Music composed by Reynaldo Hahn to a libretto by Miguel ZamacoÔs after William Shakespeare’s play of the same name.
First Performance: 25 March 1935, Paris OpÈra
Cast:
Antonio — a merchant from Venice; Christian
Bassanio — Antonio’s friend, in love with Portia; Christian
Gratiano, Salanio, Salarino, Salerio — friends of Antonio and Bassanio;
Christian
Lorenzo — friend of Antonio and Bassanio, in love with Jessica;
Christian
Portia — a rich heiress
Nerissa — Portia’s waiting-maid
Balthazar — a servant of Portia
Stephano — a servant of Portia
Shylock– a rich Jew, father of Jessica.
Tubal — a Jew; Shylock’s friend
Jessica — Daughter of Shylock, in love with Lorenzo; Jewess, converts to
Christianity
Launcelot Gobbo — a foolish man in the service of Shylock
Old Gobbo — the father of Launcelot
Leonardo — servant to Bassanio
Duke of Venice — Venetian authority who presides over the case of
Shylock’s bond
Prince of Morocco — suitor to Portia
Prince of Aragon — suitor to Portia
Magnificoes of Venice, officers of the Court of Justice, Gaoler, servants to
Portia, and other Attendants
Synopsis of Play:
Bassanio, a young Venetian, of noble rank but having squandered his estate,
wishes to travel to Belmont to woo the beautiful and wealthy heiress Portia. He
approaches his friend Antonio, a wealthy and generous merchant, who has
previously and repeatedly bailed him out, for three thousand ducats needed to
subsidize his traveling expenditures as a suitor for three months. Antonio
agrees, but he is cash-poor; his ships and merchandise are busy at sea. He
promises to cover a bond if Bassanio can find a lender, so Bassanio turns to
the Jewish moneylender Shylock and names Antonio as the loan’s
guarantor.
Shylock hates Antonio, both because he is a Christian and because he
insulted and spat on Shylock for being a Jew. Also, Antonio undermines
Shylock’s moneylending business by lending money at zero interest.
Shylock proposes a condition for the loan: if Antonio is unable to repay it at
the specified date, he may take a pound of Antonio’s flesh. Bassanio does
not want Antonio to accept such a risky condition; Antonio is surprised by what
he sees as the moneylender’s generosity (no “usance” —
interest — is asked for), and he signs the contract. With money at hand,
Bassanio leaves for Belmont with his friend Gratiano, who has asked to
accompany him. Gratiano is a likeable young man, but is often flippant, overly
talkative, and tactless. Bassanio warns his companion to exercise self-control,
and the two leave for Belmont and Portia.
Meanwhile in Belmont, Portia is awash with suitors. Her father has left a
will stipulating each of her suitors must choose correctly from one of three
caskets — one each of gold, silver, and lead — before he could win
Portia’s hand. In order to be granted an opportunity to marry Portia,
each suitor must agree in advance to live out his life as a bachelor if he
loses the contest. The suitor who correctly looks past the outward appearance
of the caskets will find Portia’s portrait inside and win her hand.
The first suitor, the luxury and money-obsessed Prince Of Morocco, reasons
to choose the gold casket, because lead proclaims “Choose me and risk
hazard”, and he has no wish to risk everything for lead, and the
silver’s “Choose me and get what you deserve” sounds like an
invitation to be tortured, but “Choose me and get what all men
desire” all but spells it out that he that chooses gold will get Portia,
as what all men desire is Portia. Inside the casket are a few gold coins and a
skull with a scroll containing the famous verse All that glitters is not gold /
Often have you heard that told / Many a man his life hath sold But my outside
to behold / Gilded tombs do worms enfold / Had you been as wise as bold, Young
in limbs, in judgment old / Your answer had not been inscroll’d: /Fare
you well; your suit is cold. His judgment captured by outward appearances, he
is an unfit suitor for Portia and his bachelor life begins.
The second suitor is the conceited Prince Of Aragon. He decides not to
choose lead, because it is so common, and will not choose gold because he will
then get what many men desire and wants to be distinguished from the barbarous
multitudes. He decides to choose silver, because the silver casket proclaims
“Choose Me And Get What You Deserve”, which he imagines must be
something great, because he egotistically imagines himself as great. Inside the
casket, however, is the picture of a court jester’s head on a baton and
remarks “What? A grinning idiot? Did deserve no more than this?”
The scroll reads: Some there be that shadows kiss/Some have but a
shadow’s Bliss/Take what wife you will to bed/I will ever be your Head
— meaning that he was foolish to imagine that a pompous man like him
could ever be a fit husband for Portia, and that he was always a fool, he
always will be a fool, and the fact that he chose the silver casket is mere
proof that he is a fool.
The last suitor is Bassanio. He realizes that the line “who chooseth
me must give and hazard all he hath” could be a reference to the fact
that marriage is a tremendous gamble and could mean a drastic turning point in
one’s life, and chooses lead. The speech he gives before opening the
leaden casket proclaims “So may the outward shows be least themselves.
The world is still deceived with ornmament.” Before choosing the least
valuable, ostentatious, and meager metal, Bassanio, proclaims “thy
paleness moves me more than eloquence and here choose I joy be the
consequence.” He makes the right choice.
At Venice, Antonio’s ships are reported lost at sea. This leaves him
unable to satisfy the bond (in financial language, insolvent). Shylock is even
more determined to exact revenge from Christians after his daughter Jessica
flees his home to convert to Christianity and elope with Lorenzo, taking a
substantial amount of Shylock’s wealth with her, as well as a turquoise
ring which was a gift to Shylock from his late wife, Leah. Shylock has Antonio
arrested and brought before court.
At Belmont, Portia and Bassanio have just been married, as have Gratiano and
Portia’s handmaid Nerissa. Bassanio receives a letter telling him that
Antonio has defaulted on his loan from Shylock. Shocked, Bassanio and Gratiano
leave for Venice immediately, with money from Portia, to save Antonio’s
life by offering the money to Shylock. Unknown to Bassanio and Gratiano, Portia
has sent her servant, Balthazar, to seek the counsel of Portia’s cousin,
Bellario, a lawyer, at Padua.
The climax of the play comes in the court of the Duke of Venice. Shylock
refuses Bassanio’s offer of 6,000 ducats, twice the amount of the loan.
He demands his pound of flesh from Antonio. The Duke, wishing to save Antonio
but unwilling to set a dangerous legal precedent of nullifying a contract,
refers the case to a visitor who introduces himself as Balthazar, a young male
“doctor of the law”, bearing a letter of recommendation to the Duke
from the learned lawyer Bellario. The “doctor” is actually Portia
in disguise, and the “law clerk” who accompanies her is actually
Nerissa, also in disguise. Portia, as “Balthazar”, asks Shylock to
show mercy in a famous speech (The quality of mercy is not
strained—IV,i,185, arguing for debt relief), but Shylock refuses. Thus
the court must allow Shylock to extract the pound of flesh. Shylock tells
Antonio to “prepare”. At that very moment, Portia points out a flaw
in the contract (see quibble): the bond only allows Shylock to remove the
flesh, not the “blood”, of Antonio. Thus, if Shylock were to shed
any drop of Antonio’s blood, his “lands and goods” would be
forfeited under Venetian laws.
Defeated, Shylock concedes to accepting Bassanio’s offer of money for
the defaulted bond, but Portia prevents him from taking the money on the ground
that he has already refused it. She then cites a law under which Shylock, as a
Jew and therefore an “alien”, having attempted to take the life of
a citizen, has forfeited his property, half to the government and half to
Antonio, leaving his life at the mercy of the Duke. The Duke immediately
pardons Shylock’s life. Antonio asks for his share “in use”
(that is, reserving the principal amount while taking only the income) until
Shylock’s death, when the principal will be given to Lorenzo and Jessica.
At Antonio’s request, the Duke grants remission of the state’s half
of forfeiture, but in return, Shylock is forced to convert to Christianity and
to make a will (or “deed of gift”) bequeathing his entire estate to
Lorenzo and Jessica (IV,i).
Bassanio does not recognize his disguised wife, but offers to give a present
to the supposed lawyer. First she declines, but after he insists, Portia
requests his ring and his gloves. He parts with his gloves without a second
thought, but gives the ring only after much persuasion from Antonio, as earlier
in the play he promised his wife never to lose, sell or give it. Nerissa, as
the lawyer’s clerk, also succeeds in likewise retrieving her ring from
Gratiano, who does not see through her disguise.
At Belmont, Portia and Nerissa taunt and pretend to accuse their husbands
before revealing they were really the lawyer and his clerk in disguise (V).
After all the other characters make amends, all ends happily (except for
Shylock) as Antonio learns from Portia that three of his ships were not
stranded and have returned safely after all.
[Synopsis source: Wikipedia]
Click here for the complete text of the play.
image=http://www.operatoday.com/Sully.Portia.png
image_description=Thomas Sully. Portia and Shylock, 1835.
audio=yes
first_audio_name=Reynaldo Hahn: Le Marchand de Venise
first_audio_link=http://www.operatoday.com/Merchant.m3u
product=yes
product_title=Reynaldo Hahn: Le Marchand de Venise
product_by=Porti: Michele Command; Nerissa: Annick Dutertre; Jessica: Eliane Lublin; Shylock: Christian Poulizac; Bassanio: Armand Arapian; Antonio: Marc Vento; Gratiano: Leonard Pezzino; Lorenzo: Tibere Raffali; Tubal: Jean-Louis Soumagnas; Le Prince d’Aragon: Jean Dupouy; Le Prince du Maroc/Le Doge: Pierre Nequecaur; Le Masque/La Voix: Christian Jean; L’Audencier: Lucien Dallemand; Grand Venise: Alain Charles; 1st Venetien: Michel Maranpuis; 2nd Venetien: Michel Cadiou; 1st Juif: Jean Jusconte; 2nd Juif: Robert Paleque; 3rd Juif: Jean Degarras; Un Serviteur: Michel Taverne; Salarino: Henri Pichon. Choeurs et Orchestre du Theatre National de L’Opera. Direction: Manuel Rosenthal. Paris 1978