The Firebrand of Florence (1944)
Broadway operetta in two acts.
Book by Edwin Justus Mayer, based on his play The Firebrand.
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
Synopsis
Song List
Performance Information
Principal Productions
Recordings
Earl Wrightson as Cellini and Beverly Tyler as Angela
from the Broadway production, 1945.
Synopsis
Benvenuto Cellini, the great Florentine artist, is sentenced to hang, but he is pardoned when the duke realizes that he has not completed a previously commissioned sculpture. Freed, he is able to turn his attention to his favorite model (and object of his affections), Angela. The Duke also is interested in Angela. In a typical operetta plot, Cellini swashbuckles around the stage, keeping the Duke away from Angela, keeping himself away from the Duchess, and escaping yet another death sentence by fleeing to Paris, as the end of the show recapitulates the beginning.
Song list
When the Bell of Doom is Clanging
Come to Florence
Life, Love, and Laughter
Our Master is Free Again
I Had Just Been Pardoned
You're Far Too Near Me
Alessandro the Wise
Sing Me Not a Ballad
When the Duchess is Away
The Nosy Cook
The Duchess's Letter
The Little Naked Boy
March of the Soldiers of the Duchy
A Rhyme for Angela
Hear Ye!
Oh, the World is Full of Villains
You Have to Do What You Do Do
How Wonderfully Fortunate!
Love Is My Enemy
Come to Paris
Performance Information
Cast: Singing roles -- Benvenuto Cellini (baritone), Angela (soprano), Emilia (soprano), Duke (baritone), Duchess (mezzo-soprano), Ottaviano (baritone), Magistrate, Hangman (bass), Tartman (tenor), Ascanio (baritone), Maffio, Captain of the Guard (tenor), Marquis, Page (boy soprano), ensemble.
Speaking roles -- Arlecchino, Columbina, Beatrice, Pierot, Flomina, Major-domo, Pantalone, Fiorinetta, Gelfomino, clerks, models, apprentices, vendors, courtiers, citizens.
Orchestra: 1 (picc).1.2.1; 2.3.1.0; harp, guitar, timp & perc; strings.
Duration: full evening
Critical edition: Kurt Weill Edition, Series I, volume 18 (full score and libretto with critical report)
Performance Rights and Rentals: All territories: JW
Guide to orchestration, territory abbreviations, and publishers' symbols.
Principal productions
- March 22, 1945, New York, Alvin Theater, John Murray Anderson, dir., Maurice Abravanel, cond.
- June 11, 1999, Wooster, Ohio Light Opera, James Stuart, dir., J. Lynn Thompson, cond.
Recordings
| Capriccio CD 60 091 |
Rodney Gilfry, Lori Ann Fuller, George Dvorsky, Simon Russell Beale, et al., BBCÂ Symphony, Sir Andrew Davis, cond. |
| EMI Classics CD 5 55563 2 |
Kurt Weill on Broadway: Thomas Hampson, Elizabeth Futral, Jerry Hadley, London Sinfonietta, John McGlinn, cond. [excerpts] |