illustration of the fire that affected the Residence of the Elector of Bonn, Max Friedrich in January 1777 during the time when Luchesi was Kapellmeister. The clock tower is on the right hand side.
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Luchesi
'Arlequin deserteur'
- Available here in audio versions only. Orchestral scores of these symphonies listed below and their instrumental parts are NOT currently available to members of this website. They are available here as AUDIO files only and are provided to you free of charge by ItalianOPERA © 2006. These audio versions can be shared with other persons free of charge, according to our copyleft. Any interested parties who wish to instrumentally perform/record these Modena versions are invited to first contact us here at italianopera.org
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(Mp3 361k)The newly discovered stage work (a ballet/pantomine) entitled 'Arlequin Deserteur' by Andrea Luchesi (written around 1780 in Bonn) is being gradually made available online here at ItalianOPERA.org. It has a remarkable story. (Some of the story has literally been pieced together only in the last day or two).
First, this work is specifically refered to in the surviving 1784 Inventory at Bonn chapel. The orchestral parts are today at Modena. But there's a remarkable link between it and a childhood event of the young Beethoven.
Luchesi's work consists of little more than a series of very short musical interludes (more than a dozen) and is almost certainly based on a play first written in the late 1760's by Louis Sebastian Mercier. (Mercier’s play was first adapted in Paris in 1768/9 by the French librettist Sedaine for a 3 act comic opera by Montigny 'Le Deserteur’ which was premiered at the Italian Opera in Paris in the summer of 1769. The original music score was dedicated to dedicated to the Duc d’Orleans. The choreographer was Maximilien Gardel. Madame Madeleine Guimard was famous in the main role. The opera was well received in Paris and the following year it was translated and performed in Germany in at least two cities, Hamburg and Hamburg und Braunschweig.
In fact Montigny's opera became famous across Europe. Remarkably, the overture to this same 'Le Deserteur' was the theme played by carillon bells of the mechanical clock in the tower at the Electoral Palace in Bonn. Until 1777 at least. But in that year (15th January 1777 at around 3am) a large fire broke out in the western section of the Elector's Palace. A gunpowder store blew up and Bonn citizens were all awakened by the explosion and resulting fire. 'They rushed out to the streets horrified, a seething, distracted mass of people, who congested all the streets in efforts to save their homes and see what was happening. The Elector, Max Friedrich, scantily clothed, narrowly escaped with his life but wild rumours spread everywhere. The boy Beethoven must surely have experienced this event. Reports say that as time went on the fire raged even more fiercely. Sparks from this fire were to be a threat to the town for 5 days. Much damage was done to the palace and there was loss of life. Just 3 hours after the fire began the tall clock tower with its fine carillon came crashing down just as its bells were starting to play Monsigny’s overture to ‘Deserteur'.
(See article, ‘What makes a great Composer ?– Beethoven’ – Dr David CF Wright 1967)
Also, some fascinating information today from archives of the British Library where this specific work is refered to -
''BUSTIS, Vincent de (also called ‘Revaschiello’) - ‘Arlequin deserteur – devenu magician, ou le Docteur mari ideal’, ballet/pantomime etc. ('Arlequin der Ausreisser', etc). French and German – BONN - 1780 ? - Archive Reference – (11740.aa.9.(1.) ''
Repair of the carillon bells and the tower at Bonn (which is known to have taken several years) corresponds exactly with Luchesi's writing 'Arlequin Deserteur'. So a date of 1780 for that work seems right. The repair of the bell tower may even have justified writing the piece. But, at the same time, Henseler (1937) dates the piece at ‘1774’. (Hopefully the date question can soon be resolved).
Nothing more is known at this time of 'Vincent de Bustis' (also called 'Revaschiello'). Perhaps an Italian who worked with Luchesi in Bonn ? The fact that his work for Luchesi seems to have been translated into French and German does not exclude him having contact with Luchesi during its creation. He may even have worked with touring theatre groups such as Grossmann and others in the Baltic States such as those who toured to Riga in Latvia and Reval (Tallinn) in Estonia.
Mercier's original stage play 'Le Deserteur' was published in Paris in 1782. It has 3 acts and a total of 15 scenes. In the next few weeks it should be possible to see how many short musical interludes Luchesi used for his Bonn ballet/pantomine 'Arlequin Deserteur' and whether they correspond closely to the play from which the story was originally derived.
A single, short instrumental episode from this work by Luchesi can now be heard on ItalianOPERA.org - It is quite dramatic.
Beethoven definitely heard this work.
(Robert Newman)
ItalianOPERA © 2006
