Table Of Content

Leonora's Last Act PRINCETON STUDIES IN OPERA CAROLYN ABBATE AND ROGER PARKER, SERIES EDITORS Reading Opera, edited by Arthur Groos and Roger Parker Puccini's "Turandot": The End of the Great Tradition by William Ashbrook and Harold Powers Unsung Voices: Opera and Musical Narrative in the Nineteenth Century by Carolyn Abbate Wagner Androgyne: A Study in Interpretation by Jean-Jacques Nattiez, translated by Stewart Spencer Music in the Theater: Essays on Verdi and Other Composers by Pierluigi Petrobelli, translated by Roger Parker Leonora's Last Act: Essays in Verdian Discourse by Roger Parker Leonora's Last Act ESSAYS IN VERDIAN DISCOURSE Roger Parker PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY Copyright© 1997 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Parker, Roger, 1951- Leonora's last act : essays in Verdian discourse I Roger Parker. p. em. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-691-01557-0 (cl: alk. paper) 1. Verdi, Giuseppe, 1813-1901-Criticism and interpretation. 2. Opera-Italy-19th century. I. Title. ML410.V4P155 1997 782.1'092-dc21 97-5487 CIP This book has been composed in Saban Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources http://pup. princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 For Edward, Meg, and Pierluigi Thus ornament is but the guiled shore To a most dangerous sea; [. ..] in a word, The seeming truth which cunning times put on To entrap the wisest. The Merchant of Venice, Act III, scene 2 But what have I said, what can I say, of an Italian opera? -Only, little to the Purpose as it is, I wonder how I have been able to say so much: For who can describe Sound? Or what Words shall be found to imbody air? Pamela 4.111-12 CONTENTS Acknowledgments XI CHAPTER ONE On Reaching the Beguiled Shore 3 CHAPTER Two "Va pensiero" and the Insidious Mastery of Song 20 CHAPTER THREE "Insolite forme," or Basevi's Garden Path 42 CHAPTER FouR Leonora's Last Act: La forza del destino 61 CHAPTER FIVE Falstaff and Verdi's Final Narratives 100 CHAPTER SIX Reading the livrets, or the Chimera of "Authentic" Staging 126 CHAPTER SEVEN Lina Kneels; Gilda Sings 149 CHAPTER EIGHT Leonora's Last Act: It trovatore 168