La Wally
Encyclopedia
La Wally is a four-act opera
by Alfredo Catalani
, composed on a libretto
by Luigi Illica
, and first performed at La Scala
, Milan on 20 January 1892.
The libretto is based on a hugely successful Heimatroman by Wilhelmine von Hillern
(1836-1916), Die Geyer-Wally, Eine Geschichte aus den Tyroler Alpen (literally: "The Vulture-Wally: A Story from the Tyrolean Alps"). The Geyer-Wally is a girl with some heroic attributes. Wally is short for the name Wallburga. (There may have been an actual young woman Wallburga Stromminger on whom the legend is based.) She gets her 'geyer' or 'vulture' epithet from once stealing a vulture's hatchling from her nest. Von Hillern's piece was originally serialized in Deutsche Rundschau
, and was reproduced in English in "A German Peasant Romance"http://books.google.com/books?id=a3UAAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA4-PA604&lpg=RA4-PA604&dq=The+Vulture-Wally&source=bl&ots=JO8i7junvb&sig=YZRlBoptuwvE7pS95RoJ0qhl9s4&hl=en&ei=pSysSqL5OcPBlAeh1ezrBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#v=onepage&q=The%20Vulture-Wally&f=false, in The Cornhill Magazine, July 1875.
The opera is best known for its aria
"Ebben? Ne andrò lontana" (Act I, sung when Wally decides to leave her home forever). Catalani had composed that aria independently as "Chanson Groënlandaise" in 1878 and later incorporated it into his opera. It is featured prominently in Jean-Jacques Beineix
's 1981 film Diva
and Zalman King
's film adaptation of Anaïs Nin
's short story collection Delta of Venus
. It also figures prominently in the soundtrack of the 2009 Tom Ford
film A Single Man
.
The opera also features one of the most memorable of operatic deaths, in which the heroine throws herself into an avalanche. It is seldom performed because of the difficulty of staging this scene, but its arias are sung frequently.
where the free-spirited but vulnerable Wally is in love with the handsome Giuseppe Hagenbach, the son of her father's implacable enemy. This leads to the inevitable disastrous conclusion.
A shooting contest is being held in celebration of the 70th birthday of Wally's father, Stromminger. A hunting party arrives from the nearby village of Sölden led by Hagenbach. Old enmities quickly surface and a quarrel develops between Stromminger and Hagenbach, who trade threats and insults before Hagenbach is drawn away by his companions.
Vincenzo Gellner has his own heart set on Wally and is quick to notice that during the quarrel she is clearly infatuated with her father's enemy. When left alone with Stromminger, he tells the old man of his suspicions. Recognising that Gellner is in love with his daughter, he insists that Wally agrees to marry him within a month or else leave his house forever. Wally retorts that she would rather take her chances in the Alpine snows than marry Gellner.
A year has passed; Stromminger has died and Wally has inherited his fortune. However, Hagenbach has become engaged to Afra, the landlady of the Eagle Tavern, and is apparently not interested in Wally.
A festival is taking place in Sölden and Wally is drawn to the tavern knowing that Hagenbach will be there. Hagenbach is persuaded to accept a challenge to try to win a kiss from Wally. What begins as a game quickly develops into something more serious, and Hagenbach easily wins his wager. When Wally realises she has been the victim of a cynical bet, her jealousy and fury boil over. She turns to Gellner, who is also at the festival, and insists that if he loves her he must kill Hagenbach.
La Wally returns to her home. The anger she felt has now subsided and she wishes she could take back her words. At that moment there is a knock at her door. It is Gellner, who describes how under cover of darkness he was able to set upon Hagenbach and hurl him into a deep ravine.
Wally is horrified and hurries to the ravine in the hope of saving Hagenbach, even though she believes he loves Afra. She herself goes down a rope to rescue him and successfully raises his unconscious body back to the surface.
Lonely and depressed, Wally has climbed into the mountains above the village. Her only friend, Walter, has followed and urges her to come down for the Christmas festivities and reminds her of the dangers of avalanches. She sends him away and contemplates her imminent death.
Wally hears another voice. It is Hagenbach, who has recovered from his injuries and come to confess his love. The lovers are reconciled and Hagenbach goes to find a safe path back down the mountain. He shouts up to Wally, but the noise of his call sets off an avalanche which carries him away. Wally stands for a moment on the edge of the precipice before hurling herself down to her death.
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...
by Alfredo Catalani
Alfredo Catalani
Alfredo Catalani was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas Loreley and La Wally...
, composed on a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Luigi Illica
Luigi Illica
Luigi Illica was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini , Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian composers. His most famous opera librettos are those for La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Andrea Chénier.Illica was born at...
, and first performed at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan on 20 January 1892.
The libretto is based on a hugely successful Heimatroman by Wilhelmine von Hillern
Wilhelmine von Hillern
Wilhelmine von Hillern was a German actress and novelist.-Biography:She was the daughter of the novelist Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer. She was brought up in Berlin, became an actress at Gotha , and married the prominent jurist von Hillern at Freiburg im Breisgau in 1857. Her husband died 8 December 1882...
(1836-1916), Die Geyer-Wally, Eine Geschichte aus den Tyroler Alpen (literally: "The Vulture-Wally: A Story from the Tyrolean Alps"). The Geyer-Wally is a girl with some heroic attributes. Wally is short for the name Wallburga. (There may have been an actual young woman Wallburga Stromminger on whom the legend is based.) She gets her 'geyer' or 'vulture' epithet from once stealing a vulture's hatchling from her nest. Von Hillern's piece was originally serialized in Deutsche Rundschau
Deutsche Rundschau
Deutsche Rundschau is a literary and political periodical established in 1874 by Julius Rodenberg.Deutsche Rundschau strongly influenced German politics, literature and culture. It was considered one of the most successful launches of periodicals in Germany...
, and was reproduced in English in "A German Peasant Romance"http://books.google.com/books?id=a3UAAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA4-PA604&lpg=RA4-PA604&dq=The+Vulture-Wally&source=bl&ots=JO8i7junvb&sig=YZRlBoptuwvE7pS95RoJ0qhl9s4&hl=en&ei=pSysSqL5OcPBlAeh1ezrBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#v=onepage&q=The%20Vulture-Wally&f=false, in The Cornhill Magazine, July 1875.
The opera is best known for its aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
"Ebben? Ne andrò lontana" (Act I, sung when Wally decides to leave her home forever). Catalani had composed that aria independently as "Chanson Groënlandaise" in 1878 and later incorporated it into his opera. It is featured prominently in Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Jacques Beineix
-Biography:In 1964, Jean-Jacques Beineix started his career as Jean Becker's assistant director on the famous French TV series, Les saintes chéries until the end of 1967. Then, in 1970 he worked for Claude Berri and in 1971 for Claude Zidi. In 1977, he directed his first short movie Le Chien de M....
's 1981 film Diva
Diva (film)
Diva is a 1981 film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, adapted from a novel of the same name by Daniel Odier . It is one of the first French films to let go of the realist, harsh mood of 1970s French cinema and return to a colourful, melodic style, called cinema du look...
and Zalman King
Zalman King
Zalman King is an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His directing and writing productions are known for incorporating erotica as a centerpiece to plots which are nevertheless about greater issues.-Acting:As a young man in 1963 he played a gang member on Alfred Hitchcock Presents...
's film adaptation of Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin
Anaïs Nin was a French-Cuban author, based at first in France and later in the United States, who published her journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death, her erotic literature, and short stories...
's short story collection Delta of Venus
Delta of Venus
Delta of Venus is a book of short stories by Anaïs Nin. Though the stories were largely written in the 1940s while Nin was writing erotica for a private collector, the book was first published posthumously in 1978. In 1995 a film version of the book was directed by Zalman King. There are multiple...
. It also figures prominently in the soundtrack of the 2009 Tom Ford
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.-Early life :Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in...
film A Single Man
A Single Man (film)
A Single Man is a 2009 drama film based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. It is the first film directed by Tom Ford. The film stars Colin Firth, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of George Falconer, a depressed gay British university...
.
The opera also features one of the most memorable of operatic deaths, in which the heroine throws herself into an avalanche. It is seldom performed because of the difficulty of staging this scene, but its arias are sung frequently.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 20 January 1892 (Conductor: Edoardo Mascheroni) |
|---|---|---|
| Wally | 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... |
Hariclea Darclée Hariclea Darclée Hariclea Darclée was a celebrated Romanian operatic soprano. She possessed an agile, powerful, and beautiful voice that was wielded with a fine technique. An extremely beautiful woman, Darclée's stage presence was as elegant and refined as her singing... |
| Stromminger | bass | Ettore Brancoleoni |
| Afra | mezzo soprano | |
| Walter | soprano | Adelina Stehle Adelina Stehle Adelina Stehle was an Austrian-born operatic soprano, associated almost entirely with the Italian repertory. She studied singing in Milan and debuted as Amina in 1881 in Broni in Lombardy. Her career eventually brought her to La Scala in 1890 where she flourished. She took part in a series of... |
| Giuseppe Hagenbach | 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... |
Manuel Suanges |
| Vincenzo Gellner | 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... |
Arturo Pessina |
| Chorus: Tyroleans, shepherds, peasants, hunters, old women, village children. | ||
Synopsis
The story is set in the Austrian TyrolCounty of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
where the free-spirited but vulnerable Wally is in love with the handsome Giuseppe Hagenbach, the son of her father's implacable enemy. This leads to the inevitable disastrous conclusion.
Act 1
The village of HochstoffA shooting contest is being held in celebration of the 70th birthday of Wally's father, Stromminger. A hunting party arrives from the nearby village of Sölden led by Hagenbach. Old enmities quickly surface and a quarrel develops between Stromminger and Hagenbach, who trade threats and insults before Hagenbach is drawn away by his companions.
Vincenzo Gellner has his own heart set on Wally and is quick to notice that during the quarrel she is clearly infatuated with her father's enemy. When left alone with Stromminger, he tells the old man of his suspicions. Recognising that Gellner is in love with his daughter, he insists that Wally agrees to marry him within a month or else leave his house forever. Wally retorts that she would rather take her chances in the Alpine snows than marry Gellner.
Act 2
The Eagle Tavern at SöldenA year has passed; Stromminger has died and Wally has inherited his fortune. However, Hagenbach has become engaged to Afra, the landlady of the Eagle Tavern, and is apparently not interested in Wally.
A festival is taking place in Sölden and Wally is drawn to the tavern knowing that Hagenbach will be there. Hagenbach is persuaded to accept a challenge to try to win a kiss from Wally. What begins as a game quickly develops into something more serious, and Hagenbach easily wins his wager. When Wally realises she has been the victim of a cynical bet, her jealousy and fury boil over. She turns to Gellner, who is also at the festival, and insists that if he loves her he must kill Hagenbach.
Act 3
A ravineLa Wally returns to her home. The anger she felt has now subsided and she wishes she could take back her words. At that moment there is a knock at her door. It is Gellner, who describes how under cover of darkness he was able to set upon Hagenbach and hurl him into a deep ravine.
Wally is horrified and hurries to the ravine in the hope of saving Hagenbach, even though she believes he loves Afra. She herself goes down a rope to rescue him and successfully raises his unconscious body back to the surface.
Act 4
High in the AlpsLonely and depressed, Wally has climbed into the mountains above the village. Her only friend, Walter, has followed and urges her to come down for the Christmas festivities and reminds her of the dangers of avalanches. She sends him away and contemplates her imminent death.
Wally hears another voice. It is Hagenbach, who has recovered from his injuries and come to confess his love. The lovers are reconciled and Hagenbach goes to find a safe path back down the mountain. He shouts up to Wally, but the noise of his call sets off an avalanche which carries him away. Wally stands for a moment on the edge of the precipice before hurling herself down to her death.
Recordings
- 1968: La Wally, Renata TebaldiRenata TebaldiRenata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period...
, Mario del MonacoMario del MonacoMario Del Monaco was an Italian tenor who is regarded by his admirers as being one of the greatest dramatic tenors of the 20th century....
, Justino DiazJustino DíazJustino Díaz is an internationally renowned bass-baritone opera singer. In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the "first" Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made his Metropolitan debut on October 1963 in Verdi's Rigoletto...
, conducted by Fausto ClevaFausto ClevaFausto Cleva was an Italian-born American operatic conductor.After studies at the Conservatorio in his native city and Milan, Cleva made his debut conducting La traviata in Carcano, near Milan, before emigrating to the United States in 1920, becoming an American citizen in 1931...
(CD - Decca)