FULL DAS PARADIES UND DIE PERI (Schumann) Genoa 2023
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Das Paradies und die Peri Composer: Libretto: .
- Composer: Schumann Robert
- Libretto: based on a German translation (by Schumann and his friend Emil Flechsig) of a tale from Lalla-Rookh by Thomas Moore
- Venue & Opera Company: Chiesa di N.S. della Consolazione, Genova, Italy
- Recorded: November 24, 2023
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Giulia Filippi, Marta Barusso, Nana Onishi, Debora Parodi, Andrea Lanzola, Lorenza Cevasco, Lorenza Cevasco, Sofia Ferrari, IsaìasFlores Lugo, Riccardo Montemezzi
- Conductor: LUCA FRANCO FERRARI
- Orchestra: Cristina Parodi, Pinuccia Schicchi, PIANO
- Chorus: SELVA ARMONICA
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Suoni d'Arte Festival - Il Concento
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Paradise and the Peri (Op. 50) is a secular oratorio by Robert Schumann . It was written between February and June 1843 and premiered on December 4, 1843 in Leipzig, with Livia Frege singing the title role of Peri .
Cast and structure
Solos (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass), solo quartet with changing line-up from the solos, three to six-part mixed choir and orchestra. Three-part structure with a total of 26 numbers. Performance duration approximately 90 minutes. The solo voices are used both for the roles that appear selectively (angel, youth, virgin, man, tyrant Gazna and of course for Peri, who appears in 9 numbers) and (with the exception of soprano and bass) for the task of the testo (narrator). , which is traditionally only the responsibility of the tenor. 5 of the 12 choirs are also tied to roles (choir of the Indians, the Conquerors, the Angels, the Nilgenien, the Houris), which means that the line-up deviates from the usual SATB distribution , e.g. B. Conqueror T B1 B2 or Angel S1 S2 A1 A2. This concept of starting from voices and not roles (characters) gives the work a new, strongly epic and, in the mood pictures (e.g. No. 6 or 18), lyrical tendency at the expense of the dramatic (see below “poetry” instead of “oratorio”) ), which is also reflected in the lack of action and conflict. The orchestral line-up consists of 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones (alto, tenor, bass), 1 ophicleide , timpani, triangle, bass drum, harp and strings.
Libretto
The libretto of the oratorio was translated and edited by Emil Flechsig and the composer based on the Oriental epic Lalla Rookh (1817) by Thomas Moore . Schumann may have already known Moore’s story as a child, as a German translation was published by his father’s publishing house in 1822. At the suggestion of Schumann’s friend Flechsig, the oratorio text was written in 1841 and was completed on January 6, 1842. Schumann initially called the work “poetry” and not oratorio in order to emphasize the novelty of the composition.
Plot
The Peri (Persianپریfor fairy, elf ), child of a fallen angel and a mortal, tries to gain entry to paradise, from which she was excluded due to her impure origins. Her first two offerings – the last drop of blood of a brave young freedom fighter against a tyrant and the last sigh of a virgin dying in the arms of her plague-stricken lover – are not recognized by the heavenly guardian (angel). Only with the tears of a repentant criminal at the sight of a praying boy, who reminds him of the innocence of his own childhood, does the Peri finally reach its goal.
Quoted from Wikipedia