Cleopatra's Night
Encyclopedia
Cleopatra's Night is a short opera
in two acts by American composer Henry Kimball Hadley
. Its libretto is by Alice Leal Pollock based on a story by French author Théophile Gautier
. The opera premiered at the Metropolitan Opera
on January 31, 1920. The opera was revived the following season, and was broadcast on NBC
radio in 1929.
Cleopatra's Night is written in an eclectic late romantic style, influenced both by the dramatic lyricism of the verismo
movement and the rich orchestral approach employed by Wagner
and Richard Strauss
.
The opera's first production was designed by Norman Bel Geddes
. Frances Alda
sang the title role, while tenor Orville Harrold
sang the role of Meïamoun. Genarro Papi
conducted the premiere, though Hadley took the baton for the sixth and final performance of the season, becoming the first American composer to conduct his own opera at the Met. The opera was brought back the following season for three further performances, again a first for an American opera. Critical reception was generally good, with Henry T. Finck
proclaiming it the best of ten American operas that had so far appeared at the Met.
river. As the curtain rises, distant Egyptians are heard chanting a prayer for rain. Cleopatra's favored maids Iras and Mardion enter. Iras notes that Mardion is very pale. Mardion admits that she is hopelessly in love with Meïamoun, a lion hunter, but that he pays her no heed. A Eunuch enters, announcing that Cleopatra is approaching in her cangia, and would bathe before sunset. But he warns them of the queen's mood. Maidens and eunuchs prepare her bath with perfumed water and flower petals. Cleopatra's boat arrives, and the queen disembarks, and in her aria "My veins seem filled with flowing quicksilver..." she complains bitterly of the heat. Even the night gives her no comfort, for she cannot forget the host of mummies buried beneath the Egyptian sands. She cries to the gods to give her something radiantly new and different from her monotonous existence. At that very moment an arrow buries itself in the dust at the queen's feet. She swears that whoever shot that arrow would pay for his offense. But then she notices a papyrus wound around the arrow's shaft. She demands that Mardion give it to her. On it is written the words, "I love you." She spots a distant figure swimming in the Nile, and demands that he be brought before her alive. In her aria "I love you, I love you..." Cleopatra thanks the gods for answering her prayer. The queen disrobes and is entering the bath when suddenly Meïamoun emerges from the water of the pool. Eunuchs rush forward, ready to kill the intruder, but Cleopatra stops them. Meïamoun does not cower in fear, but, when questioned explains with the words "I love you", and then embarks on a passionate poetic aria proclaiming his obsession with the queen. "We have breathed the same air," he concludes. "Now I can die." Cleopatra refuses to kill him, but rather offers a bargain. Would he trade his life for one night with her? She warns him that when dawn comes, she would have no pity. Mardion begs him not to sully himself, and admits that she loves him. He states that he does not know her, and when he accepts the queen's bargain, the maid grabs a dagger and stabs herself. Cleopatra orders that her body be thrown to the crocodiles. She only wishes to go to the palace with Meïamoun. Leaning on his arm, she re-enters the cangia, and it slips away into the twilight as her attendants softly chant praises to their queen.
After a brief Intemezzo, the second act opens on the Terraces of Cleopatra's palace just before dawn. A banquet is being held, and the guests comment that no man has kept Cleopatra from her banquet, not even Mark Antony. Soon Cleopatra and Meïamoun emerge from the palace, the hunter clothed in a starry cloak. Cleopatra seats herself on her throne, and Meïamoun sits at her feet. The queen urges her love to sit beside her, but requests that he stop looking at her, for she swoons before his gaze. Rather she commands Greek maidens to dance. Despite being offered many delicacies, Meïamoun refuses to eat. Cleopatra summons her desert girls to dance for him and they dance until, too exhausted to resist, they are carried off by some of the guests. Cleopatra urges Meïamoun to repeat those words to her that first won her heart. He sing's an earnest, impassioned declaration of his love. The first light begins to glow in the East. Cleopatra urges him to flee with her to a nearby white temple, where they may ignore the dawn, but Meïamoun points out that there is not enough time. Cleopatra commands that the canopies be drawn. She will blot out day for an entire month, that he may continue to love her. She offers him any gift, but he only requests that when he is dead that she will press his earthly shell to her heart as she does now, and that in the still hours of the night that she will sometimes think of him. She agrees. As dawn arrives, the distiller of poisons enters, and offers to Meïamoun a vapourous cup. Saluting the gods, he raises it to his lips. Cleopatra grabs his arm, commanding that he live in order to love her. But just at that moment Iras rushes in to announce Antony's horn. Meïamoun quickly drinks the cup, and falls dead at Cleopatra's feet. Cleopatra claps her hands, and eunuchs enter to cover Meïamoun's body with silken cloths. Antony's chief officer enters, and Cleopatra tells him to go to Antony and tell him that she eagerly awaits him. When Antony's men leave, she gently uncovers Meïamoun's body, and holding it to her heart in broken tones she tells him that she keeps her promise. Antony's voice is heard, and as distant chanting for rain is heard as in the beginning, she kisses Meïamoun's lifeless lips, and ascends the steps into the palace as her eunuchs again cover her lover's body.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in two acts by American composer Henry Kimball Hadley
Henry Kimball Hadley
Henry Kimball Hadley was an American composer and conductor.-Life:Hadley was born into a musical family in Somerville, Massachusetts...
. Its libretto is by Alice Leal Pollock based on a story by French author Théophile Gautier
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
. The opera premiered at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
on January 31, 1920. The opera was revived the following season, and was broadcast on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
radio in 1929.
Cleopatra's Night is written in an eclectic late romantic style, influenced both by the dramatic lyricism of the verismo
Verismo
Verismo was an Italian literary movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s....
movement and the rich orchestral approach employed by Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
.
The opera's first production was designed by Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Melancton Bel Geddes was an American theatrical and industrial designer who focused on aerodynamics....
. Frances Alda
Frances Alda
Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the...
sang the title role, while tenor Orville Harrold
Orville Harrold
Orville Harrold was an American operatic tenor and musical theatre actor. He began his career in 1906 as a performer in operettas in New York City, and was also seen during his early career in cabaret, musical theatre, and vaudeville performances...
sang the role of Meïamoun. Genarro Papi
Genarro Papi
Gennaro Papi was an Italian conductor known for his work in the field of opera.A native of Naples, Papi studied at the conservatory in that city, holding various posts as conductor and choirmaster after his graduation...
conducted the premiere, though Hadley took the baton for the sixth and final performance of the season, becoming the first American composer to conduct his own opera at the Met. The opera was brought back the following season for three further performances, again a first for an American opera. Critical reception was generally good, with Henry T. Finck
Henry Theophilus Finck
Henry Theophilus Finck was an American musical critic, born at Bethel, Missouri, and raised in Portland, Oregon, where he was taught piano and violincello. He taught himself Latin and Greek so thoroughly that he was able to enter Harvard as a sophomore in 1872...
proclaiming it the best of ten American operas that had so far appeared at the Met.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 31 January 1920 (Conductor: - Gennaro Papi) |
|---|---|---|
| Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... |
soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Frances Alda Frances Alda Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the... |
| Meïamoun, A Young Egyptian | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Orville Harrold Orville Harrold Orville Harrold was an American operatic tenor and musical theatre actor. He began his career in 1906 as a performer in operettas in New York City, and was also seen during his early career in cabaret, musical theatre, and vaudeville performances... |
| Mark Antony Mark Antony Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar... |
baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Vincenzo Reschiglian Vincenzo Reschiglian Vincenzo Reschiglian was an Italian operatic baritone who specialized in the comprimario repertoire.-Biography:Born in Venice, he was the older brother of tenor Giuseppe Reschiglian... |
| Mardion, favored maid to the Queen | mezzo-soprano | Jeanne Gordon |
| Iras, a maiden | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Marie Tiffany Marie Tiffany Marie Tiffany was an American operatic soprano. She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1916-1928; making a total of 208 appearances at the Met during her career... |
| A Eunuch | baritone | Millo Picco |
| Antony's Chief Officer | baritone | Louis D'Angelo |
| A Guest | tenor | |
| A Hungry Guest | bass | |
| A Female Guest | mezzo-soprano | |
| Diomedes, Chief of Cleopatra's rowers | spoken | |
| The Distiller of Poisons | spoken | |
Plot
The first act opens beside Cleopatra's bath in a spacious garden near the NileNile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
river. As the curtain rises, distant Egyptians are heard chanting a prayer for rain. Cleopatra's favored maids Iras and Mardion enter. Iras notes that Mardion is very pale. Mardion admits that she is hopelessly in love with Meïamoun, a lion hunter, but that he pays her no heed. A Eunuch enters, announcing that Cleopatra is approaching in her cangia, and would bathe before sunset. But he warns them of the queen's mood. Maidens and eunuchs prepare her bath with perfumed water and flower petals. Cleopatra's boat arrives, and the queen disembarks, and in her aria "My veins seem filled with flowing quicksilver..." she complains bitterly of the heat. Even the night gives her no comfort, for she cannot forget the host of mummies buried beneath the Egyptian sands. She cries to the gods to give her something radiantly new and different from her monotonous existence. At that very moment an arrow buries itself in the dust at the queen's feet. She swears that whoever shot that arrow would pay for his offense. But then she notices a papyrus wound around the arrow's shaft. She demands that Mardion give it to her. On it is written the words, "I love you." She spots a distant figure swimming in the Nile, and demands that he be brought before her alive. In her aria "I love you, I love you..." Cleopatra thanks the gods for answering her prayer. The queen disrobes and is entering the bath when suddenly Meïamoun emerges from the water of the pool. Eunuchs rush forward, ready to kill the intruder, but Cleopatra stops them. Meïamoun does not cower in fear, but, when questioned explains with the words "I love you", and then embarks on a passionate poetic aria proclaiming his obsession with the queen. "We have breathed the same air," he concludes. "Now I can die." Cleopatra refuses to kill him, but rather offers a bargain. Would he trade his life for one night with her? She warns him that when dawn comes, she would have no pity. Mardion begs him not to sully himself, and admits that she loves him. He states that he does not know her, and when he accepts the queen's bargain, the maid grabs a dagger and stabs herself. Cleopatra orders that her body be thrown to the crocodiles. She only wishes to go to the palace with Meïamoun. Leaning on his arm, she re-enters the cangia, and it slips away into the twilight as her attendants softly chant praises to their queen.
After a brief Intemezzo, the second act opens on the Terraces of Cleopatra's palace just before dawn. A banquet is being held, and the guests comment that no man has kept Cleopatra from her banquet, not even Mark Antony. Soon Cleopatra and Meïamoun emerge from the palace, the hunter clothed in a starry cloak. Cleopatra seats herself on her throne, and Meïamoun sits at her feet. The queen urges her love to sit beside her, but requests that he stop looking at her, for she swoons before his gaze. Rather she commands Greek maidens to dance. Despite being offered many delicacies, Meïamoun refuses to eat. Cleopatra summons her desert girls to dance for him and they dance until, too exhausted to resist, they are carried off by some of the guests. Cleopatra urges Meïamoun to repeat those words to her that first won her heart. He sing's an earnest, impassioned declaration of his love. The first light begins to glow in the East. Cleopatra urges him to flee with her to a nearby white temple, where they may ignore the dawn, but Meïamoun points out that there is not enough time. Cleopatra commands that the canopies be drawn. She will blot out day for an entire month, that he may continue to love her. She offers him any gift, but he only requests that when he is dead that she will press his earthly shell to her heart as she does now, and that in the still hours of the night that she will sometimes think of him. She agrees. As dawn arrives, the distiller of poisons enters, and offers to Meïamoun a vapourous cup. Saluting the gods, he raises it to his lips. Cleopatra grabs his arm, commanding that he live in order to love her. But just at that moment Iras rushes in to announce Antony's horn. Meïamoun quickly drinks the cup, and falls dead at Cleopatra's feet. Cleopatra claps her hands, and eunuchs enter to cover Meïamoun's body with silken cloths. Antony's chief officer enters, and Cleopatra tells him to go to Antony and tell him that she eagerly awaits him. When Antony's men leave, she gently uncovers Meïamoun's body, and holding it to her heart in broken tones she tells him that she keeps her promise. Antony's voice is heard, and as distant chanting for rain is heard as in the beginning, she kisses Meïamoun's lifeless lips, and ascends the steps into the palace as her eunuchs again cover her lover's body.