Weeks 3-4 | La Gioconda | Maria Callas: The Complete Studio Recordings
Story synopsis
Here is a link to the Metropolitan Opera’s synopsis of this opera.
Setting: St Mark’s Square/Piazza San Marco in Venice. Opens at the Doge’s palace during a festive springtime regatta during the Inquisition in Venice in the 17th century.
Act 1: The Lion’s Mouth
Act 2: The Rosary
Act 3: The House of Gold
Act 4: The Orfano Canal
The opera is based on Victor Hugo’s play: Angelo, Tyrant of Padua.
I’m realizing this project will be my attempt to write about opera like a poet rather than a critic. In the past 2 weeks, I have been swept away into the dreamworld of the opera La Gioconda. I generally try to be aware of the difference between escapism (not wanting to face the turbulent world we live in) and imagination (entering a dreamworld to re-imagine what is possible in our world). There is a subtle difference and I truly hope this project will be a force to spark the imagination.
Opera is a dreamworld that feels mythological. It strips our human experience down to the bare (often ugly) truth of things. And in that bare truth there can be so much pain and yet also so much possibility born out of the opening of our hearts that can happen if we choose to receive the knowledge and wisdom that is exposed.
This first opera of this listening project reminds me of the care and craft the great operas hold in them. But it takes time and patience to really listen to them. I had to listen to this music multiple times in multiple settings (that included the libretto where possible) to really experience the wondrous beauty of the work.
I am left with a feeling that the tragic stories of the classic operas are a record of the dark nature of being human. In this story, there are reminders of the oppression of women — including how the value of women’s lives were tied to the value they have to the men surrounding them and the outright violence directed toward strong willed women. Yet there are also hints of worship of the great mother. The second act is called ‘The Rosary’ and every time the rosary appears, the familiar musical theme from the opening Prelude returns.
In the character Gioconda, we see the truth of so many human emotions - love for her aging mother, passionate love and longing for a man who loves someone else. We see raging jealousy, fear, heartbreak and agony, but above all, there is a love that moves her confidently to her tragic destiny. For me, in the end, she personifies the virtues of what it means to love in this immensely imperfect world.
3 memorable musical moments
Prelude: I have been studying piano preludes for the last 3 years and it wasn’t until I heard the opening prelude to this opera that I fully understood (in my bones) what a prelude is. In the simplest sense, a “prelude” is an introduction. And yet it is so much more…an entryway, a portal, an invitation, a grand welcoming of what is to come.
Voce di donna o d’angelo: Sung by the contralto voice of La Cieca (Gioconda’s blind mother) as she bestows her rosary to Laura who just saved her from an angry mob in Act 1. The return of the Prelude melody in her voice brought me to tears. The songs where the voices of Gioconda (soprano) and her mother (contralto) are sung together in the first act are my favorite arias.
The Dance of the Hours: I had no idea this music is from this opera in Act 3. So stunning to see the context of this work. Jaw dropping for me.
Favorite songs from La Gioconda
Act 1
Prelude (see above)
Figlia, che reggi il tremulo [ Daughter, who sustains my faltering steps ] (Cieca, Gioconda, Barnaba): Our introduction to the devoted daughter and mother interrupted at the end by the villain of the story Barnaba.
Voce di donna o d’angelo [ O voice of woman or angel ] (Cieca) (see above)
Angele dei [ Angel of God ]: A hauntingly heavenly song that sets the stage for all the drama to come. It’s like a casting of fate put in motion by the characters in the scene. The interweaving of Gioconda and Cieca’s voices at the end is so beautiful.
Act 2
Cielo e mar [ Sky and sea ] (Enzo): A love song of deep longing.
L’amo come il fulgor del creato [ I love him as the light of Creation ] > Il mio braccio t’afferra [ You are now in my power ] > Maledizion! [ Damnation! ]: This combination of songs contains the moment when the anger of Gioconda shifts after she sees her rival, Laura, holding her mother’s rosary. She suddenly realizes Laura is the one who saved her mother and the melody from the opening Prelude returns.
Act 3
O madre mia [ O Mother ] (Gioconda): Gioconda calling out to her mother
The dance of the hours: morning, noon, evening, night
Gia ti veggo immota e smorta [ There you lie in silent splendor ] (Enzo, Barnaba, Cieca, Chorus, Alvise, Gioconda): This is the last scene in Act 3 and maybe the climax of the story. Laura is presumed murdered by her husband, Alvise. It begins with Enzo’s song of despair. Not for light-hearted listening.
Act 4
Nessun v’ha visto? [ Has someone seen you? ]: The gentleness in La Gioconda’s voice after the stormy end of Act 3 is so moving.
Suicidio (La Gioconda): The agony of Gioconda
O furibonda iena [ O furious hyena ] (Enzo, Gioconda, Laura) : Enzo’s fury with Gioconda is transformed when Laura awakens. For me, this song was enhanced by the experience of listening to it while driving through the mission in SF. It made life on the street feel so alive. What a wonder it is to be alive.
La barca s’avvicina [ The boat is coming closer ] (Gioconda) > Quest’ultimo bacio [ This final kiss ] (Enzo, Gioconda, Laura): One of the tenderest farewell songs and possibly the most joyous moment of the whole opera just before its tragic ending. We hear the return of the rosary melody and words sung by Cieca in the first act. In the end of this scene, we briefly can see Gioconda as “The Happy One” which is what her name means in Italian.
I think of mythology as the homeland of the muses, the inspirers of art, the inspirers of poetry. To see life as a poem and yourself participating in a poem is what the myth does for you.
—Joseph Campbell