January 2 5, 1923
MUSICAL COURIER
14
“A tenor of surpassing appeal.” — Cumberland, Md., News.
Management: HAENSEL & JONES Aeolian Hall New York
7e/¡t/?o alla 5 cal a ־ Debora e Jaele - fitto JR
Bible Furnishes “Raw Material.”
The libretto, prepared by Pizzetti himself, is based on the biblical story of Deborah, to be found in chapters V and VI of the Book of Judges. In this episode, it will be remembered, the prophetess inflames the Jews and leads them to victory against the men of Canaan. Their leader,
power of synthesis that is astonishing when one considers that Pizzetti is a musician and not a historian.
He has evoked the spiritual world of the Bible, not as exotic “color,” but in its universally human aspects, so that we as men of today can recognize our own traits. The feelings and the destinies of Deborah and Jaele interest us, because they are human and because as humans we can understand and justify their acts. How gripping the work is as a drama may be gathered from the COSTUME OF SISERA fact that one of Italy’s	Debora e Jaele.
best actors and perhaps
the best theatrical manager, Virginio Talli, has repeatedly tried to persuade Pizzetti to let him produce it before the music was written—a request which Pizzetti, of course, did not grant.
Drama and Music Inseparable.
It is easy to see why. For Deborah—poem and music— is a unified work, simultaneously created, and its elements
PIZZETTI’S DEBORA E JAELE
ACCLAIMED AT SCALA PREMIERE
Toscanini Devoted Intense Effort to Preparation of Work—Strong Drama, to Which Music Is Subservient—Remarkable
Choral Parts
Sisera, flees after the battle into the plain of Jezrael, and there^he is killed while sleeping, by Jaele, the wife of Heber the Kenite, who had lured him into her tent.
The Bible accehtuates the epic character of the story, for the tale is essentially that of the conflict of two opposing and contrasting races, and the character of Deborah outshines that of Jaele, completely. But Pizzetti has drawn from this story a drama of passion and sentiment. He has asked himself why Jaele (not Deborah) killed Sisera, her own defender, and has imagined the psychological development leading up to the act. He bases his argument on the difference of the two women: Jaele, embodying the rigid uncompromising spirit of the sacred law, to which Debora opposes a religion of kindness and love. Jaele goes to murder Sisera, but when she finds he loves her, and sees how pure and noble he is, she desists, and gives him shelter in her tent. Later, when all hope of rescue is gone, she does kill him—not out of hatred, but pity—rather than let him fall into the hands of the pursuing Jews that thirst for his blood.
The Human Aspect of Bible History.
In Pizzetti’s drama the conflict of the two women is the underlying motive power, and the contrast between the
Milan, December 20.—The first performance anywhere of Pizzetti’s opera, Debora e Jaele, took place at the Scala on December 16, under the direction of Toscanini, and, thanks to an excellent production, achieved a genuine public success. There were no less than fifteen curtain calls, to
twelve of which the composer himself responded. The enthusiasm of the public rose from act to act, and the greatest demonstration took place at the end. Besides Toscanini the principal participants were Giulia Tess (Jaele), a powerful artist who thoroughly embodied the spirit of the character and mastered Pizzetti’s peculiar vocal style to perfection; also Elvira Casazza (Debora), and the American tenor, John Sample (Sisera), who fulfilled their tasks in COSTUME OP DEBORA	praiseworthy fashion. The
in Debora e Jaele.	minor roles, some of them
requiring quite unusual qualities, were in the hand of those who were capable of doing justice to the parts.
That Toscanini, who loves the work passionately, did his utmost for its success, goes without saying. The orchestra and the chorus, which assumes the importance of a real character in this work, made an ensemble perfect in every detail. In the task of mounting the drama Toscanini was ably assisted by the author and by Gioachino Forzano, the present stage manager of the Scala. The scenery, which, especially in the second and third acts, is magnificent, was designed by Parravicini, the costumes by Grand¡.
SCENE IN ACT II of Debora e Jaele.
could not be separated in the author’s mind. There have been many diverse solutions of the operatic “problem”— the harmonious fusion of word, gesture and music—from Monteverdi to Debussy, from Gluck to Moussorgsky, from Mozart to Wagner; and all of them are justified when embodied in forms of beauty. Pizzetti, too, has found his solution, which is personal like the rest, and does not supersede nor exclude other solutions. In Deborah, however, he proves the depth and soundness of his musico-dramatic conception, which first found expression, though imma-turely, in Fedra.
Not Ultra-Modern.
_ The music which he has written for Deborah is essentially melodic (even though it is not the monodic melody that is alone considered legitimate in Italy). The orchestral score is soundly built, with long, sweeping melodic lines—a “bony” structure that preserves transparency and	” ׳.	~
lightness throughout. Its harmony and technic in general are not “modern” in the sense that excludes euphony and a clear, unmistakable tonality. All the musical substance that Pizzetti put into the work is subordinate to the drama, for his purpose is to be primarily a dramatist. His musical inspiration is constantly curbed for the sake of dramatic effects. Tie who looks for specific musical interest in the work will there-	—
fore be disappointed; nor will he find a new contribution to the evolution of the musical idiom.
The co-existence of the dramatic and musical element made possible in this work by a perfect blending of 1 expressive ends of both. The vocal part is a melo. organism with a powerful rhythmic impulse; its “efficienc is produced by its close application to the word—support¡ and penetrating the text syllable by syllable, and thus tensifying its force. Yet it is not a mere slave; it w born with it; the two live and breathe together.
(Continued on page 58)
COSTUME OF JAELE in Debora e Jaele.
two grows sharper and sharper, culminating shortly before the catastrophe, in the third act. It is a simple and peculiarly powerful drama with striking and steadfast characters who keep their physiognomy throughout the gradual change of their emotions. The secondary characters, too, bear the stamps of their individuality; and the atmosphere of the biblical era is recreated with an intuitive keenness and a
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