Il campanello (The Night Bell)
Details
In Brief
What to do when the bell rings in the middle of an amorous encounter at night? And then it rings again, and again, and again? Gaetano Donizetti presents this awkward situation with his typical intricate sense of humour, and shows us how an unwanted husband can be kept away from his marriage bed with the help of some cunning and disguise. Donizetti’s comic opera Il campanello was created in an especially difficult period for the Teatro Nuovo theatre in Naples. It was premiered in 1836, when the composer – and in this case librettist – wanted to help the director and artists of the theatre with the problems caused by the cholera epidemic and financial difficulties. His efforts were successful, and his new work became incredibly popular across Europe in an instant. There were some changes made to the piece over the years, for example the originally spoken dialogues were turned into recitatives, and the Neapolitan dialect of the buffo character that carried a strong comic effect was “translated” into Italian with the permission of the composer. The newest production of the Hungarian State Opera was staged by Attila Toronykőy.
Parental guidance
Events
Premiere: Sept. 30, 2023
Synopsis
Neapolitan chemist Don Annibale is being wed to the lovely Serafina, but he needs to hurry through the nuptials, since he has to wake up at dawn in order to head for Rome in an important matter. Enrico, Serafina's previous lover, resolves that he will win the woman back. He delivers a toast to the newly-weds, and then departs with the rest of the wedding guests.
Dressed in a nightgown and nightcap, Annibale is getting ready to fulfil his conjugal duties, when someone rings the bell in the chemist's shop. It's the disguised Enrico passing himself off as a French dandy who needs wine to medicate his stomach, which he has overtaxed at the ball. While Annibale fetches the wine, Enrico rearranges all the furniture and turns off the lights. Just when the chemist, with great difficulty, has almost found his way back to bed, the bell rings again.
It's Enrico again: this time he's disguised as a singer who has to perform the next day, except he's lost his voice. The medicine restores his voice, and he sets about practising his role in the chemist's shop. When the "singer" finally departs, Annibale receives a message warning him that some kind of terrible act of vengeance is going to take place. The apothecary takes the warning serious, and instructs his servant Spiridione to set up a makeshift trap.
The bell rings again – Enrico, now dressed as an old man, produces a long list of medicines needed to treat his "wife's" snivelling. At last, Annibale shows the inopportune visitor the door and is about to rush to his wife's side when he stumbles into the trap that has been set. The bell rings again. It's Enrico again, now without a disguise: he smugly reminds the chemist that it's time for him to leave for Rome. Annibale is forced to postpone his wedding night and departs for the capital. Enrico promises to substitute for him while he's gone...
Media
Reviews
"The story of this opera also appeals to young audiences, and the creators didn't even leave chance to chance."
Emese Lengyel, Magyar Nemzet
Opera guide
Introduction
Besides composing seventy operas, Donizetti also worked as a conductor, singer, and violist. He even tried his hand at the role of librettist, and not without success (though it is true that he worked from a witty vaudeville source). Il campanello (The Night Bell) is exceptionally successful both in its text and its music, a lavish blend of situational and character-based comedy. The key figure of the work is the chameleon-like Enrico, who embodies four radically different characters through a variety of vocal and technical feats. Even Enrico’s basic character is fantastically complex: at once an irresistibly sensual man and an obvious hedonistic scoundrel. He himself is the very essence of existence – its spice, meaning, and allure – set against the social conventions represented by the apothecary and his metaphorical environment. One interpretation holds that the opera sought to divert attention from the Neapolitan cholera epidemic, which is why it was so successful. Others argue, on the contrary, that Enrico personifies the ever-changing (romantic) epidemic itself, one that the apothecary is unable to cure. The opera’s two undisputed hit numbers are Don Annibale’s cavatina (“Bella cosa, amici cari”) and Enrico’s brindisi (“Mesci, mesci”).
Zoltán Csehy
The director’s thoughts
When working on children’s and youth performances, I always strive to bring opera closer to the audience not only intellectually but also physically. This means that the singers frequently step down from the stage and enter the audience space. The five-metre depth of the orchestra pit is particularly significant at this age: it does not merely separate the children from opera, it keeps them at a distance. I consider it important that children see that the genre is accessible to them as well, the singers sing live, the orchestra plays live, and that by having the story unfold within tangible proximity, the acting and the vocal performances gain authenticity. This also places a substantial responsibility on the performers. Participants in the production cannot “cheat” in any respect: a youth production requires perfect articulation, situations must be articulated with absolute clarity, and the performer must delve deeply into the role. None of these elements can be spared if we want to keep young audiences engaged from beginning to end.
In youth performances, it is especially important to create an environment on stage that is familiar to children. Donizetti’s comic opera is set in a pharmacy, yet it contains no concrete elements that would tie the action to the early nineteenth century. At the time of its premiere, it was considered a contemporary work; therefore, in the twenty-first century it can also be understood as a modern story, this is how the director explains the concept. Accordingly, the set will take the form of a gigantic pill, pharmacy tools will be smuggled in among the props, and, of course, the masks so characteristic of recent years will also appear. Because of the genre requirements of comic opera, these elements will be exaggerated into visual features. In one of the most famous patter scenes of the Donizetti opera, the composer lists eighty-four different pharmaceutical ingredients, in Tamás Blum’s excellent Hungarian translation. These elements will appear as projected titles, and through their chaotic profusion they will help bring about a whirlwind finale.
Communication has accelerated: through video clips and the rapid-fire world of TikTok, information arrives much faster and in much greater quantity, and children have grown accustomed to this rhythm. If the goal is to win them over to opera, we must adapt to this world. This does not mean intervening in the score, the tempos will, of course, remain unchanged. Visually, however, we want to be present in the here and now, even to the extent that opera singers wear the latest street fashion, and to create situations that capture young people’s attention.
Attila Toronykőy