Hidden treasures - Franz von Suppé - Die schöne Galathée (1865) - Selected highlights

Painting: "Pygmalion et Galatee" by Jean-Leon Gerome.

History: Franz von Suppe (1819-1895), a composer of Italian and Belgian descent, first attempted (quite successfully, in fact) to undertake the career of a Viennese conductor which helped him to gain a thorough understanding of all contemporary musical trends, before finding great success in composing operettas. Indeed, his first piece in this new vein, "Die schone Galathee", "a comic mythological opera in one act", was an tremendous success, premiering September 9, 1865, at the Carl-Theater in Vienna and easily competing in the following years with works by Strauss and Offenbach. Suppe's general concept, and certainly the title, may have been suggested by Offenbach's "La belle Helene" which played in Vienna about six months before "Die schone Galathee".

Narrative: The libretto was prepared by von Suppe himself with help from actor, director and stage writer, Poly Henrion. The plot preserves to the basic outline of the Pygmalion story, first told in Ovid's "Metamorphoses", though the main cast is slightly expanded with the addition of two secondary characters, while the plot gains a significant parody line: the sculptor Pygmalion (tenor) has fallen madly in love with his statue of Galatea (or Galathee, as she is named in German). Therefore, he does not want to sell the statue to a patron of the arts, Midas (tenor/baritone), and promptly asks Venus to breathe life into the statue. His wish is, of course, quickly fulfilled. However, the now alive Galathee (soprano) turns out to be a very independent-minded woman, flirting openly with Ganymede (mezzo-soprano), Pygmalion's servant, and accepting gifts from Midas. Seeing this, Pygmalion implores Venus to turn Galatea back into stone, selling the statue to Midas. The plot line is clear and well-developed, the humor - elegant and slightly understated, a sharp contrast to the broader comedies of Strauss.

Music: The extreme charm of Von Suppe's music was a most pleasant surprise for me, and I am already looking forward to listening to other works of his quill, most notably "Boccaccio". The basic idiom of the composer practically defines the operetta style: the predominance of dance motives, the use of a light soubrette expressing herself exclusively through dexterous coloratura lines for a lead role and buffo tenors instead of the more usual for Italian opera basses for the roles of her various suitors, the inevitable by turns "happy" and ironic ending, all the elements of a classic German operetta that Strauss would later apply just as successfully in his own works. The highlights are surprisingly numerous for a work in which the music amounts to no more than forty minutes: Galathee's part, the roulandes of which own more than a little to the belcanto of Donizetti, demands a singing actress of tremendous quality who would be able to raise the role above a pretty exercise in dexterity it can be considered, and her two solos are undeniably affecting expressions of a freedom-loving woman; her numerous ensembles with her suitors, especially the laughing trio which features an enchanting allegro section as all three flirt to their hearts' content and the kissing duet for the women (well, for a soprano and a mezzo en travesti), complete with audible kisses, bubble naturally with excitement, similar to particularly good champagne; but it is the longing andante of the sinfonia (which I just couldn't resist presenting in complete form), richly scored for romantic strings and slightly melodramatic winds, possibly detailing Galathee's awakening, that is the true crown jewel of the work. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable light work.

Recording: The 1975 RCA recording, under the steady direction of Kurt Eichhorn, leading, the highly professional Bavarian Radio Chorus and the winning Munich Radio Orchestra, is not the only reading of the work (perhaps, the slightly different CPO issue (in particular, Mydas is sung by a baritone) would be of additional interest) but it certainly is an attractive one with all roles, especially Galathee, performed with unusual warmth for such a showy part by Anna Moffo, expertly sung.

Galathee - Anna Moffo,
Pygmalion - Rene Kollo,
Ganymed - Rose Wagemann,
Mydas - Ferry Gruber.

Hope you'll enjoy :).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• belcanto
• classical
• classic
• opera
• operetta

[trov85]

Thank You, a joy.  Everything you post adds so much happiness to my life

[alexanfaria]

Brilliant! Thnaks for posting!

[nebrulla]

Thank you!!!

[bitxitou]

Preciosa opereta, aunque, sin duda alguna, la mejor obra de Suppé es "Bocaccio". ¿Cuándo algún teatro se decidirá a recuperar "Donna Juanita"?

[eutuve]

Another hidden gem from Lindoro?s koffer ..

Vielen Danken !