This is Anny Konetzni (1902-1968) as Brünnhilde with her sister Hilde Konetzni (1905-1980) as Sieglinde in Act III of Die Walküre at the Vienna State Opera (where else?) in 1936. In a moment we're going to hear baby sister in an unexpected role.
GÉRARD HAS SURE COME A LONG WAY FROM
THE BEATEN-DOWN SERVANT WE MET IN ACT I
Of course we've skipped entirely over Act II, where we would already have seen Gérard as a muckety-muck in the revolutionary government. But we've also skipped over some important information contained in the very end of Act I. So here is that final four minutes and change, from Maddalena's shamed response to Chénier's Improvviso ("Forgive me!") to the Act I curtain.
GIORDANO: Andrea Chénier: Act I conclusion
MADDALENA: Forgive me!Renata Tebaldi (s), Maddalena; Maria Teresa Mandalari (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Ettore Bastianini (b), Carlo Gérard; Michele Cazzato (bs), Major-Domo; Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome), cond. Decca, recorded 1957
COUNTESS: She's such a strange creature. We must forgive her.
She's willful and a little romantic.
[As music strikes up] But hear! It's the gay sound of the gavotte.
Come along, cavaliers! Everyone choose his lady!
[As the dancers take their places, strange singing cn be heard outside in the distance.]
DISTANT VOICES: Night and day
we bear the whole time
suffering.
We are poor people
who of famine
are dying.
Famished, fainting,
dying,
we fall on the barren ground.
GÉRARD [announcing a band of poverty-stricken peasants]: His highness Poverty!
COUNTESS: Who let these people in?
GÉRARD: I, Gérard!
COUNTESS [to her footmen and lackeys]: Out with this rabble!
[to GÉRARD] And you first of all!
GÉRARD: Yes, I am going, Countess.
This livery weighs on me
and the bread I eat
here is base!
The voice of the man whoo wuffers
calls me to him!
[Raises his old father, who is kneeling imploringly at the Countess's feet] Come, my father, come with me!
Why do you bow down at the feet
of one who doesn't hear the voice of pity?
[Stripping his livery from his back] Off with this vile badge of servitude!
[The MAJOR-DOMO, footmen, and lackeys drive away the peasants, while the Countess, speechless with rage, collapses on the sofa. GÉRARD forces his father to leave together with him and the peasants.]
COUNTESS: That Gérard!
Reading has been his ruination!
And I who every day
have distributed alms . . .
and in order not to embarrass
those who are in poverty
went so far as to wear the habit
of a sister of mercy!
[to the MAJOR-DOMO] Have they all gone?
MAJOR-DOMO: Yes.
COUNTESS: My excuses! The interrupted gavotte,
my ladies, let's get back to.
Let gaiety return!
[The guests take up the gavotte once more.][CURTAIN]
Antonietta Stella (s), Maddalena; Luciana Moneta (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Mario Sereni (b), Carlo Gérard; Paolo Pedani (bs), Major-Domo; Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Gabriele Santini, cond. EMI, recorded June-July 1963
NOW IT'S TIME FOR "OLD MADELON" TO TELL HER
STORY AND MAKE HER DONATION TO THE CAUSE
As I've indicated, Madelon isn't a role in which you would normally expect to encounter Hilde Konetzni. But the Vienna State Opera has a tradition of recycling its veteran singers into small roles where they can make some impact, hopefully more than sentimental. Hilde K sang the big dramatic soprano roles, though not as big as her sister Anny, who seems to have had a soprano of pulverizing size and power. Hilde, however, was always noted for her sympathetic personal qualities, and while she isn't the "definitive" Madelon (I'm holding some really good ones in reserve for when we break the scene down a little; among our Madelons today, I would put in a good word for the fine character mezzo Anna di Stasio in the 1963 EMI Chénier, below), the 55-year-old singer still had a fair amount of voice left in 1960 (she continued singing small roles at the Staatsoper for another decade-plus), and those personal qualities definitely come into play.
GIORDANO: Andrea Chénier: Act III,
Madelon, "Son la vecchia Madelon"
MADELON: I am Old Madelon. My son is dead.Hilde Konetzni (s), Madelon; Ettore Bastianini (b), Carlo Gérard; Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Lovro von Matačić, cond. Live performance, June 26, 1960
His name was Roger. He died in the taking
of the Bastille. His first son
at Valmy won promotion and death.
Another few days and I too will die.
[Pushing the boy forward]
He's the son of Roger. The last son.
The last drop of my old blood . . .
Take him!
Don't say that he's just a child!
He's strong . . . He can fight and die!
GÉRARD [after an officer of the National Guard has examined the eager boy and pronounced him eligible]:
We accept him. Tell me his name.
MADELON: Roger Alberto.
GÉRARD: He'll leave this very evening.
MADELON: My joy, farewell!
Take him away!
[Seeking helplessly around her as two National Guardsmen lead the boy away.]
Who'll give me his arm?
[She is led away by sympathetic onlookers. The deputies now remove the urn; the crowd thins out; the officer and the National Guard march away.]
AND THAT'S ALL I'M GOING TO SAY FOR NOW.
LET'S HEAR THE WHOLE OPENING SCENE OF ACT III
Well, maybe I'll say one more thing, since we haven't talked at all about the opening of Act III. The first voice we hear belongs to the sans-culotte Mathieu, now known as "Populus," who is doing his dreadful best at bleeding the crowd for the cause. He's conspicuously lacking in the silver-tongued oratorical skills it should come as no surprise to us Gérard possesses so abundantly.
Small as the role of Mathieu is, it's frequently taken by the sort of comic bass we might hear, say, as Dr. Bartolo in Rossini's Barber of Seville (one of our Mathieus below, Paolo Montarsolo, actually recorded the straight singing role of Don Basilio, but that was a dreadful mistake; Bartolo should have been his role) or in the title role of Donizetti's Don Pasquale.
GIORDANO: Andrea Chénier: Act III,
Mathieu, "Dumouriez traditore" . . .
Gérard, "Lagrime e sangue dà la Francia! Udite!" . . .
Madelon, "Son la vecchia Madelon"
A large hall that can be divided into two halves by barriers when the Revolutionary Tribunal is in session -- one side for the officials and one for the public. At present the center of the hall is occupied by a large urn, surrounded by members of the National Guard, representatives of the people, and deputies.Fernando Corena (bs), Mathieu; Ettore Bastianini (b), Carlo Gérard; Amelia Guidi (ms), Madelon; Chorus and Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome), Gianandrea Gavazzeni, cond. Decca, recorded 1957
MATHIEU [who is haranguing the crowd, continuing]:
Dumouriez, traitor and Jacobin,
has gove over to the enemy (the scoundrel!).
Coburg, Brunswick (may Pitt die of the plague!),
and the old brothel of Europe --
they're all against us . . . Gold and soldiers!
Therefore this urn here and I who speak to you
represent the picture of our country!
No volunteers? May the guillotine
change your heads and hearts for you!
[Several come forward and throw money and valuables into the urn.]
MATHIEU: The fatherland is in danger!
Now, like Barère before me, I raise the cry
of Louvertur [i.e., Toussaint l'Ouverture]: Liberty and potatoes!
[Catching sight of GÉRARD approaching]
But look . . there's Gérard over there!
He'll drag the ex-louis d'or out of our pockets
with the kind of words I'm no good at.
I've no time for pretty words.
I even boast of it!
PEOPLE [overlapping]: Citizen Gérard!
Your health! Long life!
MATHIEU: Your wound?
GÉRARD: Thanks, citizens!
My strong constitution has preserved me
for my fatherland still!
MATHIEU [indicating the urn, to GÉRARD]: Here is your place!
[Taking up his interrupted speech]
Dumouriez, traitor and Girondin,
has gone over to the enemy (death to the lot of 'em!)!
And the fatherland is in dan- --
[Giving up, indicating GÉRARD]
I yield the floor.
GÉRARD: France offers blood and tears! Listen!
Laudun has hoisted
the white flag!
And the Vendée is in flames!
And Brittany threatens us!
And Austrians, and Prussians, and English -- and everyone
sink their armed fangs
into the breast of France!
We need blood and gold!
Women of France, give the
useless gold of your necklaces!
Give your sons to the great mother,
o you, French mothers!
[Carried away by GÉRARD's eloquence, several women come running forward and throw trinkets and coins in the urn.]
Several women in the crowd make offerings. Amid the din an old blind woman is heard urging the other women to make way. Accompanied by a 15-year-old boy she forces her way through the crowd.
MADELON: I am Old Madelon. My son is dead.
His name was Roger. He died in the taking
of the Bastille. His first son
at Valmy won promotion and death.
Another few days and I too will die.
[Pushing the boy forward]
He's the son of Roger. The last son.
The last drop of my old blood . . .
Take him!
Don't say that he's just a child!
He's strong . . . He can fight and die!
GÉRARD [after an officer of the National Guard has examined the eager boy and pronounced him eligible]:
We accept him. Tell me his name.
MADELON: Roger Alberto.
GÉRARD: He'll leave this very evening.
MADELON: My joy, farewell!
Take him away!
[Seeking helplessly around her as two National Guardsmen lead the boy away.]
Who'll give me his arm?
[She is led away by sympathetic onlookers. The deputies now remove the urn; the crowd thins out; the officer and the National Guard march away. MATHIEU starts to transform the hall into a court of justice, the Revolutionary Tribunal. Outside, the crowd begins dancing and singing the Carmagnole.]
Paolo Montarsolo (bs), Mathieu; Mario Sereni (b), Carlo Gérard; Anna di Stasio (ms), Madelon; Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Gabriele Santini, cond. EMI, recorded June-July 1963
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