Τζουζέππε Βέρντι: Ένας χορός μεταμφιεσμένων
Λιμπρέτο: Αντόνιο Σόμμα
Βασισμένο στο λιμπρέτο Γουσταύος Γ' ή Ένας χορός μεταμφιεσμένων του Εζέν Σκριμπ
Λιμπρέτο: Αντόνιο Σόμμα
Βασισμένο στο λιμπρέτο Γουσταύος Γ' ή Ένας χορός μεταμφιεσμένων του Εζέν Σκριμπ
Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή
17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 29 Δεκεμβρίου 2011
Η μεγαλειώδης όπερα του Τζουζέππε Βέρντι, η οποία πραγματεύεται τη δύναμη της εξουσίας, τον έρωτα και την προδοσία, παρουσιάζεται, στην πρωτότυπη μη λογοκριμένη εκδοχή της, για πρώτη φορά στην Ελλάδα, σε μουσική διεύθυνση Λουκά Καρυτινού και σκηνοθεσία Δημήτρη Μαυρίκιου.
H Όπερα σε τρεις πράξεις, Ένας Χορός μεταμφιεσμένων βασίζεται σε ποιητικό κείμενο του Αντόνιο Σόμμα που με τη σειρά του στηρίχτηκε σε προγενέστερο του Εζέν Σκριμπ για την όπερα Γουσταύος Γ’ ή Ο χορός των μεταμφιεσμένων του Ντανιέλ Ωμπέρ. Η γαλλική όπερα είχε παρουσιαστεί με μεγάλη επιτυχία στο Παρίσι το 1833.
Από μουσική άποψη, ο Χορός μεταμφιεσμένων είναι ένα από τα πιο ενδιαφέροντα έργα του Βέρντι καθώς συνενώνει το γνώριμο ιταλικό πάθος του συνθέτη με την λαμπρότητα της γαλλικής όπερας, που υπήρξε πρότυπό του. Επιπλέον, ξεχωρίζει από τα υπόλοιπα έργα του Βέρντι, καθώς διαθέτει ένα στοιχείο που σπάνια συνδυάζουμε με αυτόν: το χιούμορ.
Ο Δημήτρης Μαυρίκιος, με μεγάλες επιτυχίες στο θέατρο και τον κινηματογράφο, επιστρέφει στην Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή, 27 χρόνια μετά από την πρώτη του σκηνοθεσία στην όπερα του Μασνέ Βέρθερος. Ο Μαυρίκιος τοποθετεί τη δράση του έργου στο σήμερα. Η παράσταση ξεκινάει με την αναπαλαίωση της πρόσοψης ενός μνημειακού κτηρίου όπερας και τελειώνει με τη δολοφονία του ήρωα του έργου μέσα στο κτήριο αυτό.
Η υπόθεση στηρίζεται σε πραγματικό γεγονός, τη δολοφονία του Γουσταύου Γ’ βασιλιά της Σουηδίας κατά τη διάρκεια ενός χορού μεταμφιεσμένων το 1792 μέσα στην Βασιλική Όπερα της Στοκχόλμης. Οι λογοκριτικές αρχές προκάλεσαν πολλά προβλήματα στον Βέρντι, καθώς η σκηνική παρουσίαση της δολοφονίας ευρωπαίου μονάρχη δεν ήταν ανεκτή. Έτσι, τόπος και δράση της υπόθεσης μεταφέρθηκαν στη Βοστώνη στα τέλη του 17ου αιώνα και ο βασιλιάς Γουσταύος Γ΄ έγινε κυβερνήτης με το όνομα Ρικκάρντο. Πρόσωπα όπως η μάντισσα Ουλρίκα Άρβιντσον υπήρχαν στο περιβάλλον του μονάρχη, ωστόσο η αισθηματική πλοκή είναι τελείως φανταστική. Στη νέα παραγωγή της Εθνικής Λυρικής Σκηνής ο Δημήτρης Μαυρίκιος επέλεξε να επαναφέρει τα ιστορικά πρόσωπα και τον τόπο της δράσης.
Στην πρωτότυπη, μη λογοκριμένη, εκδοχή του Χορού Μεταμφιεσμένων, που με τη μορφή αυτή δεν έχει παιχτεί ποτέ έως τώρα στην Ελλάδα, ο λαοφιλής Γουσταύος Γ' της Σουηδίας εμφανίζεται διχασμένος ανάμεσα στο κρυφό πάθος του για την Αμέλια και τη βαθιά φιλία που τον δένει με το σύζυγό της Άνκαρστραιμ. Η Αμέλια, επίσης ερωτευμένη με τον Γουσταύο, θέλοντας να προστατέψει το γάμο της, καταφεύγει στη μάγισσα Ουλρίκα Άρβιντσον. Εκείνη τη στέλνει να βρει το βοτάνι της λήθης σ' έναν τρομακτικό τόπο εκτέλεσης καταδίκων, όπου συναντά τον Γουσταύο που την είχε ακολουθήσει ως εκεί. Τη συνάντηση αυτή ανακαλύπτει ο Άνκαρστραιμ μέσα από τον ζήλο του να προστατεύσει τον βασιλιά από εχθρούς του ορκισμένους να τον δολοφονήσουν. Συντετριμμένος και διπλά προδομένος από τη γυναίκα και τον φίλο του, ο Άνκαρστραιμ θα συνεργαστεί με τους συνωμότες. Ένας χορός μεταμφιεσμένων θα προσφέρει τις ιδανικές συνθήκες για την εκδίκησή του. Ο «φωτισμένος» μονάρχης Γουσταύος Γ' της Σουηδίας δολοφονήθηκε στις 16 Μαρτίου του 1792 μέσα στη βασιλική όπερα της Στοκχόλμης κατά τη διάρκεια ενός χορού μεταμφιεσμένων που ο ίδιος είχε διοργανώσει.
Το κείμενο του Αντόνιο Σόμμα, ξεχωρίζει για τη θεατρικότητά του, στηρίζεται σε διαρκείς ανατροπές και σε ειρωνικά παιχνίδια της μοίρας ενώ δίνει ευκαιρία στους ήρωες να εκφράσουν με πάθος τα συναισθήματά τους.
Ο Τζουζέππε Βέρντι, με τη μουσική του εξέφρασε σε αισθητικό επίπεδο το πνεύμα του ώριμου ρομαντισμού και σε πολιτικό επίπεδο την επιθυμία των συμπατριωτών του να δουν την Ιταλία ελεύθερη και ενωμένη. Αγαπήθηκε από ιδιαίτερα πλατύ κοινό και απέκτησε εξαρχής δημοτικότητα που παραμένει αμείωτη μέχρι σήμερα. Στις ιστορικές, πολιτικές και κοινωνικές συνθήκες του 19ου αιώνα ο Βέρντι υπήρξε ο συνθέτης που έζησε εκείνη την μοναδική στιγμή στην Ιστορία της μουσικής, κατά την οποία η υψηλή τέχνη έγινε ταυτόχρονα και λαϊκή. (nationalopera.gr)
Gustav III, King of Sweden (1746-1792)
In a glittering time of Enlightened despots, when learning, culture, and sophistication were prized throughout the courts of Europe, Gustav III managed to glitter more brightly than the rest. During his reign, Swedish culture competed head to head with the brilliant courts of Versailles, Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. Literature, music, theater, and opera blossomed and Gustav himself took an active role in their success.
Gustav surrounded himself with clever and talented men; he showed no romantic interest in women, including his wife. He was generally believed to be homosexual; his own mother clearly assumed he was. Although his inclinations lay in cultural matters, Gustav never slighted his political duties. Unfortunately for him, his politics as well as his sexuality were seriously at odds with those of the Swedish nobility, a state of affairs that eventually cost him his life.
In a glittering time of Enlightened despots, when learning, culture, and sophistication were prized throughout the courts of Europe, Gustav III managed to glitter more brightly than the rest. During his reign, Swedish culture competed head to head with the brilliant courts of Versailles, Berlin, Vienna, and St. Petersburg. Literature, music, theater, and opera blossomed and Gustav himself took an active role in their success.
Gustav surrounded himself with clever and talented men; he showed no romantic interest in women, including his wife. He was generally believed to be homosexual; his own mother clearly assumed he was. Although his inclinations lay in cultural matters, Gustav never slighted his political duties. Unfortunately for him, his politics as well as his sexuality were seriously at odds with those of the Swedish nobility, a state of affairs that eventually cost him his life.
Gustav was born in Stockholm on January 13, 1746 Old Style (January 24, 1746 New Style), to King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika, sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia. Since 1718, the nobility had controlled the Swedish government and the monarch served as a mere figurehead. While Gustav's weak father meekly accepted his role as a cipher, Louisa Ulrika continuously plotted to loosen the aristocrats' grip on power and seize it for her husband and herself.
Gustav grew up in an atmosphere seething with political intrigue among strong-willed, intelligent people. His flair for and interest in music and theater became apparent when he was a boy and, unlike his uncle Frederick, he was allowed to indulge it. He wrote, produced, and performed plays in French to entertain his mother and her entourage; he even designed sets and costumes.
For political reasons Gustav was betrothed to Sophia Magdalena of Denmark when he was only five. In 1766, when he was twenty, the two married, though the marriage never proved satisfying to either Gustav or Sophia.
While touring France in 1771, Gustav heard the news of his father's sudden death on February 12. With methodical calculation Gustav sent word to the Riksdag, Sweden's legislative assembly, that he counted on their support and assured them of his intention to follow his father's policies. Thus allaying any suspicions the nobility may have harbored, Gustav slowly returned to Sweden only after continuing his visit at Versailles and stopping in Prussia to confer with his uncle Frederick.
Contemporaries and historians alike agree that he dissimulated. Every account of his life speaks of his habit of deceit, lies, and pretence. Some suggest that his love of theater led him to live his life as a perpetual actor. Perhaps as a homosexual, he learned early on to mask his true feelings. In any case, Gustav successfully lulled the Swedish aristocracy into a sense of false security at the onset of his reign.
With the help of a few trusted friends and his younger brothers, Gustav managed to seize control of all key fortresses and to secure the support of the military. By August, only six months after ascending the throne, Gustav reigned as absolute monarch like his counterparts in Prussia and Russia, Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great.
Although he alienated the nobility, the bourgeoisie and lower classes welcomed the change. Despite embroiling Sweden in a series of conflicts with Denmark and Russia, Gustav managed to steer Sweden through these turbulent times and emerge with Europe's respect.
Theater, literature, art, music, and opera all flourished under Gustav's encouragement and patronage. Indeed, the period known as the Gustavian Age did not receive that name based on Swedish military or political achievements; rather it was the flowering of the arts that caused the king's name to become associated with the period.
The Swedish Academy for Language, the Academy for Literature, History and Antiquities, the Academy of Music, and the Academy of Art all originated during Gustav's reign. Although he extended religious toleration to Roman Catholics and Jews, he rigorously censored the press. Gustav loved freedom, as long as it suited his purposes.
Surprisingly, Queen Sophia Magdalena gave birth to a son in 1778. Although not conclusively proved, contemporaries believed that Gustav and Sophia Magdalena secretly divorced, whereupon the Queen secretly married Count Adolph Fredric Munck of Fulkila, who impregnated her.
Similarly, when the wife of Gustav's younger brother, who was also homosexual, announced her pregnancy, rumor spread that it was merely a complicated ruse designed to substitute and cover for Gustav's sister, who was also rumored to be pregnant although she was not married. In both instances, the Dowager Queen Louisa Ulrika clearly expressed her surprise and disbelief that either of her two older sons could possibly father a child.
Fittingly enough, operatic tragedy and politics converged to end Gustav's life. On March 16, 1792, a malcontented nobleman, Johan Jaboc Anckarström, shot Gustav in the back at a midnight masquerade at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. Gustav died on March 29th.
Considering how much Gustav loved opera, perhaps it is appropriate that his assassination inspired Verdi's 1859 opera, Un Ballo in Maschera (The Masked Ball).
Alex Hunnicutt (glbtq.com)
By proxy in Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, on 1 October 1766 and in person in Stockholm on 4 November 1766, Gustav married Princess Sophia Magdalena, daughter of King Frederick V of Denmark. The match was not a happy one, owing partly to an incompatibility of temper; but still more to the interference of the jealous Queen Mother. The marriage produced two children: Crown Prince Gustav Adolf (1778–1837), and Prince Carl Gustav, Duke of Småland (Drottningholm, 25 August 1782 – Stockholm, 23 March 1783). For the consummation of the marriage, the king requested the assistance of Adolf Munck, reportedly because of anatomical problems both spouses possessed. Gustav's mother supported rumors that he was not the father of his first son and heir. It was rumored at the time that Gustav indulged in homosexuality. The close personal relationships he formed with two of his courtiers, Count Axel von Fersen and Baron Gustav Armfelt, were alluded to in that regard. His sister-in-law implied as much in a diary. (en.wikipedia.com)
Gustav grew up in an atmosphere seething with political intrigue among strong-willed, intelligent people. His flair for and interest in music and theater became apparent when he was a boy and, unlike his uncle Frederick, he was allowed to indulge it. He wrote, produced, and performed plays in French to entertain his mother and her entourage; he even designed sets and costumes.
For political reasons Gustav was betrothed to Sophia Magdalena of Denmark when he was only five. In 1766, when he was twenty, the two married, though the marriage never proved satisfying to either Gustav or Sophia.
While touring France in 1771, Gustav heard the news of his father's sudden death on February 12. With methodical calculation Gustav sent word to the Riksdag, Sweden's legislative assembly, that he counted on their support and assured them of his intention to follow his father's policies. Thus allaying any suspicions the nobility may have harbored, Gustav slowly returned to Sweden only after continuing his visit at Versailles and stopping in Prussia to confer with his uncle Frederick.
Contemporaries and historians alike agree that he dissimulated. Every account of his life speaks of his habit of deceit, lies, and pretence. Some suggest that his love of theater led him to live his life as a perpetual actor. Perhaps as a homosexual, he learned early on to mask his true feelings. In any case, Gustav successfully lulled the Swedish aristocracy into a sense of false security at the onset of his reign.
With the help of a few trusted friends and his younger brothers, Gustav managed to seize control of all key fortresses and to secure the support of the military. By August, only six months after ascending the throne, Gustav reigned as absolute monarch like his counterparts in Prussia and Russia, Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great.
Although he alienated the nobility, the bourgeoisie and lower classes welcomed the change. Despite embroiling Sweden in a series of conflicts with Denmark and Russia, Gustav managed to steer Sweden through these turbulent times and emerge with Europe's respect.
Theater, literature, art, music, and opera all flourished under Gustav's encouragement and patronage. Indeed, the period known as the Gustavian Age did not receive that name based on Swedish military or political achievements; rather it was the flowering of the arts that caused the king's name to become associated with the period.
The Swedish Academy for Language, the Academy for Literature, History and Antiquities, the Academy of Music, and the Academy of Art all originated during Gustav's reign. Although he extended religious toleration to Roman Catholics and Jews, he rigorously censored the press. Gustav loved freedom, as long as it suited his purposes.
Surprisingly, Queen Sophia Magdalena gave birth to a son in 1778. Although not conclusively proved, contemporaries believed that Gustav and Sophia Magdalena secretly divorced, whereupon the Queen secretly married Count Adolph Fredric Munck of Fulkila, who impregnated her.
Similarly, when the wife of Gustav's younger brother, who was also homosexual, announced her pregnancy, rumor spread that it was merely a complicated ruse designed to substitute and cover for Gustav's sister, who was also rumored to be pregnant although she was not married. In both instances, the Dowager Queen Louisa Ulrika clearly expressed her surprise and disbelief that either of her two older sons could possibly father a child.
Fittingly enough, operatic tragedy and politics converged to end Gustav's life. On March 16, 1792, a malcontented nobleman, Johan Jaboc Anckarström, shot Gustav in the back at a midnight masquerade at the Royal Opera in Stockholm. Gustav died on March 29th.
Considering how much Gustav loved opera, perhaps it is appropriate that his assassination inspired Verdi's 1859 opera, Un Ballo in Maschera (The Masked Ball).
Alex Hunnicutt (glbtq.com)
By proxy in Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen, on 1 October 1766 and in person in Stockholm on 4 November 1766, Gustav married Princess Sophia Magdalena, daughter of King Frederick V of Denmark. The match was not a happy one, owing partly to an incompatibility of temper; but still more to the interference of the jealous Queen Mother. The marriage produced two children: Crown Prince Gustav Adolf (1778–1837), and Prince Carl Gustav, Duke of Småland (Drottningholm, 25 August 1782 – Stockholm, 23 March 1783). For the consummation of the marriage, the king requested the assistance of Adolf Munck, reportedly because of anatomical problems both spouses possessed. Gustav's mother supported rumors that he was not the father of his first son and heir. It was rumored at the time that Gustav indulged in homosexuality. The close personal relationships he formed with two of his courtiers, Count Axel von Fersen and Baron Gustav Armfelt, were alluded to in that regard. His sister-in-law implied as much in a diary. (en.wikipedia.com)
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