Violanta
Opus
8
Opera
in One Act
Libretto by Hans Müller
Composed 1914-15
Premiered 28 March 1916, Hoftheater, Munich
Simone
Trovai
Violanta
Alfonso
Giovanni Braca
Bice
Barbara
First Soldier
Second Soldier
First Maid
Second Maid
Fearing that Der Ring des Polykrates might be paired with an unsuitable partner, Korngold decided to write an accompanying piece himself. German operas with Renaissance settings were much in vpgue during the First World War: Violanta followed Schilling's Mona Lisa (1915) and preceded Zemlinsky's Der florentinische Tragödie and Schreker's Die Gezeichneten.
Synopsis
Carnival Night in 15th-cerntury Venice, Violanta wants revenge on Alfonso, the Price of Naples, since her sister committed suicide after he seduced her. Violanta has invited to visit her, her plan being that her husband Simone will murder him. She will sing a blasphemous Carnival song as a signal. When Alfonso arrives she tells him why he is there. Alfonso replies that for him life is a sham, death a welcome release. When they acknowledge their mutual love, Violanta cannot bring herself to sing the song. But Alfonso urges her to, and as she does, she throws herself between him and her husband's dagger and dies.
Korngold had, at 18, already mastered all the elements of musical language and produced a highly charged emotional score-an effect resulting from his densely chromatic harmony. High tessituras in the vocal writing also contribute to the intense mood. Although the opera is built around melodic and chordal motifs rather than themes, there is one-a Venetian Carnival Song-that runs through the work; sung initially by the chorus as an expression ogf ribald revelry, it later becomes the signal for Alfonso's murder and finally an expression of love fulfilled in death.
