Teneke
Encyclopedia
Teneke is an opera
in three acts by Italian
composer
Fabio Vacchi
.
Franco Marcoaldi adapted the Italian
libretto
from the eponymous novel
by the Turkish
author Yaşar Kemal
published in 1955. The opera was premiered on September 22, 2007 at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan
, conducted by Roberto Abbado
. Set designs and costumes were by Arnaldo Pomodoro
, and Ermanno Olmi
was the stage director. It was staged until October 4, 2007, seven times only. Running time is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes.
region in southern Anatolia
, Turkey
, in the 1950s. Resul Efendi, who is standing in for the newly appointed Kaymakam
until he arrives, is an honest man. But he is incapable of opposing the arrogance of the rice growers, who are pressing to obtain their seasonal permits. Threatened, he is playing for time when the Doctor rushes in announcing that the Kaymakam has arrived.
Fikret Irmaklï, a young man in his first post, is greeted by the notables, headed by the rich Okçuoglu. The festive welcome clashes with the desolate picture of the countryside, described to one side by the peasant farmers. The very green young Kaymakam is easily swindled, however much the Doctor may try to explain the damage caused by rice, mosquito
es and malaria
.
Irmaklï re-enters in a very good mood, whistling Beethoven’s Ode to Joy
. At home, he finds a letter from his fiancée Nermin, who is studying in Europe
. The letter seems to be animated by the girl’s own voice. Homesickness and a pining for her far-off beloved are not enough to dampen her hopes that their people may unite their destiny with that of the West.
Okçuoglu summons the tenant-farmers, to take their land in exchange for their products. The only one, who dares oppose the overbearing landowner is Memed Ali,a Kurd and ex-mountain bandit. Memed accuses Okçuoglu of corrupting the officials, and declares that he will not be selling an inch of his land.
Resul is consumed by the thought that the peasants believe Irmaklï to be corrupt. Incited by the Doctor, he eventually decides to inform him of the agrarian regulations. Irmaklï is dejected and flings himself on to his bed. He falls into a heavy sleep and in a dream Nermin appears, consoles him and spurs him to fight for the law to be respected. Driven by a fresh inner strength, the Kaymakam issues new orders. To start with, he immediately leaves the comfortable house placed at his disposal by the absentee landlords, and settles instead into his office.
In the meantime Okçuoglu has flooded the village, leaving men and animals in the mire. The old lady of the community, Zeyno Karï, incites Memed to rebel. Despite his fury, the Kurd knows he has no way out if he should kill Okçuoglu. A melancholy song drifts from his hut by day and by night. In her disdain, Zeyno leads the peasants’ protest as they march , covered in mud, to the Kaymakam’s office.
The young man’s mind turns sadly back to his student days. His nostalgia for Nermin throws him almost into dejection, as he considers his hard struggle waged alone. Nermin cheers him up and tries to infuse courage into him, in the name of justice and of the suffering people. Irmaklï takes heart again and rouses himself, in the certitude that the law and love are on his side.
All attempts to convince the Kaymakam having failed, the notables’ hatred blazes. The authorities are swamped with letters full of slander. In the end, the growers decide to flood the fields without permission, whilst a delegation sets out for Ankara
to obtain Irmaklï’s dismissal. At the same time Zeyno and the peasant women, covered in mud from head to foot, demand the right to live in human conditions. To save the village, the women have resolved to use their shovels to block the sluices. Okçuoglu offers money to the peasants if they will leave their homes. Zeyno urges the men to resist, but in vain. Resigned by now, the peasants accept the offer and in exchange the landowner demands the immediate resumption of irrigation. The village, according to him, no longer exists. Memed alone, having resolved not to budge from his hut, will not yield to this blackmail. Meanwhile Irmaklï has been taken ill, as have the majority of the peasants. Men, women and children from the surrounding villages crowd around the surgeries.
The notables return in triumph form Ankara, while an exultant crowd pours into the streets. The Kaymakam is to be transferred and Resul will take up his temporary post again. Compelled to accept defeat, Irmaklï departs, having decided to resume elsewhere the struggle for a more just world. He is ideally backed by the Kurd, Resul and the Doctor, as well as by Nermin, who feels certain that together they will come back to fight with their energy intact. The din raised by the teneke, the big tin drums, scornfully accompanies the Kaymakam’s departure. In the middle of the crowd, a man covered in mud tries to attract attention. He is Memed the Kurd, who has come to say goodbye to Irmaklï. The chorus bitterly decrees that the law is of no avail whatever; that force is what governs the world. The finale, entrusted to the music alone, remains however open. Injustice and the arrogance of the powerful have gained the upper hand, but only for the time being. Today’s defeat may turn into victory tomorrow, the struggle between good and evil is not a foregone conclusion.
attended the premiere together with his wife Ayşe Semiha Baban Kemal and the Turkish Diva Leyla Gencer
in the royal box. After the performance, he took a bow along with the cast, and received a loud applause from the audience.
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 three acts by Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Fabio Vacchi
Fabio Vacchi
Fabio Vacchi is an Italian composer born in 1949 in Bologna.-Training and debut:Fabio Vacchi studied at the G.B. Martini Conservatory of Bologna with Giacomo Manzoni and Tito Gotti. In 1974 he participated in the courses of the Tanglewood Festival in the USA, where he was awarded the Koussevitzky...
.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
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...
from the eponymous novel
Teneke (novel)
Teneke is a novel by the Kurdish author Yaşar Kemal, appeared in 1955 by Varlık Yayınları after its first publication in 1954 as an episode in the newspaper Cumhuriyet. It is Kemal's second novel...
by the Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
author Yaşar Kemal
Yasar Kemal
Yaşar Kemal, is a Turkish writer. He is one of Turkey's leading writers. He has long been a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, on the strength of Memed, My Hawk....
published in 1955. The opera was premiered on September 22, 2007 at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, conducted by Roberto Abbado
Roberto Abbado
Roberto Abbado is an Italian conductor. He is the son of musician Marcello Abbado and the nephew of conductor Claudio Abbado...
. Set designs and costumes were by Arnaldo Pomodoro
Arnaldo Pomodoro
Arnaldo Pomodoro is an Italian sculptor. He was born on 23 June 1926, in Morciano, Romagna, Italy. He currently lives and works in Milan. His brother, Giò Pomodoro was also a sculptor....
, and Ermanno Olmi
Ermanno Olmi
Ermanno Olmi is a renowned Italian film director.-Biography:Olmi was born in Bergamo, Lombardy. He is married to Loredana Detto, who played Antonietta Masetti in Il Posto....
was the stage director. It was staged until October 4, 2007, seven times only. Running time is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Act I
ÇukurovaÇukurova
Çukurova , historically known as Cilicia, is a geographic, economic and cultural region in south-central Turkey, covering the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay...
region in southern Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, in the 1950s. Resul Efendi, who is standing in for the newly appointed Kaymakam
Kaymakam
Qaim Maqam or Qaimaqam or Kaymakam is the title used for the governor of a provincial district in the Republic of Turkey, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and in Lebanon; additionally, it was a title used for roughly the same official position in the Ottoman...
until he arrives, is an honest man. But he is incapable of opposing the arrogance of the rice growers, who are pressing to obtain their seasonal permits. Threatened, he is playing for time when the Doctor rushes in announcing that the Kaymakam has arrived.
Fikret Irmaklï, a young man in his first post, is greeted by the notables, headed by the rich Okçuoglu. The festive welcome clashes with the desolate picture of the countryside, described to one side by the peasant farmers. The very green young Kaymakam is easily swindled, however much the Doctor may try to explain the damage caused by rice, mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
es and malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
.
Irmaklï re-enters in a very good mood, whistling Beethoven’s Ode to Joy
Ode to Joy
"Ode to Joy" is an ode written in 1785 by the German poet, playwright and historian Friedrich Schiller, enthusiastically celebrating the brotherhood and unity of all mankind...
. At home, he finds a letter from his fiancée Nermin, who is studying in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The letter seems to be animated by the girl’s own voice. Homesickness and a pining for her far-off beloved are not enough to dampen her hopes that their people may unite their destiny with that of the West.
Act II
Fikret signs the permits, without suspecting anything. Okçuoglu waxes lyrical on the benefits of progress and the cultivation of rice – so much more profitable than traditional crops. He omits to mention, however, that he intends also to flood the village of Sazlïdere, where the peasant farmers will have no escape from malaria. Nermin, as an absent ringleader, makes ironic comments on these fine words.Okçuoglu summons the tenant-farmers, to take their land in exchange for their products. The only one, who dares oppose the overbearing landowner is Memed Ali,a Kurd and ex-mountain bandit. Memed accuses Okçuoglu of corrupting the officials, and declares that he will not be selling an inch of his land.
Resul is consumed by the thought that the peasants believe Irmaklï to be corrupt. Incited by the Doctor, he eventually decides to inform him of the agrarian regulations. Irmaklï is dejected and flings himself on to his bed. He falls into a heavy sleep and in a dream Nermin appears, consoles him and spurs him to fight for the law to be respected. Driven by a fresh inner strength, the Kaymakam issues new orders. To start with, he immediately leaves the comfortable house placed at his disposal by the absentee landlords, and settles instead into his office.
In the meantime Okçuoglu has flooded the village, leaving men and animals in the mire. The old lady of the community, Zeyno Karï, incites Memed to rebel. Despite his fury, the Kurd knows he has no way out if he should kill Okçuoglu. A melancholy song drifts from his hut by day and by night. In her disdain, Zeyno leads the peasants’ protest as they march , covered in mud, to the Kaymakam’s office.
Act III
Irmaklï revokes the permits, unleashing the owners’ wrath. With bitter skepticism, Nermin’s voice remarks that the law tends, as a rule, to lose in any clash with power. The Kaymakam puts soldiers to guard the sluice gates and prevent irrigation. Resul is scared of the consequences of an action that will jeopardize the harvest. But the Doctor bursts into the room to say that Okçuoglu has bribed the guards and a river of water is pouring into the fields. Isolated by now, Irmaklï refuses to give in, whilst in dismay Resul and the Doctor observe his hopeless temerity.The young man’s mind turns sadly back to his student days. His nostalgia for Nermin throws him almost into dejection, as he considers his hard struggle waged alone. Nermin cheers him up and tries to infuse courage into him, in the name of justice and of the suffering people. Irmaklï takes heart again and rouses himself, in the certitude that the law and love are on his side.
All attempts to convince the Kaymakam having failed, the notables’ hatred blazes. The authorities are swamped with letters full of slander. In the end, the growers decide to flood the fields without permission, whilst a delegation sets out for Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
to obtain Irmaklï’s dismissal. At the same time Zeyno and the peasant women, covered in mud from head to foot, demand the right to live in human conditions. To save the village, the women have resolved to use their shovels to block the sluices. Okçuoglu offers money to the peasants if they will leave their homes. Zeyno urges the men to resist, but in vain. Resigned by now, the peasants accept the offer and in exchange the landowner demands the immediate resumption of irrigation. The village, according to him, no longer exists. Memed alone, having resolved not to budge from his hut, will not yield to this blackmail. Meanwhile Irmaklï has been taken ill, as have the majority of the peasants. Men, women and children from the surrounding villages crowd around the surgeries.
The notables return in triumph form Ankara, while an exultant crowd pours into the streets. The Kaymakam is to be transferred and Resul will take up his temporary post again. Compelled to accept defeat, Irmaklï departs, having decided to resume elsewhere the struggle for a more just world. He is ideally backed by the Kurd, Resul and the Doctor, as well as by Nermin, who feels certain that together they will come back to fight with their energy intact. The din raised by the teneke, the big tin drums, scornfully accompanies the Kaymakam’s departure. In the middle of the crowd, a man covered in mud tries to attract attention. He is Memed the Kurd, who has come to say goodbye to Irmaklï. The chorus bitterly decrees that the law is of no avail whatever; that force is what governs the world. The finale, entrusted to the music alone, remains however open. Injustice and the arrogance of the powerful have gained the upper hand, but only for the time being. Today’s defeat may turn into victory tomorrow, the struggle between good and evil is not a foregone conclusion.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, September 22, 2007 (Conductor: Roberto Abbado Roberto Abbado Roberto Abbado is an Italian conductor. He is the son of musician Marcello Abbado and the nephew of conductor Claudio Abbado... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Nermin | 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... |
Rachel Harnisch |
| Fikret Irmakli | 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... |
Steve Davislim |
| Resul Efendi | 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... |
Andrea Concetti |
| Memed the Kurd | Baritone | Alessandro Paliaga |
| Zeyno Karï | 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... |
Anna Smirnova |
| Okçuoglu | Bass | Nicola Ulivieri |
| The Doctor | Baritone | Angelo Veccia |
| 12 Landowners | Luca Dellacasa, Krystian Krzeszowiak, Giovanni Caccamo, Luca Favaron, Leonardo Andreotti, Vito Martino, Roberto Lizzio, Davide Rocca, Filippo Tuccimei, Nicolás Lartaun, Emilio Casali, Riccardo Ristori | |
| The Farmers | Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala of Milan |
Premiere
Yaşar KemalYasar Kemal
Yaşar Kemal, is a Turkish writer. He is one of Turkey's leading writers. He has long been a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, on the strength of Memed, My Hawk....
attended the premiere together with his wife Ayşe Semiha Baban Kemal and the Turkish Diva Leyla Gencer
Leyla Gencer
Leyla Gencer, or Ayşe Leyla Çeyrekgil was a world-renowned Turkish operatic soprano.Known as "La Diva Turca" and "La Regina" in the opera world, Gencer was a notable bel canto soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, and had a repertoire...
in the royal box. After the performance, he took a bow along with the cast, and received a loud applause from the audience.
External links
- Libretto of Teneke
- http://www.ricordi.it/composers/v/fabio-vacchi/teneke/fabio-vacchi-what-music-should-one-write-at-the-beginning-of-the-twenty-first-century/An essay on Teneke by Jean-Jacques NattiezJean-Jacques NattiezJean-Jacques Nattiez, CM, CQ, FRSC is a musical semiologist or semiotician and professor of Musicology at the Université de Montréal...
] - Teneke: A Stage in a Theatrical Journey by Giorgio Pestelli