Ildebrando Pizzetti: Assassinio nella Cattedrale (1958)

Opera in due atti e intermezzo. Running Time: 1 hour 20 minutes.

This one is for OperaScribe.

This opera is so recent, 1958, that its La Scala premiere is actually available on Opera d’Oro label. This might be of slightly more interest to people since Leyla Gencer created the original soprano Coryphee role. Much of the opera, however, is dominated by the male voices, as the libretto is an almost direct translations into Italian of T.S. Eliot’s 1935 play. There are fifteen soloist roles, of which eight are for bass, with 4 tenors, and one each baritone, mezzo, and soprano. Except for Thomas of Becket himself and the Harald, all of the soloists are part of a groupings of characters ranging from 2 to 4 and have no individual names.

SETTING: Canterbury Cathedral, London, December 1170. Thomas of Becket (bass) is tempted by four demons (one tenor, three basses) after he returns to Canterbury. These suggest either he side with King Henry II and seek his personal safety, or else side with the King’s enemies and find a way to defeat him. Finally, he is tempted with the prospect of martyrdom. In the Intermezzo, Becket delivers his Christmas sermon. In the second act, four knights (again, one tenor and three basses) assassinate Becket in the Cathedral (on what they think are orders from Henry II) and then (in Eliot) the four attempt to justify their actions with the audience in a series of monologues which close the work or (in the opera) a religious apotheosis for Thomas a Becket.

LOOK OUT FOR:

ACT 1: The Interior of Canterbury Cathedral, 2 December, 1170. (38 minutes)

10: The events leading up to the arrival of Thomas in the Cathedral *** can be divided into four parts: the prelude ** which sets up a sense of urgency and anticipation by the mostly female chorus (with two chorus leaders mezzo and soprano) followed by the arrival of the Herald (tenor) who delivers the news of Thomas’ imminent arrival to three priests (tenor, baritone, and bass). This is followed by more frantic dialogue between the two female Coryphee before Thomas’ actually entrance.

17, 21, 24, 25, 29, 32: The arrival of the four tempters starts off, rather effectively with the tenor demon singing la-la-las **. This first offers him physical safety. The second offers power (it is necessary here and with the next two bass parts to have voices which strongly contrast in timber with that of Becket’s bass, otherwise it will come off as monotone). Pizzetti also helps here by enriching the orchestration **. This temptation avoided, prompts a break for the women to come back. The third tempter suggests that Becket start of coalition to defeat King Henry *. Finally, the fourth suggests that Becket reside himself to the glories of martyrdom ***. This leads to a climax *** in which all four tempters return and the female choristers really give it their all. The act ends with a final section for the bass which is rather religious in tone, even slightly saccharinely so.

INTERMEZZO: The Same, 25 December. (9 minutes)

The nine minute long intermezzo ** is at first dominated by an oboe solo over sinister strings. The gist of the sermon, fragments of which are sung at the beginning and end of the sequence, are mostly about how Christmas is both a time of rejoicing and of mourning. The middle of the section could have easily come from a mature Wagner opera. Thomas gives his benediction, and appears to accept the inevitability of his death.

ACT 2: The Same, 29 December. (31 minutes)

0: The opening scene is long and dominated by the soprano Coryphee, the oboe, and eventually the flute * as the situation with the four knights is set up.

4: The four knights * (here portrayed by the same singers as the four tempters) burst into the Cathedral rather brutishly and are rough with the three priests. Thomas greets them. The basses are darker (obviously) with the tenor getting more a trumpet accompaniment from the woodwinds. The circumstances surrounding their arrival and their purpose is revealed VERY slowly and is mostly a conflict between those loyal to the King and those loyal to the Pope. The knights are at first rebuffed by Thomas.

10: This allows for the women’s chorus to break in * with agitation.

14, 17, 18: Thomas returns to restore peace (more flute) *. The three priests furiously beg him to flee for his own safety, but he refuses and demands that the Vespers service continue uninterrupted. This defiant passage is brief but rather brilliant **. The male chorus (singing the Dies Irae) ** and the children’s chorus finally get into the thick of things in the otherwise female chorus domination.

21: The four knights return ** ready for the kill this time. Thomas starts to go into the Credo as he is hacked down by the knights. The chorus (rightly) freaks out.

26: The chorus gets a much more gentle passage after things die down (tuba comes in here) and the rest of the opera (about four minutes) turns into a hymn to the Omnipotent, a sort of Apotheosis for Thomas a Becket **. Curtain.

COMMENT:

A very interesting work, strongly diatonic, almost an oratorio of religious hue, with the ending somewhat unflatteringly similar to that of Suor Angelica. Although on a historical subject, there is something about this work which seems to bring us back to the Italian opera of the early 17th century (the tempters, in particular the tenor).

If there is a flaw in the work, it would be that the knights (who obviously want to kill Thomas when they first arrive) leave and then come back, which breaks up the dramatic flow of the confrontation and postpones what we all know is the historical inevitable by about ten minutes. The choice to cut Eliot’s monologues for the knights after the murder is probably for the best since their characterizations are the weakest in the opera (the three priests get better characterization). Having the knights sung by the same men as the four tempters actually gives them more interest to the audience.

An alpha. I can understand how this revitalized Pizzetti’s late period career.