A Modern Tragedy

Salvatore Sciarrino's 'Luci mie traditrici',
one of the most performed contemporary operas,
finally reaches a major Italian opera house,
by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

Since its debut at the 1998 Schwetzingen Festival in German translation and with a German title (Die tödische Blume, 'The Flower of Death'), Salvatore Sciarrino's Luci mie traditrici (see Chamber Opera, 22 October 2012 and Jaw-droppingly Compelling, 30 July 2013) has been seen and heard in Germany, Austria, France, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Russia, Great Britain, Argentina, Sweden, and South Korea as well as at the Salzburg festival. In Italy, it was presented in concert form in Turin for one evening, and fully-staged for only two evenings in the small city of Montepulciano. The Montepulciano performances formed the basis of a DVD.
Bologna's opera house (Teatro Comunale) has a special flair for contemporary operas: in its 'seasons', there are normally a couple of contemporary titles, of which one is often a new commission. Thus, Luci mie traditrici had a deluxe staging in co-production with Berlin's Staatsoper under den Linden, where the production will debut on 10 July 2016 and will become a repertory item (with a few stagings each 'season' for the next few years).

Katharina Kammerloher as the Duchess and Otto Katzmeier as the Duke in Salvatore Sciarrino's 'Luci mie traditrici'. Photo © 2016 Rocco Casalucci

The new production is signed by Jürgen Flimm. The sets are by Annette Murschetz, the costumes by Birgit Wentsch, the lighting by Irene Selka and the dramaturgy by Detlef Giese. On the musical side, an ensemble of soloists from the Teatro Comunale was led by a specialist in contemporary music, Marco Angius.

Katharina Kammerloher as the Duchess and Christian Oldenburg as the Servant in Salvatore Sciarrino's 'Luci mie traditrici'. Photo © 2016 Rocco Casalucci

The four singers (and actors) — Katharina Kammerloher, Otto Katzameier, Lena Haselmann and Christian Oldenburg — also specialize in today's repertory, and there was a madrigal complex, singing off-stage. I saw and heard the opera at the 12 June 2016 preview.

Christian Oldenburg as the Servant in Salvatore Sciarrino's 'Luci mie traditrici'. Photo © 2016 Rocco Casalucci

The plot is based on a true story of the Renaissance composer Gesualdo who murdered his wife and her young lover out of jealousy. The action is moved to the end of the nineteenth century in a Northern European Biedermeier mansion. The underlying theme is the transience of love. In one day's morning, the Duke and the Duchess invoke their eternal love. At mid-day, she betrays him with a young guest. The Duke is informed by a servant. In the evening, the couple has a discussion and he forgives her. As she opens the curtains in their bedroom in the presence of her husband, she sees the dead body of her lover, and she is stabbed by the Duke. In Flimm's staging the servant is also killed by the Duke, who does not want to have any witnesses. As the curtain drops, the Duke takes a gun and walks toward the garden. He will most likely commit suicide.

The final scene of Salvatore Sciarrino's one act opera 'Luci mie traditrici'. Photo © 2016 Rocco Casalucci

The staging provides a Strindberg-obsessive atmosphere (even though Sciarrino is Sicilian and the original Renaissance plot developed in Southern Italy). This fits perfectly with Sciarrino's soundscape — his own term — where the score marks the passage of the hours and the change of climate and temperature during a Nordic day and time. Also, the score features isolated sonorities, extended playing techniques, frequent silences (where one can almost feel the heartbeats of the characters) as well as ironic and almost confrontational quotations. Also Sciarrino uses a 1609 chanson by Claude Le Jeune as a musical reference. After a few quotations in various parts of the opera, the chanson resounds in the tragic final scene.
A few comments on the singing. It is mostly Sprechgesang with short ariosi and the counterpoint of off-stage madrigals. The singers are all German and excellent actors with a less-than-perfect Italian diction. I do not know, but it is possible that the Berlin performances will be in German.
The preview audience was young and enthusiastic.