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Mascagni a Cerignola

Announcing the world's first 'eye music' opera

 

In Augenmusik ('eye music'), the notation contains graphical features which appear as visual art to the performer(s) or to someone viewing the score, but which are not noticeable by the listener. This is not a new phenomenon - examples date back as far as the early Renaissance and French composer Baude Cordier (circa 1380-circa 1440) and the High Renaissance of Josquin des Prez. Other examples include the Italian madrigalists, in particular Luca Marenzio (1553/4-1599), and, much more recently, American composer George Crumb (1929-2022).

Baude Cordier's 'Belle, bonne, sage' is one of the earliest known examples of 'eye music'
Baude Cordier's Belle, bonne, sage is one of
the earliest known examples of 'eye music'

Mascagni a Cerignola, the world's first Augenmusik opera, was written between June 2023 and March 2024 as a collaboration between composer John Dante Prevedini and librettist Raffaele Sorbo. Mascagni a Cerignola was recorded during Summer 2024 by tenor Jared Alexander Wise and mezzo-soprano Allison Messier, accompanied by the composer on piano. This first recording was made available two days ago on YouTube.

The one-page score is a strategic transcription of the image of Italian composer Pietro Mascagni's face into notated music for two voices and piano plus additional open instrumentation, such that the visual contours of the face determine the melodic and textural parameters of the opera's entire sonic composition.

Poster for the Augenmusik opera 'Mascagni a Cerignola'

Meanwhile, the libretto tells the true story of how Mascagni and his wife Lina together changed opera history forever, in 1889.

The plot of the Italian libretto is as follows:

Mascagni a Cerignola begins with Mascagni at the piano, lamenting the stress of his life as a traveling musician in the mid 1880s - always on the move, consumed with hunger and struggling to find audiences interested in his work as a composer. His companion, Lina, urges that they settle down and plant family roots. As the music quietens down, Pietro sings of his homesickness for Livorno and wonders if their new city, Cerignola, will be a suitable home.

Suddenly, Pietro receives word that the mayor of Cerignola, Giuseppe Cannone, has offered him a position to lead the local philharmonic. Pietro sings joyfully, praising the wonders of Cerignola and imagining the new life he and Lina will have there together. Lina reminds him that he must be practical, for it will be a difficult beginning.

As the music quietens down again, Pietro recounts saving enough of his philharmonic money to finally rent a new piano so that he can continue his composition work while raising a family. He then sings of his wedding day and the loss of their child, an event which throws him into complete despair. To distract himself from the pain, he throws himself furiously into his composition work in the late 1880s, completing his Messa di Gloria.

He begins writing his opera Cavalleria Rusticana as well, encouraged by an advertisement for a competition for new operas in Milan. However, he also begins to struggle with substance use, to which Lina responds understandably with concern. Being in such a state of mind, Pietro's mood swings and impulsiveness only worsen. The music gradually quietens down as Pietro's confidence begins to implode.

By now we are in 1889, and Mascagni has finished Cavalleria Rusticana. In a moment of self-directed rage, he throws the manuscript of the opera out of the window and then falls asleep for the first time in a long time. Lina, remembering the opera competition in Milan, sneaks outside while Pietro sleeps. She retrieves the opera manuscript from the ground, puts it in an envelope, and mails it to Milan.

Pietro awakens to hear the news that Cavalleria Rusticana has won the competition, suddenly ushering in a whole new era of opera history - 'verismo' - and making him one of the most influential opera composers of all time. With him, opera was no longer the domain of mythology or the nobility; it was a place for the stories of regular people.

 

Note that Mascagni a Cerignola is not only the world's first 'eye music' opera, but is also an opera about an opera, and one could also say that it's a verismo opera about a verismo opera!

John Dante Prevedini has written previous Augenmusik compositions, including On Liberty (2022) - a nine movement solo piano suite where the performer is requested to improvise on each of the nine themes - and Selfie (2020), also for solo piano, which became very popular on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic.

John Dante Prevedini's 'Selfie' (2020)
John Dante Prevedini's Selfie (2020)

Visit Classical Music Daily's October 2024 newsletter page for more information about the new opera - you'll find there a link to the Mascagni a Cerignola recording, plus, at the very end of the video newsletter, composer John Dante Prevedini speaking about this new opera.

Posted 7 October 2024 by Keith Bramich

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The background image on this page has been derived from a 2007 photo by Pierluigi Falcone of the façade of the Church of the Madonna del Carmine in Cerignola, Apulia, Italy.

 

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