Sunday Classics: It's a shame we don't have a verb that means "to celebrate by singing hymns"

Mezzo Waltraud Meier as Santuzza celebrates that "the Lord is not dead" -- the Easter hymn from Cavalleria rusticana (texts below), with Riccardo Muti conducting (Ravenna, 1996).

by Ken

If you want to think of Cavalleria rusticana, which we've been previewing Friday night and last night, as background for the Stupak Amendment, and the attitude it represents toward women, feel free. But the havoc Francis Ford Coppola wrought on it in The Godfather, Part III, which probably exposed the opera to more people than all its opera-house performances since 1890, won't be any help.

I know people will think I'm engaged in fuddy-duddyist nitpicking when I complain about Coppola's mendacious rearrangement, moving the Easter hymn of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana from virtually the beginning of the opera to virtually the end. Give us a break, isn't that just a bit of dramatic license?

Well, no, it isn't. It not only misrepresents the kind of story-telling Mascagni was engaged in, which is bad enough (come on now, if you think Cavalleria is worthy enough to exploit for your own dramatic purpose as the Sicilian-themed opera that Michael Corleone's son Anthony is singing for his operatic debut, in the capital of Corleone country, Palermo, Sicily, then I'm sorry, you have an obligation not to falsify it so blatantly), but transforms the intense character portraits Mascagni was undertaking into cheesy melodrama -- "operatic" in the conventionally disparaging sense.

Bottom line: Coppola has every right to choose cheesy melodrama for his own story-telling, but not to transform other people's into it.

In the film, Coppola pretends that the great Easter hymn chorale brings the opera to a sweaty, overwrought melodramatic climax, and he uses it as backdrop for the Great Killing Spree that forms the sweaty, melodramatic climax to his picture. But that's not at all what this music is meant to do. In the opera the Easter service, coming at almost the beginning, provides a backdrop, or perhaps a context, for the drama -- it shows us who these villagers are and what makes it possible, for better or worse, for them to go on with their lives.

Let's quickly listen again to the recording of just the climactic part of the sequence which we heard last night. Here I think we hear clearly that this music is about the villagers' faith. The climax it builds to would have been useless for Coppola. (By the way, how lovely is this word "inneggiamo"? I'm translating it as "let us rejoice in hymn," which kind of compresses a thought I hope you'll grasp, which is a lot to pack into a word, and probably wouldn't be suggested by "let us hymnify" even if we had such a word.)

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: Santuzza, "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto"
Fiorenza Cossotto (ms), Santuzza; Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded Sept.-Oct. 1965

What we're going to do is break down the Easter-service sequence of the opera. Actually, we need to back up a bit more. Properly speaking, the sequence begins with the teamster Alfio making a splashy entrance in the village square on this Easter morning as the villagers are assembling for church.

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: Alfio, "Il cavallo scalpita"

ALFIO: The horse's hooves thunder,
the harness bells jingle,
the whip cracks, ehi là!!
Let the cold wind blow,
let rain or snow fall,
to me what does it matter?
VILLAGERS: Oh, what a lovely way of life,
to be a carter,
to go here and there.
ALFIO: The whip cracks, the whip cracks, ehi là!

ALFIO: Waiting for me at home is Lola,
who loves me and comforts me,
who is ever faithful.
The horse's hooves thunder,
the harness bells jingle,
it's Easter and here I am!
VILLAGERS: Oh, what a lovely way of life,
to be a carter,
to go here and there.
ALFIO: The whip cracks, the whip cracks, ehi là!

Ettore Bastianini (b), Alfio; Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Alberto Erede, cond. RCA/Decca, recorded Sept. 1-7, 1957
Alexandru Agache (b), Alfio; Radio Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Ondrej Lenárd, cond. Opus, recorded June 1988-Feb. 1989
Robert Merrill (b), Alfio; RCA Victor Orchestra, Renato Cellini, cond. RCA/BMG, recorded January 1953

UH-OH, HOLD ON A SECOND!
WHAT'S THIS ABOUT "LOLA"?

Hmm, where have we heard that name before? Oh, right, in last night's preview, we heard -- embedded in the Prelude -- an offstage tenor serenading -- a woman named Lola! I think we need to hear the Prelude properly. Originally I had planned to offer just the recordings featuring Jussi Bjoerling, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Franco Corelli, for reasons I think you'll understand later, but I discovered that I had already copied the MP3 files for the Karajan-DG Cavalleria, of which we've already heard bits, and while I don't think of Carlo Bergonzi's soft-grained lyric tenor as a real Turiddu instrument (though actually the voice once was, when he first made his baritone-to-tenor conversion, and even recorded Turiddu for Cetra, but he undertook a further major vocal transformation), he certainly sings the "Siciliana" beautifully, and goodness knows Karajan conducts it beautifully and the Scala orchestra plays it beautifully, so why don't we have that as well?

We're hearing the entire Prelude -- orchestral beginning, tenor "Siciliana," and orchestral conclusion -- in all four recordings, but in all four you can easily skip ahead to the "Siciliana" if you like. Note too that, while the libretto does give the "Siciliana" in standard Italian, no self-respecting tenor sings that text rather than the version in Sicilian dialect. (Please, can we not have an argument whether "Sicilian" is a dialect or a language of its own?)

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: Prelude and "Siciliana"

O Lola of the milk-white blouse,
of the fair skin and cherry lips,
when you come laughing to the window,
happy is he who first can kiss you.
Blood has been shed across your door,
but I shall not care if I am slain there.
And if I should die and go to Paradise
and not find you there, I would not stay.

Jussi Bjoerling (t), Turiddu; Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Alberto Erede, cond. RCA/Decca, recorded Sept. 1-7, 1957
Giuseppe di Stefano (t), Turiddu; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded June and Aug. 1953
Franco Corelli (t), Turiddu; Rome Opera Orchestra, Gabriele Santini, cond. EMI, recorded 1962
Carlo Bergonzi (t), Turiddu; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded Sept.-Oct. 1965

NOW LET'S GET BACK TO OUR
EASTER-SERVICE SEQUENCE

Okay, so Alfio -- who we now know is married to a woman named Lola -- has just entered and sung his lusty song, to the approval of the villagers assembled in the square outside the village church, which happens also to be in front of the tavern run by Turiddu's mother, known to one and all as Mamma Lucia. The moment when the organ first sounds (0:27 in our clips) always gives me chills -- one of my favorite moments in music.

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: Mamma Lucia, "Beato voi, compar Alfio"

MAMMA LUCIA: You're lucky, friend Alfio,
that you're always so happy.
ALFIO: Mamma Lucia, you don't still have
any of that old wine?
MAMMA LUCIA: I don't know.
Turiddu has gone to get some.
ALFIO: But he's still here.
I saw him this morning
near my house.
MAMMA LUCIA: What?
SANTUZZA [quickly to MAMMA LUCIA]: Be quiet.
[From the church the Alleluja is heard sounding.]
ALFIO: I'm going now.
You others go in chuch. [Exits.]

Ebe Ticozzi (ms), Mamma Lucia; Rolando Panerai (b), Alfio; Maria Callas (s), Santuzza; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded June and Aug. 1953
Mariagrazia Allegri (ms), Mamma Lucia; Giangiacomo Guelfi (b), Alfio; Fiorenza Cossotto (ms), Santuzza; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded Sept.-Oct. 1965

As the villagers continue to gather and file into the church, from inside worshippers are heard singing the hymn "Regina coeli" ("Queen of Heaven").

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: chorus, "Regina coeli laetare" . . . "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" (choral version)

CHORUS INSIDE THE CHURCH: Regina coeli laetare --
Allelua! --
Quia quem meruisti portare --
Alleluja! --
Resurrexit sicut dixit --
Alleluja!
CHORUS OUTSIDE THE CHURCH (including SANTUZZA and MAMMA LUCIA):
Let us rejoice in hymn,
the Lord is not dead,
He in glory
has opened the tomb.
Let us rejoice in hymn
at the Lord's rising again,
ascending to Heaven.
CHORUS INSIDE THE CHURCH: Allelua!
[Everyone has entered the church except SANTUZZA and MAMMA LUCIA.]

Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded June and Aug. 1953
Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Herbert von Karajan, cond. DG, recorded Sept.-Oct. 1965

PARENTHETICALLY SPEAKING, NOW WE KNOW WHERE
THE OPENING MUSIC OF THE INTERMEZZO COMES FROM

If the theme of the "Regina coeli" sounds familiar, it should. Let's listen one more time to the opera's Intermezzo.

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo
Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Alberto Erede, cond. RCA/Decca, recorded Sept. 1-7, 1957

All Mascagni has done is change the quadruple meter of the choral version into triple meter. Or perhaps it's the other way around. You'll recall from Friday night's preview that the helpful mascagni.org FAQ note about the Intermezzo notes that a piano version of it is dated earlier than the opera.

But we digress. In the portion of the Easter hymn we've just heard, note that the outside chorus has already sung the chunk of text beginning "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto," musically speaking as a continuation of the inside chorus's "Regina coeli." Now Santuzza sings her own version of the "Inneggiamo" -- same words, but with that indelible tune, which is eventually taken over by the chorus, buiilding to that great climax.

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: from Santuzza, "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto"

Maria Callas (s), Santuzza; Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded June and Aug. 1953
Agnes Baltsa (ms), Santuzza; Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Philhamronia Orchestra,Giuseppe Sinopoli, cond. DG, recorded June 1989
[in German] Astrid Varnay (s), Santuzza; Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond. Live performance, recorded 1954

Now let's hear the whole sequence.

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: "Beato voi, compar Alfio" . . . "Regina coeli laetare" . . . "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" (choral version) . . . "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" (Santuzza)

Rina Corsi (ms), Mamma Lucia; (b), Alfio; Renata Tebaldi (s), Santuzza; Chorus and Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Alberto Erede, cond. RCA/Decca, recorded Sept. 1-7, 1957

Well, that wasn't quite the whole sequence. We really should hear it with Alfio's entrance song -- though not, alas, with his actual entrance music, because the CD-maker chose to put the track point at the vocal entrance (and I'm not going to go to the hassle of attempting to edit in the end of the previous track).

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana: "Il cavallo scalpita" . . . "Beato voi, compar Alfio" . . . "Regina coeli laetare". . . "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" (choral version) . . . "Inneggiamo, il Signor non è morto" (Santuzza)

Mario Sereni (b), Alfio; Corinna Vozza (ms), Mamma Lucia; Victoria de los Angeles (s), Santuzza; Rome Opera Orchestra, Gabriele Santini, cond. EMI, recorded 1962

SO WHAT'S THE BEEF WITH THE COPPOLA
CAVALLERIA FLIPFLOP? JUST WAIT TILL NEXT WEEK!

By manufacturing out of Cavalleria a phony-baloney climax that fits with his, Coppola blasts to smithereens what's actually going on in the conflict between the opera's protagonists, Santuzza and Turiddu.

I think that's going to have to wait for next week, though, when we're going to hear the final chunk of their great confrontation as sung by the starry teams of Renata Tebaldi and Jussi Bjoerling, Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano, and Victoria de los Angeles and Franco Corelli. Here's a preview.

MASCAGNI: Cavalleria rusticana" "Ah! lo vedi, che hai tu detto" . . . "No, no, Turiddu"


Mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos and tenor Plácido Domingo sing the final section of the Santuzza-Turiddu duet in Franco Zeffirelli's Met production of Cavalleria rusticana with James Levine conducting, May 4, 1978.

Santuzza has tried to prevent Turiddu from going into the church with his married sweetheart Lola, who has stormed off in a snit, in turn enraging him.

TURIDDU [irate]: Ah, you see what you've said?
SANTUZZA: You wanted it, and it serves you right.
TURIDDU [rushing toward her]: Ah! By God!
SANTUZZA: Tear out my heart!
TURIDDU {turning to go]: No!
SANTUZZA {holding onto him]: Turiddu, listen!
TURIDDU: Go!
SANTUZZA: Turiddu, listen!
No, no, Turiddu! Turiddu, Turiddu, stay, stay yet.
Would you abandon me then?
TURIDDU: Why follow me, why spy on me
even to the limit of the church?
SANTUZZA: Your Santuzza weeps and begs you.
How can you chase her away like this?
TURIDDU: Go, I repeat, don't pester me.
Repenting is useless after the offense.
SANTUZZA {threatening]: Watch out!
TURIDDU: Your rage doesn't affect me.
[He throws her to the ground and runs into church.]
SANTUZZA: To you an evil Easter, betrayer!

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