I PURITANI Bellini Production of the Festival de Ópera de A Coruña Index I PURITANI

The Work

Synopsis

Concept

Artistic Team

Reviews

Technical Requirements

Staff needed from the theater The Work The Work I PURITANI

“I Puritani” is an opera in 3 acts by Vincenzo Bellini. This is the last work written by the composer, with libretto by Carlo Pepoli, Count of Bologna, and it is based on the play entitled “Têtes Rondes et Cavaliers”, by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine. For the libretto, Bellini tried to look for a work based on military feats or legends, similar to the historical novels by Sir Walter Scott, which were very much in vogue at that time. Written for the Parisian audience, Bellini’s choice was very clever, since on the one side he was praising French pride, but on the other side he established a link to the historical novels of the Scottish writer with the title.

Bellini composed this work in nine months, from April 1834 to January 1835, a period during which the dramatic design was subject to several changes. Hence, the com- poser had to guide the librettist’s work almost step by step. Many people believe that the libretto is to a certain extent confusing. But Bellini’s music score is one of the most precise and beautiful ones he wrote, showing his most melancholic side and this op- era is considered by many as one of the most metaphysical and transcending ones by the composer. The phrasing is extremely elegant, and singers require significant vocal skills for this opera. Furthermore, this opera features different innovations both theatrically and musically — the distribution in big scenes and the replacement of recitative by arioso. The orchestration is also the most ambitious one among all the operas written by the composer.

In a letter that he wrote to Carlo Pepoli, Count of Bologna, Bellini said that the goal of the Opera was to “make people cry, shiver, and die singing”.

The opera tells the love drama between Elvira and Arturo in the middle of a civil war between the Puritans, who were partisans of Oliver Cromwell, and the Royalists, who supported the House of Stuart.

Synopsis Synopsis I PURITANI

The opera is set around 1650, in a castle located outside Plymouth, England.

FIRST ACT

Sir Riccardo, a follower of Cromwell and his Puritans, and Lord Arturo Talbo, a Royalist cavalier who fights for the cause of the House of Stuart, are both in love with Elvira, daughter of Lord Valton, the citadel’s commander. Riccardo tells the commander that he loves his daughter, but Lord Valton declines the honor of that request because he believes that his daughter does not feel the same way about him, since he knows that she is in love with Arturo.

Sir Giorgio Valton, brother of Lord Valton, tells Elvira that he has interceded for her, and that his father will let her marry Arturo. Arturo arrives with several gifts including a wide and fine white bridal veil for Elvira.

During his stay in Plymouth’s citadel, Arturo learns that King Charles’s widow, Enrichetta di Francia, is being held prisoner in the fortress, and that her fate will be similar to the unfortunate king’s. Arturo decides to set her free, taking advan- tage of his immunity in that place and at the expense of his own love. In order to achieve that, Arturo covers Enrichetta with the white veil so that the soldiers think it’s Elvira. During their escape they run into Riccardo, who wants to prevent Arturo and the woman that he takes for Elvira from running away, but when he discovers it’s Enrichetta, he lets them go in the hope that he can win Elvira’s THIRD ACT heart. When she learns about the escape, Elvira, believing that his beloved has left her for another woman, is suddenly beset by madness. Arturo returns to the fortress, chased and hounded by his enemies, expecting to see Elvira, and he overhears her sing a love song he had taught her. He SECOND ACT is moved by the song and starts singing it too. Elvira joins him, and she is so overjoyed that she seems to have suddenly come back to her senses. Arturo The English Parliament condemns Arturo to death. explains the many reasons why he has been away for so long, and declares Giorgio speaks with his mates about Elvira’s madness and laments her fate. his love to her again. Gesturing and shouting, Elvira realizes, to her horror, that Elvira expresses her pain with a delirious song, and imagines with moving ges- she has gone mad, while Puritan soldiers rush in to arrest Arturo and condemn tures and words how her wedding day with Arturo would be. Giorgio, who guess- him to death. When Elvira hears the word ‘death’, her senses are suddenly es Riccardo played a role in Arturo’s escape, begs him to intercede in order for restored, while a messenger arrives with the news of Cromwell’s victory and a Lord Arturo to be pardoned for the sake of Elvira, and ends up convincing him. general amnesty by the dictator for all prisoners of war. Arturo is free and he But only if Arturo returns as a friend — if he returns as an enemy, he will be obtains once again Elvira’s hand in marriage – this time forever. condemned. Approximate running time — 3 hours Concept Concept I PURITANI

“It takes 20 or more years of peace to The decision of setting the plot in World War I is due to several factors. All wars make a man, are hideous, but this one, especially, brought about in a sense the loss of inno- but it only takes 20 seconds of war to cence and heroic ideals, and marked the entrance into military adulthood. The destroy him” “soldier-hero” figure that used to fight hand to hand still existed in previous con- flicts. But technical progress and the unprecedented use of chemical weapons Baldwin I broke all codes of honor and changed the way armed struggle was seen. Hand- to-hand combat turned into trying to exterminate the enemy as quickly — and, if possible, from as far away — as possible. The “value” of a solider had lost its War and its horrible consequences “value”. are the central theme of genius Vin- cenzo Bellini’s last opera. Because of all that, because of how cruel, inhuman, close and at the same time distant that conflict was, it seems to me like the perfect situation to set this In my production, I decided to set the opera, where, after all, the important thing is that human stupidity and military dramatic action in World War I. conflicts, regardless of the sides and the time, prevent Elvira from being happy. Elvira’s drama turns into the drama of so many anonymous Elviras that have I have taken this liberty in order to suffered and still suffer the scourge of war. My production is a tribute to all of reinforce the dramatic intensity of them, as well as an argument against war. Madness can be a natural defensive the text. In the case of “I Puritani”, reaction that allows the person to escape from an unbearable reality, and, in this the dramatic climax is reached in the case, it is also an excuse for Elvira to throw at everybody’s face a message that scene of Elvira’s madness, which is says, “That’s enough! Leave your heroic ideals aside for a moment and let me why I have recreated around her an be happy!” Her madness becomes therefore a weapon against the world around incredibly adverse and extreme situ- her, and somehow makes her more human, a more real woman. In the case of “I ation that can justify and highlight the Puritani”, I have drawn my inspiration from pictures of World War I. soprano’s reaction. Other traditional productions of this work always keep There is actually something “poetic” to destruction. The “beauty” in chaos and the “dirty side” of the conflict outside, suffering is something I have always been interested in. My production does not hidden. Amid death and destruction, try to focus on horror, but on the capacity of love and innocence to overcome that Elvira tries to hang on to a glimmer horror. As an example, I was especially impressed by the picture of a kid playing of hope for love. Her survival instinct on a swing built from a rusty cannon. It is difficult to find a picture that is more helps her get over the horrific scenes representative of my production. she sees every day, since she works as a volunteer nurse assisting those Alfonso Romero Mora wounded on the front. COSTUMES AND SET DESIGN

The costumes in this production are characteristic of the time and the situation in which the work is set. The choir is made up by civilians on the one side, and by English soldiers on the other side. The main colors of the civilian-town choir are dark, grey, and ocher. They all seem to be in a state of precariousness and poverty that is understandable given the deplorable conditions they are in. On the other side, soldiers wear original uniforms from that time.

There is another choir group made up by nurses dressed as Elvira in the first act. Soloists wear uniforms of English officials or soldiers.

The set design depicts a trench on a hill with a perimeter of barbwire, an en- trance to an underground bunker, and a great number of sandbags used to reinforce the defensive line. One of the main elements is the spiral staircase that stands alone on the apron of the stage, a place that is both a shelter for Elvira and a poetic element, since it is a staircase that used to belong to a now destroyed home and that leads to nothing, to an abyss. It symbolizes Elvira’s eagerness to be happy, something that is always denied to her. Artistic Team Artistic Team I PURITANI

Stage Director: Alfonso Romero Mora

Set Designer: Corina Krisztian-Klenk

Costume designer: Rosa Garcia Andújar

Cast:

Lord Arturo Talbot: tenor

Elvira: coloratura Soprano

Sir Riccardo Forth: baritone

Sir Giorgio Valton: bass

Lord Gualtiero Valton: bass

Enrichetta di Francia: mezzo-soprano

Sir Bruno Robertson: tenor

Choir: 62 singers (estimated)

Extras: 4 extras (men) Performed in: Festival de Ópera de A Coruña, 2009 Reviews Reviews I PURITANI

Arturo, with an ‘A’ for Albelo A Coruña, 08/29/2009

“The new co-production by Amigos de la Ópera de A Coruña and Darmstardt’s Opera, signed by Alfonso Romero, sets the action on a trench during World War I at a unique, functional, and attractive set design by Corina Krisztian-Klenk, thanks also to the help of the incredibly magnificent and expressive lighting by David .P Merino and Santiago Mañasco…”(…) “… [it] is visually attractive, and the idea is not so far-fetched, featuring several authentic moments – Arturo’s return from war in ‘A te o cara’, when he comes back not as a hero, but dirty, wounded, and exhausted; or the moment in which Elvira is beset by madness and throws the improvised altar to the floor, but soon later she stands the cross up again…” (…) “Maybe the most interesting feature of this production is the solution with no “happy ending” — in this case, Elvira’s senses are not completely restored, and over a frozen scene tainted by a violet light she imagines Arturo’s amnesty, only seconds before both of them, embracing each other, are executed by a firing squad. A bull’s-eye that gives some consistency to the story.”

Hugo Alvarez Domínguez , Mundoclasico, December 16th 2009 Technical Requirements Technical Req uirements I PURITANI

Ideal stage dimensions*: Width ...... 22 m. Depth ...... 18 m.

*there is the possibility to adapt the production to stages with inferior measures

- The stage area must always be free of any elements in fly space and on stage

- The plan of the stage rigs must be available

- Possibility to fasten screws

- The set design requires tying up and hanging

TRANSPORT

- Set design and costumes are transported in 3 trailers, all of which are approximately 42.5-feet long

- Set design and costumes take up a space of approximately 3,200 cubic feet Staff needed from the theater Staff needed from the theater I PURITANI

Technical staff

- 1 stagehand manager, 6 technicians, 2 props managers to load and upload

- 1 stagehand manager, 4 stagehands, 1 props manager, 1 lighting manager, 4 electrical technicians, 2 sound engineers to technical as- sembly

- 1 lighting manager, 4 electrical technicians, 1 stagehand manager toighting rehearsals

- 1 stagehand manager, 1 stagehand, 1 props manager, 1 electrical technician to rehearsals

- 1 stagehand manager, 2 stagehands, 1 props manager, 1 lighting manager, 2 electrical technicians, 1 video technician for supertitles, 1 sound engineer to piano, pre-final rehearsals, final rehearsal and performances

- 1 stage manager for all rehearsals and performances

- 3 tailors to unpack and pack

- 4 tailors for dress tests and costume alterations

- 6 tailors for dress rehearsals and performances

- 4 hairdressers (for dress rehearsals and performances)

- 4 make-up artists (for dress rehearsals and performances) ESPAÑA Gran Vía, 6 - 4º 28013 Madrid Tel.: (+34) 91 524 75 00 Fax: (+34) 91 524 74 97

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