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Also known as Der Prinz von Palermo, Boccaccio, oder Der Prinz von Palermo
Boccaccio, oder Der Prinz von Palermo is an operetta in three acts by Franz von Suppé to a German libretto by Camillo Walzel and Richard Genée, based on the play by Jean-François Bayard, Adolphe de Leuven, Léon Lévy Brunswick and Arthur de Beauplan, based in turn on The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. Despite the opera's clear links to the Viennese opera tradition, Suppé's opera takes most of its style from Italian opera.
“Se medesimi esaltando con parole da fare per istomacaggine le pietre saltar del muro e fuggirsi.”
— They boosted themselves with such nauseating self-praise as to make the stones jump out of the walls and flee.
“Natural ragione è di ciascuno che ci nasce, la sua vita, quanto può, aiutare e conservare e difendere.”
— Every person born into this world has a natural right to sustain, preserve, and defend his own life to the best of his ability.
“La gente è più acconcia a credere il male che il bene.”
— People are more inclined to believe in bad intentions than in good ones.
“Una boccuccia piccolina, le cui labbra parevan due rubinetti.”
— A sweet little mouth with lips like rubies.
“Essere la natura de' motti cotale, che essi come la pecora morde deono cosi mordere l'uditore, e non come 'l cane: percio che, se come cane mordesse il motto, non sarebbe motto, ma villania.”
— The nature of wit is such that its bite must be like that of a sheep rather than a dog, for if it were to bite the listener like a dog, it would no longer be wit but abuse.
“Leggiadre donne, infra molte bianche colombe aggiugne più di bellezza uno nero corvo, che non farebbe un candido cigno.”
— Charming ladies, the beauty of a flock of white doves is better enhanced by a black crow than by a pure white swan.
Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.
Article
Boccaccio, oder Der Prinz von Palermo (Boccaccio, or the Prince of Palermo) is an operetta in three acts by Franz von Suppé to a German libretto by Camillo Walzel and Richard Genée, based on the play by Jean-François Bayard, Adolphe de Leuven, Léon Lévy Brunswick and Arthur de Beauplan, based in turn on The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. Despite the opera's clear links to the Viennese opera tradition, Suppé's opera takes most of its style from Italian opera.
The opera was begun somewhere around the fall of 1878 and first published in 1879 by the August Cranz company and performed at the Carltheater, Vienna, on 1 February 1879. An English translation and adaptation was completed in 1880 by Dexter Smith and later by Oscar Weil and Gustav Hinrichs around 1883. The first contemporary edit of the work occurred in 1950 for the premiere of the work at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, with several more iterations occurring through the 20th century.
In 1940, Boccaccio was made into a film by American-born Italian film director Marcello Albani.
Contents
Performance history
Following its premiere in 1879, the opera quickly made its way around the globe.
23 April 1880: New York
3 February 1882: Brussels, Belgium (based on translation by Gustave Lagye)
12 Decembert 1882: Madrid, Spain (Teatro de la Zarzuela), translated to Spanish
29 March 1883: Paris, France (Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques)
1 May 1882 to 1929: Parma, Italy (Teatro Reinach)
16 September 1882: Vienna, Austria (Theater an der Wien)
1882: London, United Kingdom (Comedy Theatre)
2 September 188(3 or 4): Melbourne, Australia
26 December 1884: Brno, Czech Republic
11 October 1886: Manaus, Amazonos (Éden-Theatro)
5 July 1889: Vienna, Austria (Venedig in Wien)
1897: Manaus, Amazonos (Amazonas Theater)
1898: Rome, Italy (Costanzi Theater, based on translation by Gian Luigi Bonelli)
1905: (Broadway ft. Raymond Hitchcock)
1922: Venice, Italy (La Fenice)
1931: Metropolitan Opera House, New York (ft. Maria Jeritza)
1932 - 1953: Vienna, Austria (Wiener Staatsoper ft. Maria Jeritza)
1935: Turin, Italy (Teatro Regio, conducted by Franco Ghione ft. Iris Adami Corradetti)
1970: Florence, Italy (Teatro Comunale di Firenze ft. Fedora Barbieri, Alvinio Misciano, and Mario Petri)
1976: Bordeaux, France (Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux)
2015/2016: Hildesheim, Germany (Theater für Niedersachsen)
Synopsis
Time: 1331.
Place: Florence.
In early-Renaissance Florence, the erotic novellas of the poet Boccaccio cause a stir and the locals are divided into the female fans of his scandalous tales and their jealous husbands. A plot is hatched by the husbands to chase Boccaccio from the city and have him locked up. But Boccaccio has other plans, including one to win the hand of the Duke's daughter Fiammetta, which he finally succeeds in doing after finding favour with the Duke.
Musical numbers
"Ich sehe einen jungen Mann dort stehn" (Boccaccio)
"Hab' ich nur deine Liebe" (Fiametta, later with Boccaccio)
