Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was born in Venice, Italy, on January 12, 1876.
Originally planning to make art his career he went to Rome, but while
there became so fascinated by opera that then and there he decided to
become a musician. He completed his musical training in Munich in 1895
with Josef Rheinberger. In 1899 he returned to his native city where his
first major work—an oratorio, _La Sulamite_—was successfully performed.
His first opera, _Cenerentola_ (_Cinderella_) was introduced in Venice
in 1900. His first comic opera (or opera buffa) came to Munich in 1903:
_Le Donne Curiose_. He achieved world renown with still another comic
opera, _The Secret of Suzanne_, first performed in Munich in 1909. This
distinguished achievement was followed by an equally significant
achievement in a serious vein, the grand opera, _The Jewels of the
Madonna_, first heard in Berlin in 1911. One year later Wolf-Ferrari
paid his first visit to the United States to attend in Chicago the
American première of _The Jewels of the Madonna_. He wrote many operas
after that, both in a comic and serious style, but his fame still rests
securely on _The Secret of Suzanne_ and _The Jewels of the Madonna_.
From 1902 to 1912 he was director of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory
in Venice. He died in that city on January 21, 1948.
From _The Jewels of the Madonna_ (_I Gioielli della Madonna_) have come
several familiar orchestral episodes. This tragedy—libretto by the
composer with verses by Carlo Zangarini and Enrico Golisciani—was
successfully introduced in Berlin on December 23, 1911. Rafaele, leader
of the Camorrists, and Gennaro, a blacksmith, are rivals for the love of
Maliela. After Rafaele appears to have won Maliela’s love, Gennaro wins
her away from his rival by stealing for her the jewels decorating the
image of the Madonna. Maliela confesses to Rafaele and other Camorrists
about this theft, then rushes off into a raging sea to meet her death.
After Gennaro has returned the jewels to the Madonna, he plunges a
dagger into his own breast.
Two melodious intermezzos for orchestra are often played by salon and
pop orchestras. The first comes between the first and second acts and is
in a languorous mood. The second, heard between the second and third
acts, opens with a light subject and continues with a broadly lyrical
episode. A third popular orchestral excerpt from this opera is the
dramatic “Dance of the Camorristi” during a revel in the Camorristi
hideout in the opening of the third act.
As an opera _The Secret of Suzanne_ (_Il Segreto di Susanna_) is a
trifle. The libretto by Enrico Golisciani concerns a terrible secret
harbored by the heroine, Suzanne: she is addicted to smoking. Since her
husband finds cigarette butts in their house he suspects her of
entertaining a lover during his absence. Spying on her through the
window, one day, he learns about his wife’s secret to his infinite
relief, and does not hesitate to join her in a smoke. Light, breezy,
infectious, and unpretentious, this little opera has been a favorite
with operagoers everywhere since its world première in Munich on
December 4, 1909.
The overture is as gay and as capricious as this merry tale. It begins
vivaciously with the main theme in first violins and the woodwind. After
this idea has been elaborated upon, a second melody is heard in the
flute and clarinet accompanied by strings. The two melodies are soon
merged contrapuntally, with the first theme heard in woodwinds and
trumpet and the second in the strings.