LA GIOCONDA THE BALLAD SINGER

Opera in four acts by Ponchielli, libretto by Arrigo Boïto, after Victor Hugo's play, "Angelo, Tyrant of Padua." Boïto signed the book with his anagram, "Tobia Gorrio." Produced in its original version, La Scala, Milan, April 8, 1876; and with a new version of the libretto in Genoa, December, 1876. London, Covent Garden, May 31, 1883. New York, December 20, 1883 (for details, see below); revived, Metropolitan Opera House, November 28, 1904, with Nordic a, Homer, Edyth Walker, Caruso, Giraldoni, and Plançon; later with Destinn, Ober, and Amato. Characters | La Gioconda, a ballad singer | Soprano | | La Cieca, her blind mother | Contralto | | Alvise, one of the heads of the State Inquisition | Ba | | Laura, his wife | Mezzo-Soprano | | Enzo Grimaldo, a Genoese noble | Tenor | | Barnaba, a spy of the Inquisition | Baritone | | Zuàne, a boatman | Ba | | Isèpo, a public letter-writer | Tenor | | A Pilot | Ba | Monks, senators, sailors, shipwrights, ladies, gentlemen, populace, maskers, guards, etc. Time —17th Century. Place —Venice. IMG:872270115144378713_amato_barnaba.png:Amato Copyright photo by Mishkin Amato as Barnaba in “La Gioconda” Twenty-one years elapsed between the production of "La Gioconda" at the Metropolitan Opera House and its revival. Since its reawakening it has taken a good hold on the repertoire, which makes it difficult to explain why it should have been allowed to sleep so long. It may be that po ibilities of casting it did not suggest themselves. Not always does "Cielo e mar" flow as suavely from lips as it does from those of Caruso. Then, too, managers are superstitious, and may have hesitated to make re-trial of anything that had been attempted at that first season of opera at the Metropolitan, one of the most disastrous on record. Even Praxede Marcel line Kochanska (in other words Marcella Sembrich), who was a member of Henry E. Abbey's troupe, was not re-engaged for this country, and did not reappear at the Metropolitan until fourteen years later. "La Gioconda" was produced at that house December 20, 1883, with Christine Nil on in the title rôle; Scalchi as La Cieca ; Fursch-Madi as Laura ; Stagno as Enzo ; Del Puente as Barnaba ; and Novara as Alvise . Cavalazzi, one of the leading dancers of her day, appeared in the "Danza delle Ore" (Dance of the Hours). It was a good performance, but Del Puente hardly was sinister enough for Barnaba , or Stagno distinguished enough in voice and personality for Enzo . There was in the course of the performance an unusual occurrence and one that is interesting to hark back to. Nil on had a voice of great beauty—pure, limpid, flexible—but not one conditioned to a severe dramatic strain. Fursch-Madi, on the other hand, had a large, powerful voice and a singularly dramatic temperament. When La Gioconda and Laura appeared in the great duet in the second act, "L'amo come il fulgor del creato" (I love him as the light of creation), Fursch-Madi, without great effort, "took away" this number from Mme. Nil on, and completely eclipsed her. When the two singers came out in answer to the recalls, Mme. Nil on, as etiquette demanded, was slightly in advance of the mezzo-soprano, for whom, however, most of the applause was intended. Mme. Fursch-Madi was a fine singer, but lacked the pleasing personality and appealing temperament that we spoiled Americans demand of our singers. She died, in extreme poverty and after a long illne , in a little hut on one of the Orange mountains in New Jersey, where an old chorus singer had given her shelter. She had appeared in many tragedies of the stage, but none more tragic than her own last hours. Each act of "La Gioconda" has its separate title: Act I, "The Lion's Mouth"; Act II, "The Rosary"; Act III, "The House of Gold"; Act IV, "The Orfano Canal." The title of the opera can be translated as "The Ballad Singer," but the Italian title appears invariably to be used. Act I. "The Lion's Mouth." Grand courtyard of the Ducal palace, decorated for festivities. At back, the Giant's Stairway, and the Portico dell a Carta, with doorway leading to the interior of the Church of St. Mark. On the left, the writing-table of a public letter-writer. On one side of the courtyard one of the historic Lion's Mouths, with the following inscription cut in black letters into the wall: FOR SECRET DENUNCIATIONS TO THE INQUISITION