Opera "William Tell": content, video, interesting facts, history

D. Rossini opera "William Tell"

Gioacchino Rossini never wrote anything like William Tell. And it is not known for certain why, after this work, he stopped writing operas forever. Perhaps because of the understanding that the public is not yet ready for the new format of the opera, but it is no longer able to return to composing the belkant pleffonade? Or because the composer was tired of an incredible amount of censorship obstacles? No longer know, could Rossini to go even further in his musical development, but the fact that he has opened a new page in the history of opera with “William Tell” is undoubtedly.

Summary of the Opera Rossini "William Tell"and many interesting facts about this work read on our page.

Summary of William Tell

Swiss canton of Uri, 13th century.

Wedding feast in the village of Bürglen. Wilhelm Tell's mood is overshadowed by increased interference in the affairs of the country of foreign rulers, the Habsburgs, whose governor is Gesler. His friend, Arnold Melchtal, serves in the Austrian army, which means on the side of the enemy. He is trying to convince Arnold to go into resistance and fight for independence. But in addition to the camp of the Austrians led the love of Princess Matilde, from which he can not refuse. Suddenly a shepherd appears - he killed a soldier from a Gesler squad who tried to harm his daughter, and now he is fleeing persecution. One salvation - to move to the other side of the lake. But the fisherman refuses to help - a storm is coming. William Tell puts the shepherd in a boat and sets off, despite the waves. When the Austrians rush into the village, the locals do not betray the fugitives. In retaliation, Rudolph takes the old Melchtal hostage.

Matilda is tired of life at court, she is attracted by nature and the expanse of forests. She tells Arnold about this, they swear to each other in love. Tell and Fürst appear, from whom Arnold learns that his father has been executed by order of Hesler. He does not hesitate to join the rebels. The national leaders of the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden unite to fight against tyranny.

Gesler gives a feast in honor of his reign and orders all residents to bow to their hat. Tell refuses, then Gesler makes him shoot from a crossbow at an apple, standing on the head of Jemmy, his son. After enduring this test, Tell says that if he missed, the second arrow would have gone to Gesler. For these words he is sentenced to death.

Boats with convicts and an Austrian governor are floating on the lake to the place of execution. The storm begins, Telly manages to send the boat to the shore, get out of it and kill Kesler with a single shot from the crossbow. People cheers. The uprisings cover the whole country: nothing can stand in the way of the liberation of Switzerland.

A photo

Interesting Facts

• Not only to the opera RossiniBut there was a contradictory attitude to Schiller's drama at different points in the story. At first it was perceived as a hymn to freedom, then it was radically reduced, and in Nazi Germany it was even banned, since it justified the killing of a tyrant. Schiller’s play is open to many interpretations, as it covers various topics equally: the political message about Switzerland’s struggle for independence is as important as the story of simple virtuous people leading an idyllic life in harmony with the forces of nature. With courage and heroism, these characters respond to the challenge of external circumstances. But after the end of battles, they all inevitably return to their usual way of life.

• The mixture of idyllic and heroic in “William Telle” reflected Rossini’s personal sympathies. But to what extent did the composer share the political motives of this story? During his life, he was repeatedly accused of being apolitical: he always maintained neutral relations with the authorities. Clear statements against oppression, such as in "Moses in Egypt" or "Wilhelm Telle" are an exception for Rossini. Patriotic and anti-tyrannical ideas were secondary in his operas, not only because of the power of censorship, but also because Rossini’s creative nature and his understanding of musical theater were very conservative.
• On November 7, 1893, the anarchist Santiago Salvador Fransch, during the second act of William Tell, committed a terrorist attack at the Liceu Theater in Barcelona and threw two explosive devices from the gallery into the hall. This act expressed his reaction to the execution of his comrade, the terrorist Paulino Latorre. The first bomb exploded in the 13th row. The second - fortunately did not detonate, rolled under the chair. Total killed 20 people, many were injured. After the restoration of the theater, some of the seats in the 13th and 14th rows, where the dead were sitting, remained empty for all the performances for a long time.

The best numbers from the opera "William Tell"

Overture finale (listen)

"Sois immobile" - William Tell's arioso (listen)

"Sombre foret" - Matilda's Romance (listen)

"Asile hereditaire ... Amis, seconde ma vengeance" - Arnold's aria (listen)

The history of the creation and productions of "William Tell"

The two main well-known facts about Gioacchino Rossini are as follows: he composed very quickly, releasing 3-4 operas a year, and he stopped writing operas for all of 37 years old, living up to 76. "William Tell" is his longest opera, which he spent a lot (by his own standards) of time - as much as six months, later modifying and reducing the five-act action to four-act. In addition, it is also his last opera. Moreover, there is information that this was not a coincidence, but a weighted decision.

There is no unequivocal opinion what kind of work was taken as the basis - whether the drama of one of the main suppliers of opera plots in the 19th century, Friedrich Schiller, or the tragedy of the French playwright A. Lemierre. Most likely, the authors of the opera were well acquainted with both compositions, as well as with the ancient legend of the Swiss liberator William Telle. The libretto was ordered by V.-J. Etienne de Jouy and I.-L.-F. Bisu, it was created in French, since Rossini at that time lived in Paris.

The premiere took place on August 3, 1829 at the Paris Opera. The criticism was delighted, and Rossini was less attracted to the public, and the heroic-patriotic story was far from the usual opera buff. In addition, the original version of the opera lasted almost six hours. After completion, the maestro reduced the score to about four hours of music, but it still was very long. Opera theatrical darling was not due to the fact that the main tenor party (Arnold) was so complex that it was difficult to find a good performer who could not lose the sound quality throughout the performance. And the abundance of purely choral scenes imposed the duty of serious work with the opera chorus, which entailed considerable financial and time costs.

The staging of an opera in Italy was fraught with censorship restrictions - the country was under Austrian influence and the theme of national liberation, and even from the Austrians, was absolutely unacceptable. The opera was nevertheless translated into Italian and in 1833 set in the Neapolitan San Carlo. However, she soon left the repertoire and was rarely performed in the next 30 years. Oddly enough, "William Tell" was much more popular in Vienna. In the early 1830s, the opera was performed in London and New York. Although due to censorship requirements, the work sometimes even lost its name - the main character was renamed to be Tyrolian Andreas Gofer, then to Scottish Wallas, then to Rudolf di Sterling.

In this sense, Russia was no exception - in Russian she narrated about a certain "Karl the Bold", the premiere was held in St. Petersburg in 1836. The original Wilhelm Tell was already set up in Leningrad in 1932, and during the Great Patriotic War, it was performed by the Bolshoi in evacuation.

"William Tell" music in movies

Fragments of the overture to the opera are widely used by filmmakers, it accompanies the action of the paintings:

• Logan, 2017
• Pink Panther, 2006
• "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination - London", 2004
• Princess Diaries, 2001
• "My life", 1993
• "A Clockwork Orange", 1971

The infrequent productions of William Tell remained in the video versions:

• Performance of the Festival in Pesaro, 1995, director P.L. Pizzas, in the main parts: M. Pertusi (William Tell), G. Cunde (Arnold), R. Ferrari (Gesler), D. Dessy (Matilda)
• The performance of La Scala, 1988, director L. Ronconi, in the main parts: D. Zancanaro, C. Merritt, L. Roni, C. Stader.

Today there are only 30 productions in world theaters "William Tell "In terms of frequency, it is only in the second hundred operas. Such restrained attention to the whole work more than compensates for the popularity of the gallop from the overture, which is perhaps the most famous melody in the world, performed daily by many symphonic orchestras, and by an even greater number of mobile phones. He accompanies advertising sneakers, cars and pizza. He is hummed by the employees hurrying to the office. Don't write Rossini nothing more, these few minutes from a six-hour opera would have already made him immortal. And, probably, the master of bel canto, whose muse after “William Tell” was silent forever, understood this better than anyone.