 Otello: Ballabile (Verdi)
from YouTube :: Tag // storm
February 14, 2008
James Levine conducts the extremely rare 'Ballabile' from act 3 of Giuseppe Verdi's "Otello". Otello had its first performance in Paris on 12 October 1894, for which Verdi provided the obligatory ballet music. The Ballàbili (dances) were written a year after Falstaff and finished on 12 August 1894 (Conati 1994, 224). This was Verdi's last operatic composition. The ballet is inserted in the Third Act. After Iago leaves to bring Desdemona to meet the ambassadors, the horns launch into the first section of the Ballet. The music returns to the Third Act two measures after the point at which the ballet begins. The ballet is comprised of seven sections: Untitled Canzone Araba [Arabian Song] Invocazione di Allah [Invocation of Allah] Canzone Araba [Greek Song] Danza [Dance] La Muranese [The People of Murano] Canto Guerriero [The Warrior's Song] Verdi timed the composition at 5 minutes and 59 seconds. The section of the score marked Invocazione Di Allah is only six bars long. It serves as a breaking point between the more rapid sections, perhaps giving the "wild" dancers a short respite. Verdi had been looking for either a Hymn to Allah or Song of the Muezzin. Verdi happened to remember a section written by Felicien David (1810-1876) in his Ode-Symphony, Le Desert. Verdi quoted this section directly from an orchestral transcription of a melody that was given by David to his tenor soloist. (Budden 1984, 3:401). The Ode-Symphony was premiered on 8 December 1844. There are three movements for soloists and male-voice chorus. Some of the scenes described include: a desert storm, a prayer to Allah, the caravan, the reverie du soir, and the Muezzin's call. The music is strictly oriental in inflection. The tunefulness of the hymn to Allah accounted for some of its popularity (Sadie 1980, 5:264). As for the Muranese, Verdi reported to Ricordi that it was written 2000 years ago for a war between Venice and Murano which the Muranese won. The Canzone Greca was a song from Greece written around 500 B. C. (Conati 1994, 224). Franco Zeffirelli made use of the Ballàbili in his film version of Otello. He used the music as a segue to suggest an all-consuming victory celebration over the defeat of the Turks. Iago and Roderigo take their conversation upstage and music from the first section of the ballet is introduced. The Invocazione Di Allah is then brought in. For the finale, the first section is combined with the Canzone Araba. Arabian costumes are worn by the dancers. Lanterns are carried by children riding atop the adults' shoulders. There are also people running and jumping over the bonfires, increasing the crowd's pleasure. The Ballàbili are usually omitted from performances today. Perhaps one reason is the fear that they will lessen the intensity of the Third Act. Verdi, in a letter to Giulio Ricordi, said of the ballet music, "artistically speaking, it is a monstrosity." He insisted that it be excluded from the score because it interrupted the action (Phillips-Matz 1993, 690). In fact, the ballet music is included in the Ricordi score, as an appendix. Author: gtelloz Keywords: otello giuseppe verdi ballabile ballet james levine metropolitan opera orchestra Added: February 13, 2008
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