Maskarade
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Maskarade (Masquerade) is an opera in three acts by Carl Nielsen to a Danish libretto by Vilhelm Andersen, based on the comedy by Ludvig Holberg.
Announcement of plans to turn Holberg’s classical comedy into an opera buffa met with dismay in Danish literary circles, but the opera quickly gained popularity, surpassing that of the play itself. Nielsen was not entirely satisfied with the opera, citing structural weakness in the final two acts; but he never got around to revising the work. The overture and the ballet from the third act (“Dance of the Cockerels”) are performed frequently as orchestral excerpts.
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[edit] Performance history
The first performance was at Det Kongelige Theater, Copenhagen, 11 November 1906. The United States premiere was conducted by Igor Buketoff, with St Paul Opera, Minnesota and the first reported New York performance was by the Bronx Opera Company in 1983.[1]
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 11 November 1906 (Conductor: -) |
|---|---|---|
| Jeronimus, a burgher of Copenhagen | bass baritone | |
| Magdelone, wife to Jeronimus | alto | |
| Leander, son to Jeronimus | tenor | |
| Henrik, valet to Leander | baritone | |
| Arv, servant to Jeronimus | tenor | |
| Leonard, a gentlemen from Slagelse | bass baritone | |
| Leonora, daughter to Leonard | soprano | |
| Pernille, maid to Leonora | mezzo-soprano | |
| A Mask Vendor | baritone | |
| A Doorman at the Masquerade | bass | |
| A Tutor | bass | |
| A Night Watchman | bass | |
| The Master of the Masquerade | bass | |
| Masqueraders, Students, Girls, Officers | ||
[edit] Synopsis
- Time: Spring 1723
- Place: Copenhagen
The story revolves around Leander and Leonora, two young people who meet fortuitously at a masquerade ball, swear their undying love for each other and exchange rings. The following day, Leander tells his valet Henrik of his newfound love. He becomes distraught when reminded by Henrik that his parents have betrothed him in marriage to a neighbor’s daughter. Things get complicated when Leonard, the neighbor whose daughter is the other part of this arrangement, comes complaining to Leander’s father that his daughter is in love with someone she met at the masquerade the previous night. In the third act, all is resolved when the various parties slip off to the night’s masquerade, where all is revealed to everyone’s mutual satisfaction.
[edit] Cultural significance
Maskarade has become something like the Danish national opera. The masquerade of the title is a place where the characters can leave behind the oppressed lives they lead in a rigid society; it represents liberty and the Enlightenment, and even more, perhaps, a sense of joie de vivre in a land where weather (and duty) is often cold and gloomy. The patriarch Jeronimus, Leander’s father, rails against the masquerade and all it represents; but a thread of the plot explores how all his authority and his antipathy toward the masquerade fail to prevent his son’s (not to mention his own) progress toward freedom and happiness. The final scene of the opera is colored by a bitter-sweet recognition of human mortality, and the urgent importance of finding happiness to brighten it.
[edit] Notes
- ^ John Rockwell (16 January 1983). "Maskarade, by Carl Nielsen". New York Times. http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9A0DEFD91038F935A25752C0A965948260. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
[edit] References
- Notes and libretto accompanying the 1998 Decca recording 460 227-2.
- Warrack, John and West, Ewan, The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, (1992) ISBN 0-19-869164-5
