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William Ratcliff (Cui)
Encyclopedia
William Ratcliff is an opera in three acts, composed by César Cui
during 1861-1868; it was premiered on 14 February 1869 (Old Style
) at the Mariinsky Theatre
in Saint Petersburg
under the conductorship of Eduard Nápravník
. Although it was revived in Moscow
in 1900 under Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
, it never became part of the standard operatic repertoire either in Russia or in the West. Nevertheless, this opera has considerable significance in the history of Russian art music, not only for the fact that it was the first opera by a member of The Five
to reach the stage, but also for musical features that suggest experimentation and interrelationships among The Five
.
, who also orchestrated certain passages of the opera, as did Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
.
The libretto
of the opera was adapted by the composer from Vasily Zhukovsky
's Russian
verse
translation of the like-named tragedy by Heinrich Heine
, with some additional verses by Viktor Krylov, who had already written the libretti for Cui's operas Prisoner of the Caucasus and The Mandarin's Son
. (The same play has been used for other operas, most notably Pietro Mascagni
's Guglielmo Ratcliff
, which premiered over a quarter century later.)
The action takes place in Scotland
, during the 17th century (Heine's original was set in Scotland of his own time).
" episode in the tavern scene of Act II, Tableau 1 with a comic ensemble scene.
Act I, Tableau 1. In MacGregor's castle, Mary, who in her heart really loves William, is being wed to Douglas. The guests celebrate the wedding. MacGregor blesses the couple. Margaret intones a portentous song with the line "Why is your sword so red with blood, Edward"? This disturbs Douglas, and Mary tries to calm him. He tells about being attacked on the road by highwaymen. Mary faints, but soon recovers. Douglas continues by telling of a mysterious man who rescued him. MacGregor sends Mary and the guests away to the banquet hall. He reveals to Douglas the details of Mary's previous two suitors.
Act I, Tableau 2. Amidst a congratulatory chorus, Ratcliff's agent Lesley delivers a challenge to Douglas to a duel.
Act II, Tableau 1. At a tavern, the patrons are entertaining themselves by making fun of the drunken Robin. Lesley sings a merry song. Ratcliff enters, and the people fall asleep. He tells Lesley of the two spectres that reach out to embrace each other, and of his childhood with Mary, and why he killed her two previous suitors. He begins to hallucinate, and the sleeping tavern clientele wake up. Ratcliff and Lesley leave, and the rest go back to sleep.
Act II, Tableau 2. Outside, by the Black Stone, Ratliff awaits Douglas. When the latter enters, he recognizes Ratcliff as the man who saved him from the robbers. Nevertheless, the duel is engaged. Douglas seriously wounds Ratcliff and leaves. Ratcliff, regaining consciousness, begins to hear witches laughing at him and runs off amidst thunder, lightning, and wind.
Act III. In Mary's bedroom, she tells Margaret how sweet William Ratcliff used to be, and how she is having dreams that he is a spectre reaching out to her. She asks what happened to her mother, and Margaret relates the events. Despite his injury, Ratcliff, whom Margaret mistakes as Edward, enters. Mary tends to his wounds. When Margaret intones her song again, Ratcliff goes mad and kills Mary. MacGregor, responding to calls for help, enters, and is killed by Ratcliff, who goes off to the alcove and commits suicide. The two phantoms appear and embrace. Douglas and guests enter and react to the tragedy.
César Cui
César Antonovich Cui was a Russian of French and Lithuanian descent. His profession was as an army officer and a teacher of fortifications; his avocational life has particular significance in the history of music, in that he was a composer and music critic; in this sideline he is known as a...
during 1861-1868; it was premiered on 14 February 1869 (Old Style
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
) at the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
under the conductorship of Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Francevič Nápravník was a Czech conductor and composer, who settled in Russia and is best known for his leading role in Russian musical life as the principal conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg for many decades...
. Although it was revived in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1900 under Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher.- Biography :...
, it never became part of the standard operatic repertoire either in Russia or in the West. Nevertheless, this opera has considerable significance in the history of Russian art music, not only for the fact that it was the first opera by a member of The Five
The Five
The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie , refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin...
to reach the stage, but also for musical features that suggest experimentation and interrelationships among The Five
The Five
The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie , refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Borodin...
.
The Libretto
The subject for the opera was suggested to the composer by Mily BalakirevMily Balakirev
Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ,Russia was still using old style dates in the 19th century, and information sources used in the article sometimes report dates as old style rather than new style. Dates in the article are taken verbatim from the source and therefore are in the same style as the source...
, who also orchestrated certain passages of the opera, as did Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
.
The 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...
of the opera was adapted by the composer from Vasily Zhukovsky
Vasily Zhukovsky
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19th century...
's Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
verse
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
translation of the like-named tragedy by Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
, with some additional verses by Viktor Krylov, who had already written the libretti for Cui's operas Prisoner of the Caucasus and The Mandarin's Son
The Mandarin's Son
The Mandarin's Son is comic opera in one act by César Cui, composed in 1859. The libretto, which includes spoken dialogue, was written by V.A...
. (The same play has been used for other operas, most notably Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Mascagni
Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Guglielmo Ratcliff
Guglielmo Ratcliff
Guglielmo Ratcliff is a tragic opera in four acts by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, translated from the German play Wilhelm Ratcliff by Heinrich Heine...
, which premiered over a quarter century later.)
The action takes place in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, during the 17th century (Heine's original was set in Scotland of his own time).
Characters and Setting
- Principal roles:
- MacGregor, a wealthy Scottish lord (bassBass (voice type)A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
) - Mary (Maria), his daughter (sopranoSopranoA 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...
) - Margaret, her wet-nurse (mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA 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...
) - Earl Douglas, Maria's fiancé (tenorTenorThe 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...
) - William Ratcliff (baritoneBaritoneBaritone 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...
)
- MacGregor, a wealthy Scottish lord (bass
- Minor roles:
- Lesley, Ratcliff's friend (tenorTenorThe 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...
) - Robin, a vagrant (bass)
- Tom, a vagrant (baritone)
- Betsy, a servant at the tavern (soprano)
- Servants, wedding guests, swindlers, robbers (chorus)
- Lesley, Ratcliff's friend (tenor
Synopsis
The plot is fairly bloody, and follows the conventions of the German Schicksalsdrama, or "drama of fate" of the early 19th century. Many relevant motives and events actually occur before the curtain rises and have to be rendered in long narratives, leaving the action on stage significantly static for much of the time. The primary departures from Heine's original drama include the wedding choruses in Act I and the replacement of the intimate "Pater NosterPater Noster
Pater Noster is probably the best-known prayer in Christianity.Pater Noster or Paternoster may also refer to:* Paternoster, a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a building* Paternoster, Western Cape, South Africa* Pierres...
" episode in the tavern scene of Act II, Tableau 1 with a comic ensemble scene.
- Pre-curtain events: In years past MacGregor's wife Betty fell in love with Edward Ratcliff, the father of William. When MacGregor killed Edward out of jealousy, Betty herself died from grief. The spectres of Edward and Betty haunt William, who kills the first two men to whom MacGregor's daughter Mary has been betrothed.
Act I, Tableau 1. In MacGregor's castle, Mary, who in her heart really loves William, is being wed to Douglas. The guests celebrate the wedding. MacGregor blesses the couple. Margaret intones a portentous song with the line "Why is your sword so red with blood, Edward"? This disturbs Douglas, and Mary tries to calm him. He tells about being attacked on the road by highwaymen. Mary faints, but soon recovers. Douglas continues by telling of a mysterious man who rescued him. MacGregor sends Mary and the guests away to the banquet hall. He reveals to Douglas the details of Mary's previous two suitors.
Act I, Tableau 2. Amidst a congratulatory chorus, Ratcliff's agent Lesley delivers a challenge to Douglas to a duel.
Act II, Tableau 1. At a tavern, the patrons are entertaining themselves by making fun of the drunken Robin. Lesley sings a merry song. Ratcliff enters, and the people fall asleep. He tells Lesley of the two spectres that reach out to embrace each other, and of his childhood with Mary, and why he killed her two previous suitors. He begins to hallucinate, and the sleeping tavern clientele wake up. Ratcliff and Lesley leave, and the rest go back to sleep.
Act II, Tableau 2. Outside, by the Black Stone, Ratliff awaits Douglas. When the latter enters, he recognizes Ratcliff as the man who saved him from the robbers. Nevertheless, the duel is engaged. Douglas seriously wounds Ratcliff and leaves. Ratcliff, regaining consciousness, begins to hear witches laughing at him and runs off amidst thunder, lightning, and wind.
Act III. In Mary's bedroom, she tells Margaret how sweet William Ratcliff used to be, and how she is having dreams that he is a spectre reaching out to her. She asks what happened to her mother, and Margaret relates the events. Despite his injury, Ratcliff, whom Margaret mistakes as Edward, enters. Mary tends to his wounds. When Margaret intones her song again, Ratcliff goes mad and kills Mary. MacGregor, responding to calls for help, enters, and is killed by Ratcliff, who goes off to the alcove and commits suicide. The two phantoms appear and embrace. Douglas and guests enter and react to the tragedy.
Notable Musical Selections
- Orchestral Introduction
- Mary's Romance (Act I, Tableau 1)
- MacGregor's Narrative (Act I, Tableau 1)
- Lesley's Song (Act II, Tableau 1)
- Ratcliff's Narrative (Act II, Tableau 1)
- Scene by the Black Stone (Act II, Tableau 2)
- Orchestral Introduction to Act III
- Mary's [Second] Romance (Act III)
- Margaret's Narrative (Act III)
- Duet of Ratcliff and Mary (Act III)