Parigi, 21-22 dicembre 1834
Parigi \21: e/ 22 Dec:e 1834:
Mio caro Florimo – Ieri ho ricevuto la tua del 9: che inviasti pel mezzo del Vapore; ma ancora non ebbi quella della Società, ma ho inteso che un certo Signore mi cerca per consegnarmi una lettera, e sarà questa, che forse avrò questa sera. Io mi trovo in regola per rimettere lo spartito tutto intero alla Società, ma non potrà partire prima del 10: da
Senti ora i cambiamenti che ho fatto per la xxx \compirò/ il lavoro del travolgimento di tutto lo spartito, pagherò tutte le spese pesantissime che vi sono, e se alla fine la Società non sarà contenta di tutti i miei sforzi, col rifiutare di riceversi I Puritani, intendo tutte queste trattative per non avvenute, e resteremo sciolti d’ambedue le parti; poiché per le due opere nuove allora tratterò diversamente. Io ho pensato di rimettere la partizione a
Bellini
Deux Siciles
à Monsieur François Florimo
à Naples
t.p. paris | 22 dec | 1834 – napoli | 5 | gen
357
40.
Paris, 21-22 December 1834
Vincenzo Bellini to Francesco Florimo. Letter.
Aut. I-Nc, Rari 4.3.6 (44-58). Four bifolia, 16 sides plus address on the verso of the fourth bifolio.
Ed. Florimo 1882, pp. 476-482 (partial transcription); Cambi 1943, pp. 488-493; Neri 2005, pp. 357-361.
Paris 21 and 22 December 1834
My dear Florimo - Yesterday I received your letter dated the 9th that you sent by steamship but I still haven't gotten the one from the Society, although I've understood that a certain gentleman is looking for me with a letter in hand, so perhaps I'll get it this evening. I've made all of the proper arrangements to send the Society the entire score, but it won't leave Marseille before the 10th [of January]. Even so, you should receive everything in Naples by 15 January, and since you'll get the second act, which was due by the 20th, together with the first act, which the Society wanted by the 12th, this will compensate for the delay. - I've been consistent with what I'd promised, that is to have the opera finished in Paris by 1 January and to consign it to the designated person acting as courier. Now that the Society wants me to send it myself to Naples instead, which I'm ready to do, I think they should be satisfied to receive the entire opera by 15 January, barring circumstances beyond my control. - I'm thinking I'll have Butera deliver the score to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, addressed to you, and the day you receive it you'll consign it to Principe d'Ottajano and obtain a receipt from him if he accepts it. If unforseen circumstances, as I said, should delay its arrival and the Society does not want to accept it, then as I stipulated in my letter to the president of the Society, they cannot reduce the nine thousand ducats I am owed by more than 1800, since my fee was nine thousand ducats for two new operas and I puritani, or 7200 for the two new operas by themselves; so either the Society accepts it and we remain as agreed, or if they don't accept it, then they must pay me 7200 ducats for the two new operas, otherwise I'll write nothing. - Amen. - How absolutely naive you are to have believed the Society would pay me three thousand ducats for I puritani! Go back and read that letter I transcribed for you that I wrote to the president, and you'll see I'm right. I don't know how it is that the Society decided to pay me three thousand ducats, which should be the first installment upon accepting the opera I puritani, but their letter should explain. - If after receiving the score and checking that the pieces of music match the libretto, you find they won't accept it, write to me immediately, because I've been planning to come to Naples at least toward the end of January if I can, but I won't risk such a dreadful journey for no reason; still, I don't believe anything unpleasant will come of it. [...]
Let me tell you now about the changes I've made for Malibran. There's no situation for a cavatina foreseen in the libretto, so she'll enter with a duetto with Porto, and then in place of an unimportant quartettino I've written a piece so unusual and brilliant that she's sure to be quite pleased with it, given how the genre is the one she most prefers. This piece is worth more than ten cavatinas since it falls at just the right moment, so much so that I'll even use it for Paris because it's wonderfully effective. She'll feature in the [first] finale, with the Largo largely to herself, and it's full of action, especially in the stretta, where she doesn't have the main thematic material (a Puritan malediction sung by the basses with the full chorus) but rather fills the scene with cries of distress as she loses her mind, stricken with immense pain over the flight of her beloved etc. etc. She can be extraordinary with that kind of emotion, which is a new dramatic element in the scene. - Then in the second act she has a grand scena with pertichini from Porto and Pedrazzi, where her angelic portrayal will bring everyone to tears, with a conclusion as brilliant as it is tender. After that she'll have a grand duetto with Duprez, followed by the finale which I'm working on now with Rubini as the cornerstone, but which I'll convert to center around her instead. So she'll have a magnificent part, and if she likes the music her sublime execution will do me great honor. While I'll write to her expressly, you can always have her read this if you think it's necessary. - The score will come with my Metronome markings, but be careful not to follow them slavishly: compress or expand the tempi according to the singers' needs or those of the chorus, following your own instincts to find the proper effect for each piece if the tempo I've marked seems too fast or tends to drag. - The 6/8 section of the introduzione has a theme for the four horns with some of the bars moving in 3/4 rhythm: now to make the theme more grandiose, you'll find that the theme itself naturally suggests broadening those bars bit by bit, but only those, and by nearly imperceptible degrees. Try it at the piano, and you'll see that in order to create a majestic sound, as if it were surging from a cluster of clouds, those three notes in every bar of 3/4 don't want to be rushed. - For the rest of it the tempi are regular, and you're sufficiently capable of finding just the right pace. I've written to Principe d'Ottajano that in order to ensure the success of the terzetto in the first act, which has proven to be very effective here during rehearsals, he should persuade Sig.ra Merola to take the part of the Regina Enrichetta di Francia. Four voices are not enough for the offstage quartettino in the introduzione, so I've instructed that the parts be doubled as they will be here, therefore as follows: Sopranos = M.me Malibran and M.me Duprez; Tenors = Duprez and Pedrazzi; First basses = Porto and Coletti; Bassi profondi = Benedetti and Crespi. = This quartetto will be accompanied here by a new kind of organ which is quite mellow and sweet and can be played most expressively because it produces sound in the manner of a small accordion; but for Naples I've orchestrated it for two horns, two clarinets, and two bassoons, plus a contrabassoon doubling the second bassoon to further sustain the harmony, which has to be very full and mellifluous. You'll need a tubular bell in F for this quartetto, and for the first-act finale when it rings the tocsin, etc. etc. as you'll see from the score. It's essential that all of the violins, violas, and cellos play with their mutes when so instructed, in order to produce a nasal, distant kind of sound and not just pianissimo as is presumed in some Italian theatres. Be vigilant about this and make sure that everyone uses them, since even one player without a mute will spoil the effect of the piece. Mutes are called for in the introduzione, in the 3/4 section of the first-act [finale], which reprises the theme of the showpiece I wrote for Malibran, and in the largo of her scena etc. etc., so be prepared. The horns both in the orchestra and off stage will also require your attention, since Galeberg tells me they're not particularly strong and my opera is full of effects that rely upon that instrument, which they play here admirably well. I need not remind you to keep an eye on the chorus, particularly in the first act, where they must be powerful and energetic. - You say they're good, so I'm not concerned about their performance. Also, make sure that when the winds and the second violins are marked pianissimo they don't play any less expressively, just as they would playing forte or piano, and that this expressivity is finely calibrated to bring out whatever the motivic material may be, even in pianissimo. Have I explained myself? Certain things really need to be heard since they can't be adequately expressed on paper, so do what you think best to manage these expressive colors effectively, even changing them if they don't reflect your own ideas; but always ensure that both the motion in the accompaniment and the motivic material are perfectly evident and clear, and that they define the character of the situation whether romantic, angry, bellicose, religious, etc. etc. There, I'm sure it will all go well. The keyboard rehearsals here of the first act have been very promising: every piece is convincing and articulated so clearly that the music seems effortless when in fact it is not, especially in the first-act finale where I'm sure you'll be absolutely smitten by the full ensemble; but see that the chorus puts its all into the stretta, where the expressive character for the soloists and the chorus is like that of the two women in the stretta of Capuleti, only that here it must be executed as fiercely as possible, like "Guerra guerra" in Norma. When you reach the end of the repeat in the stretta, continue to drive the tempo and energy forward and Malibran will do the rest with [...] in the scena etc. etc. Oh, how it distresses me not to be able to come! But there's no alternative, given that at this point it's uncertain whether I'll even be opening here around the 15th! Rubini is quite happy with his part, as is Grisi. Tamburini and Lablache won't have much in the second act since there's only a duetto for them with chorus (which I'm not sending to Naples, first because Porto and Pedrazzi couldn't manage it and also because it deals with patriotism and freedom etc. etc.), so they'll both sulk over it, but what else could I do? If everyone were to have a solo piece the opera would end at 4 in the morning, since there are already seven pieces of music in the second act (six for Naples) and seven more in the first act. When I remember, I'll make note of my observations during rehearsals and send them to you right away. - Always keep in mind, however, that you needn't follow whatever I say to the letter but rather search for the right effect, [especially] when I've given you no advice, and I'm sure you and Malibran, and Cottrau will know just what to do. - Tomorrow is the 22nd: I'll finish this letter after I've read the one coming from the Society and determine whether it's to my advantage to send back the signed contract. I'll act according to the advice I intend to seek from Conte di Galeberg, who has shown me considerable regard, but I'm hoping those Gentlemen will be satisfied and they'll have no problem if the score arrives in Naples on the steam packet boat that leaves Marseille on 10 January. Farewell until tomorrow or this evening, if I receive the letter from the Society in time. - Here I am back again tonight to finish this letter. The answer from the Society came with the same terms as those you told me, so I'll post my response along with this letter for departure tomorrow, 22 December, reminding them that I've been consistent in what I promised: that if I were to come to Naples I couldn't leave Paris before 10 January, so calculating 15 days of travel they'd have the score on 25 January; whereas if I were not to come, I would consign the score to the person indicated here in Paris precisely on 1 January. Now however, they want me not only to be responsible for sending it there myself but also to guarantee that the first act of the score arrives by 12 January and the second act by the 20th, which means that if I were to ship the music from Paris for delivery on those dates but bad weather delays its arrival in Naples, I would be the one to suffer the consequences etc. etc. Now to show them how I intend to maintain my promise, I'll finish the reworking the entire score and pay all of the steep costs involved, but if in the end the Society is not satisfied with all of this effort and refuses to accept I puritani, I'll consider our arrangements null and void with no further binding commitment on either side, since my terms for the two new operas will be different. I'm planning to have the score sent through Mr. François Falconet's correspondent for immediate delivery to you. When you take it to the Society, if they accept it they should pay you the three thousand ducats right away, which you will deposit with a trusted banker until I give you further instructions; otherwise you will keep the score in your possession without allowing it to be seen by another living soul, since I may have it performed with Malibran in Milan if Naples doesn't come through — though I'm still inclined to believe that if all of the music arrives together around 16 January, there shouldn't be any quibbling over technicalities and the Society will be happy to accept it. - Farewell then - I'm enclosing the letter for Malibran, which I've left unsealed for your perusal. Tell her she should look after the other singers herself and infuse their parts with a bit of her angelic artistry. Farewell my dear friend - I hope all goes well. I'm working like a dog to prepare everything for the 28th of this month and send it off immediately. Here we'll open around 15 January. Tell Cottrau that all of the music I'm sending to Naples, even the piece I've changed for Malibran, will be performed here, which means he won't have anything available to print from that score until Troupenas does so first in Paris. - Farewell - Give him my warm regards and answer me post haste. Yours most fondly
Bellini
Deux Siciles
à Monsieur François Florimo
à Naples
postmark paris | 22 dec | 1834 - napoli | 5 |gen