opera Macbeth and the role of Lady Macbeth [Salvatore CAMMARANO (1801-1852) was Donizetti's librettist (notably for
Lucia di Lammermoor) and Mercadante, before becoming Verdi's librettist at the beginning, for Alzira (1845), La Battaglia di Legnano (first performed in Rome on 27 January 1849, discussed here), Luisa Miller (1849). Disappointed by the slow pace of Cammarano, to whom he had proposed Il Trovatore and Macbeth, Verdi then turned to Francesco Maria Piave, who wrote the libretto of Macbeth, which premiered on March 14, 1847 in Florence, at the Teatro della Pergola, with Marianna Barbieri-Nini as Lady Macbeth].
The beginning of the letter is devoted to La Battaglia di Legnano; Verdi, who had received the third act, had asked Cammarano to add a scene for the prima donna, as it seemed to him that this role did not have the importance of the other two; he would therefore like Cammarano to add a great and very agitated recitative after the chorus of death in which she manifests love, despair at knowing Arrigo dedicated to death, fear of being discovered, etc. After a beautiful recitative, the husband must appear, a beautiful pathetic duettino must be performed.
Duettino pathetic: to have the son blessed by the father, or something else... etc. One last little favour, he would like four lines between Arrigo and Rolando (together) for the end of Act II before the lines Infamati e maledetti...
He would like to give importance to this wound in the Finale and would be sorry to repeat words there. He wants strong and energetic lines showing this idea: There will come a time when your descendants will be horrified to bear your name etc. He wants these lines immediately, for he has no time to lose. He would also like another voice, a tenor, in the introduction, for example, a squire of Arrigo, who could also be placed in the last Finale? He could support Arrigo when he is injured....
"vi ripeto qui le mie intenzioni. Siccome parmi che la parte della donna non sia dell'importanza delle altre due, così io desidererei che voi aggiungeste dopo il coro della morte un gran recitativo agitatissimo in cui manifestasse l'amore, la disperazione di saper Arrigo consacrato alla morte ; il timore di essere scoperta etc... etc... ; dopo un bel Rec. far soppraggiungere il marito e fare un bel Duettino patetico : fare che il padre benedica il figlio, o qualche cosa d'altro... etc... Un'ultimo favore, piccolissimo, desidero da voi. Nel finire dell'atto secondo, amerei quattro versi tra Arrigo e Rolando (insieme) avanti Infamati e maledetti /voi sarete in ogni età. Vorrei dare importanza a quello squarcio avanti il Finale e mi dispiacerebbe fare in quel punto ripetizione di parole. Li desidero forti ed energici questi versi; io desidererei che manifestassero quest'idea: Verrà un tempo in cui i vostri discendenti avranno orrore di portare il vostro nome etc. etc., poi Infamati e maledetti etc... Se voi potete farli e mandarmeli subito mi farete gran piacere perchè non ho tempo da perdere. - Ditemi ancora: (non vi spaventate!) a me abbisognerebbe nel concertato dell' introduzione di avere un'altra voce, un tenore; si potrebbe mettere per esempio uno Scudiero d'Arrigo? Il quale scudiero si potrebbe, parmi, mettere anche nell'ultimo Finale?... potrebbe sostenere Arrigo quando è ferito "... As for their other projects, the Fieramosca certainly recalls a beautiful period and is a beautiful subject; it needs clear-cut characters, passion, movement, the very pathetic, and above all the grandiose and spectacular ("il grandioso e lo spettacoloso") indispensable to succeed in a great theatre, such as San Carlo. He would give his preference to a subject that would give him something vast and grand ("un sogetto che mi presenti qualche cose di ben vasto di ben grande"); and he also evokes other subjects: L'assedio di Firenze, or Ferruccio, the latter presenting himself as a giant, a colossus of grandeur and love of country ("come un gigante, un colosso di grandezza, e d'amor patrio"). And Verdi refers Cammarano to Guerrazzi's novel (L'Assedio di Firenze) where the characters are already well defined... Then Verdi comes to Macbeth, an opera that interests him more than the others; he is concerned to know that Eugenia Tadolini is to play the role of Lady Macbeth, and he is astonished that she has agreed to play this role. Verdi expresses all his esteem for Tadolini; but he judges that Tadolini has too many great qualities to do this role? She has a beautiful and good figure, but he would like Lady Macbeth to be ugly and bad. Tadolini sings perfectly; and he wishes Lady would not sing. Tadolini has a wonderful voice, clear, limpid, powerful
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