The author of the libretto is the poet and playwright Felice Romani. The premiere took place on December 26, 1833 at La Scala in Milan. The plot of the opera is based on the play of the same name by Victor Hugo.

Summary

The action takes place on the terrace of a Venetian palace. The night masquerade ball is in full swing. Joyful young people run out onto the terrace. Tonight is their last night in Venice, and tomorrow they will go to Duke Alfonso in Ferrara. Orsini tells his companions about the brutal murders and other sins that the duke and his wife, Lucrezia Borgia, are suspected of. Friends conclude that she must die for the crimes committed. The company does not even suspect that Gubetto, Lucrezia's servant, is watching them. The fun gradually fades away, Gennaro falls asleep right on the bench, the other young people disperse.

Soon a masked lady arrives on a gondola. This is Lucrezia Borgia. She is looking for Gennaro. With tender love, she looks at the sleeping young man. This is her son. He never video his mother and was brought up secretly under her control. Her husband Alfonso is watching her from afar, along with Rustigello, his faithful servant. The duke suspects his wife of treason, thinking that Gennaro is another lover of Lucrezia, and therefore orders the servant to keep an eye on the young man. Gennaro wakes up. He is very surprised by the close attention of a stranger. Lucrezia reveals a secret to him: she is his mother. Gennaro is happy, he has dreamed of meeting her for so long!

The young man's friends return to the terrace. Joyful, Gennaro introduces his mother's friends. Suddenly Orsini rips off the mask from the duchess: he recognized her as Lucrezia! Everyone present is angry: they blame the woman for the death of people. Lucretia does not find a place for herself from despair. The youth leads away the weeping Gennaro.

City of Ferrara. The crowd welcomes Duke Alfonso. He is sullen, all his thoughts are occupied by Gennaro. Meanwhile, the son of Lucretia, passing by the palace of the duchess, in anger knocks down the first letter of the surname, leaving only the word "orgia" (debauchery). Rustigello witnessed the incident. He hurried to call the chief of security, reporting to him that the good name of the duchess had been damaged and that the death penalty was due. They rush to arrest the criminal. Lucrezia pleads for mercy. The duke agrees, inviting the young man to drink wine from the family's golden cups as a sign of reconciliation. The duchess knows that they contain poison and manages to give her son an antidote, begging him to leave the city. Gennaro confides in his mother and leaves through a secret door. Rustigello continues to follow him.

Disobeying his mother, Gennaro decides to take part in the last masquerade ball before Lent in Ferrara tonight. Rustigello relays the news to the Duke. The masquerade is in full swing. Gubetto brought in a magnificent Syracusan wine on behalf of a Greek merchant. Young people are delighted: everyone is happy to drain the cups and continue the fun. The singing of monks is heard from the street - Great Lent begins. Suddenly Orsini becomes ill. After him, everyone else also feels unwell. A triumphant Lucretia enters the hall. This is her revenge on Gennaro's friends for insulting her and trying to separate her from her son. In less than a minute, they will all be dead!

To her horror, Lucretia notices her son among the participants in the masquerade. She begs him to take the antidote. But the son is in despair: his mother is killing his friends. Gennaro refuses to take the antidote and dies. Duke Alfonso appears. He came to see Gennaro's death at the hands of the duchess. After all, he knew that the young man would be here, and that Lucrezia would send poisoned wine, but he did not warn ... Lucrezia finally reveals the secret - Gennaro is her son. Heaven punished her. She falls unconscious on the dead body of her son.

History of creation

In mid-October 1833, Gaetano Donizetti signed a contract for the opera Lucrezia Borgia. Work on the piece went very quickly. Poems and music were born almost simultaneously. Felice Romani and Gaetano Donizetti were inspired by their joint creation. Already in early December, the first rehearsals began. At first, the orchestra had difficulty coping with the score. However, by the opening of the winter season, the opera was ready to be shown.

The premiere of the opera caused bewilderment among the public and led to another wave of criticism. The fate of the opera was very difficult. This is mainly due to the plot, in which the name of Lucrezia Borgia, the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and a Spanish courtesan, appears. The opera was nearly banned by the censors. And, nevertheless, it was Lucrezia Borgia that brought the composer real fame. Almost two centuries later, the opera is once again becoming popular.

Interesting facts:

• Initially, Felice Romani wrote the libretto based on Victor Hugo's story for another composer, Saverio Mercadante, but he gave it to Donizetti.
• Gaetano Donizetti wrote a total of six operas on Romani's libretto, among them L'elisir d'amore and Anna Boleyn.
• The plot of Victor Hugo's story is based on true facts. However, Romani still decided to tone down the more macabre details of the drama. But even a softer libretto caused bewilderment of the censors. Victor Hugo was outraged by the distortion of his creation. He went to court to protect copyright and won the case. For some time the opera went under the name "Renegade", but soon it again became known as "Lucrezia Borgia". In addition, the opera withstood a lawsuit from the Borgia family. Subsequently, some changes were made to the opera, and in addition, the composer wrote several more numbers especially for famous singers, however, they are not performed in our time.
• Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov's poem "Reflections at the front entrance" was set to the music of Orsini's final aria.

History of creation and premiere

After the play "The King Amuses" was removed from the repertoire after the first performance and banned, Hugo wrote a new drama - "Lucrezia Borgia". The drama, which became for Hugo the first experience of creating a play in prose, was originally titled by the author "Supper in Ferrara". The playwright worked on this play for only fourteen days. The premiere of "Lucretia Borgia" took place at the theater "Porte Saint-Martin" on February 2 of the year and was a great success, which was largely due to the ban of the government of many of Hugo's works, the author's appeal to the court and the public interest in Paris in his work. The drama was distinguished by its stage presence, simplicity of composition, laconicism of action, and J. Sand, in one of his letters, compares Hugo's skill in this play with ancient tragedy. The action of the drama takes place in the 16th century in Italy, reproducing the atmosphere and customs of the times of Borgia, however, the plot move with motherhood main character and her death at the hands of her own son are Hugo's inventions.

During preparations for the performance of "Lucretia Borgia", Hugo first met with the actress Juliette Drouet, who played the role of Princess Negroni. Subsequently, the actress stopped her theatrical career for the sake of Hugo and for almost 50 years was practically not separated from him. Juliette accompanied Hugo a year into exile in Jersey and then a year in Guernsey. In addition, Juliette wrote letters to Hugo: throughout her life she wrote him about twenty-two thousand letters.

Plot

The play is divided into three acts, with the first two being divided into two parts each.

Characters

Notable productions

• In - years, director Jenny Bernard staged Hugo's drama "Lucretia Borgia" at the Theater du Vieux-Colombier, at the Festival du Marais, at the Great Roman Theater of the city of Lyon, at the Festival de Montauban and at the Theater de Gelerei in the city of Brussels.
• In the same year, director Roger Khanin staged Hugo's drama "Lucrezia Borgia" with the participation of actors Magali Noel, Michel Auclair, David Clair, Jean-Marie Galei.

Influence in world culture

Opera by Donizetti

In the same year, the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti wrote the opera Lucrezia Borgia to a libretto by Felice Romani based on this drama by Hugo. It remains in the repertoire to this day. The plot of the opera almost exactly follows the play, with only some changes and abbreviations: for example, the opera did not include stories about the atrocities of Borgia (including the death of the brother of the Turkish sultan) told in several places, the character of Gubetta is devoid of humor, and the plot functions of various friends The Gennaro were given to Orsini alone, and the song of Gubetta in the third act was given to him; a choir of murderers was introduced, replacing the duke in the second part of the second act. The main difference between the opera and the drama is the ending: in Hugo, Gennaro kills Lucrezia and only then finds out that she is his mother; with Donizetti, she opens up to him, he refuses to kill and dies in her arms (in Gennaro's arioso added for the Paris production of 1840, their reconciliation is much more fully expressed). There are two options for the ending of the opera: in the earlier Lucretia tells everything to her husband and dies of despair; in the later one, it simply falls on the son's body immediately after his death.

Literature

• Hugo V. Collected works in 15 volumes. Vol. 3. M.: GIHL, 1953. S. 457-528.
• Treskunov M. Drama by Victor Hugo / Hugo V. Drama. M., Art, 1958. S. 3-44
• Morois A. "Olympio, or the Life of Victor Hugo".

Lucrezia Borgia was recorded at the English National Opera on February 23, 2011. The orchestra was conducted by Paul Daniel, the part of Lucretia was performed by Claire Rutter, the part of Gennaro was performed by Michael Fabiano, and the part of Alphonse d'Este went to the British bass Alastair Miles.

Cinema Jazz Cinema provides an opportunity to see the legendary opera with your own eyes 21, 23 and 24 June.

Lucrezia Borgia 3D

Opera in 2 acts with a prologue, libretto by Felice Romani based on the drama of the same name by Victor Hugo.

Duration - 2 hours 30 minutes

SETTING:

Music — Gaetano Donizetti

Libretto - Felice Romani based on the play by Victor Hugo

Director — Mike Figgis

Conductor — Paul Daniel

Scenography – Es Delvin

Light — Peter Mumford

ROLES PERFORM:

Lucrezia Borgia — Claire Rutter

Gennaro — Michael Fabiano

Maffio Orsini — Elizabeth DeShong

Alfonso d'Este — Alastair Miles

Lucrezia Borgia 3D directed by Mike Figgis, best known to viewers for the "Oscar-winning" film "Leaving Las Vegas" starring Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue.

The Italian libretto for the opera Lucrezia Borgia was written by Felice Romani based on the play of the same name by Victor Hugo. The action takes place in Venice at the end of the 15th century. Gennaro, a young nobleman, became infatuated with Lucrezia Borgia, not knowing that he was her son. Lucrezia takes care of Gennaro, which causes the jealousy of her husband Alphonse d "Este, Duke of Ferarra. He orders Gennaro to be killed, but Lucrezia saves her son. Full of a thirst for revenge, she invites her enemies to dinner and treats them with poisoned dishes. She sees with horror among the guests and her son Lucrezia tries in vain to save him from death.Dying, Gennaro learns that Lucrezia is his mother.

Lucrezia Borgia is a historical character: she is the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and his mistress, a Spanish courtesan Vanozza de Cattanei, Duchess of Pesaro, Princess of Salerno. The Borgia family became the epitome of ruthless politics and sexual promiscuity. At the same time, rumors about the eccentric behavior of Borgia still remain rumors, not facts. First of all, they speculate on the nature of the extravagant relations between members of the Borgia family: the family is accused of incest, poisoning and murder. There are also rumors that Lucretia had a set of hollow rings where poison was stored in order to imperceptibly poison food. According to Victor Hugo, Lucretia, like her father and brothers, used the unique family poison "Kataneya", the name of which comes from the name of their mother. Vanozzi dei Catanei, who presented this poison to the Pope.

Felice Romani significantly softened the events described by Hugo, at the request of censorship. So, one of the aristocratic families, whose family goes back to Lucrezia Borgia, sent a protest to the government, because of which the production was almost banned. This did not happen only because the relationship of the protesters remained unproven. Another scandal erupted during rehearsals: the orchestra could not cope with the unusually dense instrumentation. Then Donizetti seated the orchestra players in a new way, grouping the strings in the center so that they led the rest of the instruments - in the way that came into practice in the middle of the 19th century. Then I had to satisfy the requirement of the performer leading role write a spectacular final aria: she replaced the extended duet of the mother with the dying son, poisoned by her. Subsequently, Donizetti wrote a number of numbers for famous singers, including Nikolai Ivanov, a Russian tenor who performed in Italy, a friend of Glinka. Nowadays, these numbers are usually not performed.

Lucrezia Borgia premiered on 26 December 1833 in Milan at La Scala Theatre. The opera was not a success and caused a lot of criticism. However, before the end of the season, she went 33 times and quickly gained popularity in various countries. In St. Petersburg, the melody of the final ensemble of the prologue ("Maffio Orsini is standing in front of you") was on everyone's lips, so that when the people of Narodnaya Volya selected music for their anthem, it was she who laid down the text of the poem Nikolai Nekrasov“Reflections at the front door” (“Show me such a monastery”).

In 1891, Lucrezia Borgia became the first opera to be staged entirely in Sofia. Heinrich Wiesner conducted that day. Since then, Lucrezia Borgia has been staged more than once in the most famous theaters of the world, and its parts have been performed by such stars of the opera stage as Montserrat Caballe, Joan Sutherland And Edita Gruberova.

CHARACTERS

Donna Lucrezia Borgia , Duchess of Ferrara (soprano)

Don Alfonso , Duke of Ferrara (bass)

Gennaro , young warrior of unknown origin (tenor)

Maffio Orsini , young nobleman, friend of Gennaro (mezzo-soprano)

Rustigello , Duke's secret henchman (tenor)

Astolfo

Jubetta , secret agent of the Duchess (bass)

Liverotto (tenor), Gadzella(bass), Petrucci(bass), Vitelozzo(tenor) - Gennaro's friends.

Nobles, guards, spies, masked men.

The action is happening in Venice and Ferrara at the beginning of the 16th century.

PROLOGUE

Square in front of the Grimani Palace in Venice.

Night. Venice Carnival. The moon is shining. The palace stands on the banks of the canal, along which gondolas float, people in masks walk in front of it.

Gennaro, Orsini, Gadzella, Petrucci, Vitelozzo, Liverotto and Giubetta run into the square with merry laughter. They like everything around terribly - they are newcomers and have never seen anything like it. Giubetta begins to praise the holidays at the court of the Dukes of Ferrara and mentions the name of Lucrezia Borgia. With this name, everyone changes their faces, and Orsini begins a story about a terrible and terrible prediction associated with the name of this woman. Everyone readily listens, and only Gennaro, who, apparently, is already pretty fed up with this story, goes to bed.

It happened during the war in Rimini, - Orsini narrates, - I was wounded, I was lying on the ground and bleeding - and then Gennaro came up to me, put me on a horse and took me to the nearest forest; thus my life was saved. There we swore to each other to be together in life and death. And at that moment, a huge figure of a black man appeared before us. Are you scared, my friends? This blackest man predicted to us that Gennaro and I would die together on the same day and hour, and Lucrezia Borgia would be present. After that, he vanished into thin air.

The merry fellows leave, leaving Gennaro alone to sleep peacefully.

At this time, one of the gondolas moored to the shore and a woman in a mask got out of it. This is Lucrezia Borgia, she approaches the sleeping Gennaro and begins to look at him, and Giubetta, who has returned, stands guard. Lucrezia recognizes him.

It's you?

Yes. I'm afraid that someone will see you - and although your life is not in danger, evil people can offend you.

Everyone hates me! But in my heart I'm not bad at all ... Have you been following this young man?

Yes, for several days now. But I could not understand why you came from Ferrara to Venice ...

Find out my secret! … and now leave.

Giubetta leaves, Lucrezia approaches Gennaro, not noticing that Duke Alfonso and Rustigello have crept into the square, hiding under masks.

How beautiful he is! - exclaims Lucrezia (a beautiful, most tender aria Com "e bello!). It turns out that Gennaro is none other than the son of Lucrezia herself from one of her previous marriages. Fearing for his life, she watched him only from a distance so as not to attract the attention of her many enemies.The fact that Gennaro is her son, no one knows, including himself.

At this time, Don Alfonso and Rustigello exchange quick phrases:

Look! It's her... And who is it?

A young mercenary who came from nowhere, very brave.

Try to lure the handsome man to Ferrara, and then I'll deal with him ...

Having outlined a plan of action, jealous husband and his henchman are removed. But Lucretia does not see or hear anything around, she indulges in unrealizable dreams about how good it would be if her son and she would live together as one family - what bliss it would be! Finally feeling emotional, she takes off her mask and kisses Gennaro's hand. He, of course, wakes up and sees an unknown beauty next to him. Lucrezia tries to hide, but Gennaro does not let her go and tells her that he immediately felt some kind of inexplicable attraction to her, although there is one woman whom he loves even more.

Who is this? - interested in Lucretia.

My mother ... - answers Gennaro and begins the story of his sad fate (duet Di pescatore ignobile). He talks about how he spent his childhood in Naples, considering himself the son of a modest fisherman, until one fine day an unknown warrior rode up to him, who gave Gennaro a horse, weapons and some letter. It was a letter from his mother, in which she told him that she had fallen victim to unknown evil forces and asked him never to look for her and not to mention her name. And now Gennaro constantly wears this letter on his chest and periodically irrigates with tears. Lucrezia bursts into tears and begs Gennaro to love his mother and pray for her.

Then Orsini and his friends suddenly return to the square and immediately recognize Lucrezia, noticing Orsini, she tries to quickly hide, but Gennaro does not let her go and wants to know at least her name.

Do you want to know her name? - asks Orsini - now I'll call him to you!

If you dare insult this woman, you are no longer my friend! - the noble Gennaro comes to the defense of Lucrezia.

No. We just introduce ourselves to her, and then you can communicate with her as much as you like - if you want, of course.

Milady, I am Maffio Orsini, you killed my brother while he was sleeping.

And I'm Vitelli. You killed my uncle to take over his castle.

And I am Appiano's nephew, whom you poisoned at the feast.

I am Petrucci cousin the Count of Siena, from whom you took the county.

And I am a relative of one of your husbands, whom you ordered to be drowned in the Tiber.

"What should I do?" - Lucrezia rushes about, but the noble avengers do not let her leave, they call her depraved, dirty and vile, insult her in every way and, finally, call her name - Lucrezia Borgia. "Away!" Gennaro screams in horror.

I ACTION.

SCENE 1: Piazza in Ferrara.

On one side of the square is a palace with a balcony, on the wall is a marble helmet with a gilded inscription BORGIA, on the other side is Gennaro's house with brightly lit windows. Night.

Don Alfonso and Rustigello enter the square in long capes with hoods. Rustigello informs the Duke that Lucrezia, with the help of Giubetta, wants to bring Gennaro to the Borgia Palace. "Let him in," Don Alfonso decides, "but he won't come out of there!" . The duke looks forward to a terrible revenge on the allegedly unfaithful wife and her lover (aria Vieni; la mia vendetta), after which he leaves.

Gennaro leaves the house himself, his friends and Giubetta. Everyone is pretty tipsy, except for Gennaro, who is thoughtful, Giubetta steps aside. Orsini asks Gennaro about the reason for his sadness: after all, today they are invited to a ball at the Negroni Palace, where there will be a lot of beauties. Gennaro excuses himself with trifles. Orsini is not far behind - "Maybe this terrible Borgia bewitched you?" - "No! No one in the world despises her more than I do!" Gennaro denies too vehemently. And, in order to prove it to everyone, and above all to himself, he approaches the inscription BORGIA and scrapes off the first letter with a dagger. Here everyone realizes that the joke has gone too far, and hastily disperse.

Astolfo and Rustigello appear on the square. Both of them came for Gennaro, only Rustigello should take him to the duke, and Astolfo to the duchess. A quarrel breaks out between them, which is resolved only after the prudent Rustigello calls for help a whole gang of bandits, who were sitting in ambush. Astolfo has no choice but to retreat, and Rustigello and the bandits break into Gennaro's house.

SCENE 2: A room in the Duke's palace.

Behind is a large massive door, on the right is a glass door, on the left is a secret door. In the middle of the room is a table with a velvet tablecloth. Duke Alfonso and Rustigello are finishing their final preparations for a terrible revenge. Don Alfonso gives Rustigello the golden key to the secret locker, which contains the special signature drinks of the Borgia family. The duke orders to bring a golden vessel with "Borgia wine". Rustigello must hide behind the door. If the Duke calls him, he will bring drinks; if there is another signal, then he will burst in fully armed. Rustigello leaves.

The Duchess appears, she demands from the Duke to terribly punish the man who dared to abuse the glorious name of Borja, and the Duke swears to kill the impudent one, whoever he is.

Bring in the detainee!

Gennaro is brought in, and Lucrezia realizes that she has fallen into a cunningly set trap. She is trying to prove that it is a mistake, that it was not Gennaro who scraped off the letter from the inscription, but the proud young man rejects her help and confesses to his deed. Now he must die - such is the word of the Duke.

Lucrezia asks her husband for a private conversation. After she stays with Don Alfonso, Lucrezia turns to him with a passionate plea to save the young man, she kneels before her husband, but the villain is adamant. Then Lucrezia rises and begins a conversation in a language more understandable to the Duke. She transparently hints to her husband that he is not her first, but her fourth husband, and the death of his predecessors was not always so natural, so let him think about the consequences of his actions. But the duke is not a shy one! He never forgot to whom he was married, but now they are in Ferrara, not in Rome, and here Lucrezia is powerless against him, the Duke. Don Alfonso invites his wife to choose what the young man will die from: from the sword or from poison. Lucrezia chooses poison.

Enter Gennaro. The Duke informs the prisoner that, at the request of the Duchess, he is forgiven and enters into a small talk with Gennaro, during which it turns out that Gennaro once saved the life of the Duke's father. Lucretia begins to hope that her husband will soften, but in vain: jealousy is stronger than gratitude. At a signal from the Don, Alfonso Rustigello brings in the gold and silver vessels. The duke pours himself a glass of silver and Gennaro a gold one and offers to drink as a token of reconciliation, after which he leaves with Rustigello.

"Unfortunate! You drank poison!" - Lucrezia addresses her son (duet Infelice! Il veleno bevesti). Now Gennaro must quickly take the antidote and escape, otherwise he will simply be stabbed. Gennaro drinks the antidote and quickly disappears through a secret door. When Don Alfonso and Rustigello return to the room, only Lucrezia is found there.

II ACTION.

SCENE 1: Courtyard in front of Gennaro's house.

Rustigello and the same gang of bandits came here to try the same joke a second time - to break into Gennaro's house; but Orsini comes and they hide. And Orsini came to ask Gennaro if he would go to the Negroni's ball. Gennaro refuses, saying that his life is in danger, and he must urgently flee from Ferrara - however, Orsini reminds his friend of the former oath: to be together in life and death. Reluctantly, Gennaro agrees to go to the ball with Orsini - in order to immediately leave the inhospitable city after the ball. Friends leave, and Rustigello laughs after them: they go straight into the trap, towards inevitable death.

SCENE 2: Hall in the Negroni Palace

A richly laid table in the palace of Princess Negroni. Gennaro, Orsini, their friends and Giubetta are sitting at the table. First they drink Madeira, then - Rhine, then - everything in a row. Toast follows toast, joke after joke. Giubetta, as if by accident, starts a quarrel with a fairly tipsy Orsini; the ladies run away in terror. Gennaro manages to clean up the mess; at that moment a servant enters and brings in Syracuse wine. Everyone drinks except Giubetta, and Orsini finally cheered up and decides to sing a song (Brindisi Il segreto per esser felici), in which he suggests not to think about the future, but to live one day. Suddenly, a funeral chant is heard and a mysterious voice says: "The joy of fools melts like smoke." The torches in the hall begin to slowly go out.

God, where have we come? - guests ask a question.

To the house of Lucrezia Borgia! - and here she is. - You gave me a ball in Venice, so I decided to repay you in Ferrara! You are all poisoned and will die now: five graves are already waiting for you.

Not five, but six! Gennaro comes out from behind his friends.

God! Are you here! You didn't leave! Yes, guards! Everyone, except this young man, should be taken out of here and no one should come here, no matter what happens.

Lucrezia still has an antidote, but Gennaro agrees to take it only with friends - however, the valuable product is only enough for one person. Then Gennaro decides to die, but before he dies, he wants to kill Lucrezia. Here Lucrezia reveals a terrible secret to Gennaro (aria M "odi, ah! m" odi, io non t "imploro): he is also Borgia, moreover, he is her son. Gennaro is horrified, and the poison has already begun to act. In vain Lucretia again and again asks her son to take the antidote - he does not want to live anymore.

Well, tell me one more word! Lucretia pleads.

Mom, mom... I'm dying... Gennaro whispers.

Died! Died! Ah, my son!

Enter the Duke, Rustigello, Guards, and Ladies of the Court.

Where is he? Where is he? shouts Don Alfonso furiously.

Here! - points to the corpse of Lucretius. - He was my son, my hope, my consolation (ensemble Era desso il figlio mio). I wanted to start new life for his sake, but now my heart is broken, all hope is lost with the death of this young man. Providence punished me for all my sins and crimes...

And Lucretia without feeling falls into the hands of the ladies of the court.

- "La Boheme" (Coven Garden)

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Jazz Cinema VKontakte:

• Victor Hugo wrote the play Lucrezia Borgia (1833), which describes the life of Gennaro, the son of Lucrezia, invented by him. His father was Lucrezia's brother Giovanni, who was killed by Cesare out of jealousy, and Lucrezia, fearing that the latter would also deal with his illegitimate nephew, ordered that the child be raised away from society. Years later, life brings mother and son together, and the latter, unaware of blood ties with the Duchess of Ferrara, takes her attention for love. Gennaro's friends become a hindrance to their relationship, and then Lucretia tricks them into a feast, where he treats them with poisoned food. Gennaro, also invited to the feast, falls victim to poisoning. Upon learning the truth, he refuses to take the antidote and kills his mother before dying.

• Lucrezia Borgia (1833) - opera by Gaetano Donizetti, based on the play by Hugo. The most famous performers of the title role (soprano) are Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballe and Edita Gruberova

literary works

• F. M. Klinger, The Life of Faust (1791). Among other events, the book describes Faust's romance with Lucretia.
• Alexandre Dumas, The Borgia Family, 1870.
• Jeanne Kalogridis, Bride of the Borgias. A novel about the princess of the Neapolitan kingdom, Sancha of Aragon, who, for political reasons, is forced to marry Gioffre Borgia, brother of Lucrezia. Sancha became a rival and later friend of Lucrezia. It is for the brother of Sanchi of Aragon that Lucretia marries a second time.
• Scarlet City by Hella Haasse
• Henri de Cock, Lucrezia Borgia
• Carrie Hawkins, Bloody Legacy: Ryan's Story. In this work, Lucrezia, her father and brothers appear in episodic roles.
• Samuel Schellaberger, The Borgia Fox. Based on the novel, a film of the same name starring Orson Welles and Tyrone Power was made.
• Gregory Maguire, Mirror of My Light: A fantasy novel in which Lucretia is... Snow White's evil stepmother. She is depicted as a beautiful, vain and depraved woman who is completely passionate about politics. Her relationship with Cesare is the main storyline.
• Mario Puzo, Family (2001). The novel tells about the entire Borgia family. This work is the last completed in the life of the author.
• Victoria Holt/Jean Plaidy, a dilogy consisting of the novels "The Madonna of the Seven Hills" and "The Defiled Lucretia", 2003,
• Victoria Holt "Roman Carnival"
• "City of God: A Tale of the Borgias" by Cecilia Holland
• Lucrezia Borgia: Three Weddings, One Love by Sarah Dunant

Graphic novels

• Borgia, graphic novel series, collaboration between Alejandro Jodorowsky (screenplay) and Milo Manara (graphics)
  • 1 "Bloody Papa" (French "Du sang pour le pape", lit. "Blood for Papa"), 2004
  • 2 "Power and Incest" (French "Le pouvoir et l "inceste"), 2006
  • 3 "The Flame of the Funeral Pyre" (French "Les flammes du bcher"), 2008
  • 4 “All is vanity” (French “Tout est vanit”), 2011

Movies

The full list of films is on the corresponding page imdb.com.

• Lucrezia Borgia (film, Germany, 1922), dir. Richard Oswald, in ch. Starring Conrad Veidt and Liana Hyde

• "Lucrezia Borgia" (fr. "Lucrce Borgia", France, 1935), dir. Abel Hans; Lucrezia, - Edwige Fejer.
• “We do it because ...” (eng. “We Do It Because -”, USA, 1942), dir. Basil Wrangell (Eng. Basil Wrangell); Lucrezia - Ava Gardner (uncredited)
• "Insidious Fox Borgia" (in the original "Prince of Foxes"; USA. 1949)
• "Virgin of Vengeance" (eng. "Bride of Vengeance", USA, 1949), dir. Mitchell Leisen; Lucrezia - Paulette Goddard.
• "Lucrece Borgia" (French "Lucrce Borgia", France, 1953), dir. Christian-Jacques; Lucrezia - Martin Karol.
• Nights of Lucrezia Borgia (Italian: Le notti di Lucrezia Borgia, Italy, 1959), dir. Sergio Greco; Lucretia - Belinda Lee.
• “Lucrezia Borgia, beloved of the devil” (Italian “Lucrezia Borgia, l "amante del diavolo”, Italy, Austria, 1968), dir. Osvaldo Chivirani; Lucrezia, - Olga Shoberova.
• "Immoral stories" (fr. "Contes immoraux", France, 1974), dir. Valerian Borovchik; Lucretia, - Florence Bellamy (fr. Florence Bellamy).
• "Young Lucrezia" (it. "Lucrezia giovane", Italy, 1974), dir. Andre Colbert, Lucrezia - Simonetta Stefanelli (it. Simonetta Stefanelli).
• "Lucretia Borgia" (fr. "Lucrce Borgia", France, 1979) - a TV movie by Yves-Andre Hubert, based on the drama of Hugo and the play by Roger Hanin; Lucrezia - Magali Noel.
• TV movie "The Borgias" ("The Borgias", UK, 1981), the role is played by Ann Louise Lambert.
• "poisons, or The World History poisoning”, Russia, 2001, dir. Karen Shakhnazarov; Lucrezia - Marina Kazankova
• "Borgia" (Spanish "Los Borgia", Spain, 2006), dir. Antonio Hernandez; Lucrezia - Maria Valverde
• "Borgia" (eng. "The Borgias", Canada, Ireland, Hungary, 2011), prod. Neil Jordan and others; Lucretia - Holliday Granger.
• "Borgia" (Eng. "Borgia", Germany, France, 2011) prod. Oliver Hirschbiegel and others; Lucretia, - Isolde Dyushauk.

• According to Hugo, Lucrezia, like her father and brothers, used the unique family poison "Kataneya", the name of which comes from the name of their mother, the Spanish courtesan Vanozzi dei Catanei, who presented this poison to the pope.

• Lucretia appears in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and there was also a hint of her in Assassin's Creed II (a video describing Rodrigo Borgia).
• The series Hangar 13 (Vault 13) 1 season (episode 1) - (2009). Lucrezia Borgia is mentioned as the bearer of some kind of jewelry that can cloud the mind. This decoration turned out to be a comb made by a certain alchemist. Lucrezia Borgia's crest appears to be the cursed thing that the main characters are looking for.
• “The Monk and the Demon” 2016. The Demon offers Ivan to pray for Lucretia before being burned. And there is no one to speak for poor Lucrezia. Do you know how she suffers there in our department? ... "

Date of writing: Date of first publication: in Wikisource

History of creation and premiere

After the play "The King Amuses" was removed from the repertoire after the first performance and banned, Hugo wrote a new drama - "Lucrezia Borgia". The drama, which became for Hugo the first experience of creating a play in prose, was originally titled by the author "Supper in Ferrara". The playwright worked on this play for only fourteen days. The premiere of "Lucretia Borgia" took place at the theater "Porte Saint-Martin" on February 2 of the year and was a great success, which was largely due to the ban of the government of many of Hugo's works, the author's appeal to the court and the public interest in Paris in his work. The drama was distinguished by its stage presence, simplicity of composition, laconicism of action, and J. Sand, in one of his letters, compares Hugo's skill in this play with ancient tragedy. The action of the drama takes place in the 16th century in Italy, reproducing the atmosphere and customs of the times of Borgia, however, the plot move with the motherhood of the main character and her death at the hands of her own son are Hugo's fiction.

During preparations for the performance of Lucretia Borgia, Hugo first met with the actress Juliette Drouet, who played the role of Princess Negroni. Subsequently, the actress stopped her theatrical career for the sake of Hugo and for almost 50 years was practically not separated from him. Juliette accompanied Hugo a year into exile in Jersey and then a year in Guernsey. In addition, Juliette wrote letters to Hugo: throughout her life she wrote him about twenty-two thousand letters.

Plot

Characters

Notable productions

• In - years, director Jenny Bernard staged Hugo's drama "Lucretia Borgia" at the Theater du Vieux-Colombier, at the Festival du Marais, at the Great Roman Theater of the city of Lyon, at the Festival de Montauban and at the Theater de Gelerei in the city of Brussels.
• In the same year, director Roger Khanin staged Hugo's drama "Lucrezia Borgia" with the participation of actors Magali Noel, Michel Auclair, David Clair, Jean-Marie Galei.

Influence in world culture

In the same year, the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti wrote the opera Lucrezia Borgia based on the plot of this drama by Hugo.

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Links

Literature

• Hugo V. Collected works in 15 vols. M., State Publishing House fiction, 1953. (Volume 2, pp. 457-528. Translation by A. Fedorov.).
• Hugo V. Drama. M., Art, 1958. M. Treskunov. Dramaturgy by Victor Hugo. (p. 3-44).
• Hugo V. Collected works in 10 volumes. M., Pravda, 1972. (Volume 2).
• Hugo V. Collected works in 6 volumes. M., Pravda, 1988.
• Hugo V. Collected works in 6 volumes. M., Pravda, 1988. Tolmachev M. V. Witness of the century Victor Hugo. (Volume 1).
• Hugo V. Collected works in 14 volumes. Terra-Book Club Publishing House, 2002. (Volume 10).
• Morois A. "Olympio, or the Life of Victor Hugo".

Excerpt characterizing Lucretius Borgia (play)

An hour later Tikhon came to call Princess Mary. He called her to the prince and added that Prince Vasily Sergeyevich was there too. The princess, while Tikhon came, was sitting on the sofa in her room and holding the weeping m lla Bourienne in her arms. Princess Mary gently stroked her head. The beautiful eyes of the princess, with all their former calmness and radiance, looked with tender love and pity at the pretty face of m lle Bourienne.
- Non, princesse, je suis perdue pour toujours dans votre coeur, [No, princess, I have lost your favor forever,] - said m lle Bourienne.
– Pourquoi? Je vous aime plus, que jamais, said Princess Mary, et je tacherai de faire tout ce qui est en mon pouvoir pour votre bonheur. [Why? I love you more than ever, and I will try to do everything in my power for your happiness.]
- Mais vous me meprisez, vous si pure, vous ne comprendrez jamais cet egarement de la passion. Ah, ce n "est que ma pauvre mere ... [But you are so pure, you despise me; you will never understand this infatuation of passion. Ah, my poor mother ...]
- Je comprends tout, [I understand everything,] - answered Princess Mary, smiling sadly. - Calm down, my friend. I'll go to my father, - she said and went out.
Prince Vasily, with his leg bent high, with a snuffbox in his hands and as if utterly moved, as if he himself regretted and laughed at his sensitivity, sat with a smile of tenderness on his face when Princess Mary entered. He hurriedly raised a pinch of tobacco to his nose.
“Ah, ma bonne, ma bonne, [Ah, dear, dear.],” he said, standing up and taking both of her hands. He sighed and added, “Le sort de mon fils est en vos mains.” Decidez, ma bonne, ma chere, ma douee Marieie qui j "ai toujours aimee, comme ma fille. [The fate of my son is in your hands. Decide, my dear, my dear, my meek Marie, whom I have always loved like a daughter. ]
He went out. A real tear appeared in his eyes.
“Fr… fr…” snorted Prince Nikolai Andreevich.
- The prince, on behalf of his pupil ... son, makes a proposition for you. Do you want or not to be the wife of Prince Anatole Kuragin? You say yes or no! he shouted, “and then I reserve the right to say my opinion. Yes, my opinion and only my own opinion, ”added Prince Nikolai Andreevich, turning to Prince Vasily and answering his imploring expression. - Yes or no?
“My desire, mon pere, is never to leave you, never to share my life with yours. I don’t want to get married,” she said resolutely, looking with her beautiful eyes at Prince Vasily and at her father.
- Nonsense, nonsense! Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! Prince Nikolai Andreevich shouted, frowning, took his daughter by the hand, bent her to him and did not kiss, but only bending his forehead to her forehead, touched her and squeezed the hand he was holding so that she winced and screamed.
Prince Vasily got up.
- Ma chere, je vous dirai, que c "est un moment que je n" oublrai jamais, jamais; mais, ma bonne, est ce que vous ne nous donnerez pas un peu d "esperance de toucher ce coeur si bon, si genereux. Dites, que peut etre ... L" avenir est si grand. Dites: peut etre. [My dear, I will tell you that I will never forget this moment, but, my kindest, give us at least a small hope of being able to touch this heart, so kind and generous. Say: maybe... The future is so great. Say maybe.]
- Prince, what I said is everything that is in my heart. I thank you for the honor, but I will never be your son's wife.
“Well, it’s over, my dear. Very glad to see you, very glad to see you. Come to yourself, princess, come, - said the old prince. “Very, very glad to see you,” he repeated, embracing Prince Vasily.
“My vocation is different,” Princess Marya thought to herself, my vocation is to be happy with another happiness, the happiness of love and self-sacrifice. And whatever it costs me, I will make poor Ame happy. She loves him so passionately. She repents so passionately. I will do everything to arrange her marriage to him. If he is not rich, I will give her money, I will ask my father, I will ask Andrey. I will be so happy when she is his wife. She is so unhappy, a stranger, lonely, without help! And my God, how passionately she loves, if she could so forget herself. Perhaps I would have done the same!…” thought Princess Mary.

For a long time the Rostovs had no news of Nikolushka; only in the middle of winter was a letter handed over to the count, at the address of which he recognized the hand of his son. Having received the letter, the count, frightened and hastily, trying not to be noticed, ran on tiptoe to his office, locked himself and began to read. Anna Mikhailovna, learning (as she knew everything about what was going on in the house) about the receipt of the letter, with a quiet step went to the count and found him sobbing and laughing together with the letter in his hands. Anna Mikhailovna, despite her improved affairs, continued to live with the Rostovs.