(The Laconic Ones, or The Scheme Discovered)
The operetta Los
lacónicos by Manuel
del Pópulo Vicente García was premiered at the Teatro de
los Caños del Peral in Madrid on August 12, 1806. This
followed upon the tremendous success of his monologue opera El
poeta calculista in 1805 and the complete disaster
(García was booed off the stage) of his other monologue opera
El preso on January 1, 1806. Despite the fact that Los
lacónicos does not seem to have outlived the
premiere, there is considerable quality in its composition.
Clearly, this was a period when the 31-year-old García was
maturing musically (largely through his love of the music of
Mozart) and really wished to prove himself as a composer.
García excelled at composing exciting vocal ensembles and Los
lacónicos has some great examples of this. It requires
all singers (sopranos, tenors, baritones) to have the highest
degree of agility. While the Mozart influence is evident,
García's own Spanish style shines through, especially in the
poignant serenade, No. 8, "Ven dulce dueño".
According to the literary historian Emilio Cotarelo y Mori (Isidoro Máiquez y el teatro de su tiempo, p. 238) the libretto was by Félix Enciso Castrillón and well written:
As it turns out, César is in love with Arabela, so both men team up to work out a solution to the problem. Suddenly they hear singing: it is the voice of Constanza from the other side of the wall. Then they hear knocking, they note that the portrait on the wall (of Juan's father) is moving and a note falls from behind the painting. Yes, it is a love-letter from Constanza addressed to Juan. At that moment Constanza's servant Liseta appears and explains to the men that she and Constanza made a hole in the wall behind the painting, to enable Juan to rendezvous with his beloved. Both Juan and César climb in and promise to signal to Liseta when they are ready to come out. Unfortunately, while they are inside, Don Pedro returns and decides to dictate some letters to Martín in the very room where Liseta is waiting. Martín, who has seen the painting move, is spooked because he thinks it's a sign that Juan's father (the subject of the portrait, who was a shrewd businessman) is in hell.
When Juan knocks to be let out from the other side of the wall, Liseta humorously has to cover it up in front of Don Pedro. Eventually they all leave and Don Pedro comes back because he suspects that something "fishy" is going on. He moves the painting and discovers the hole. He promises to punish his nephew and Constanza.
Meanwhile, Arabela has appeared on the scene. She has heard that César has returned and is hurt that he hasn't asked for her. He arrives, they make up, he explains the situation and she agrees to help in the scheme to bring Juan and Constanza together.
Finally, when both couples are assembled, Don Pedro appears and confronts them with their misdeed. To make things even worse, Don Carlos appears on the scene and likewise berates them. Don Pedro seems willing to let Juan marry Constanza but Don Carlos affirms that her parents had promised her to "Sir James Brick" and he can't break that promise. "Sir James Brick?" César asks. As it turns out, Sir James Brick was a friend of César's and he died just after returning to London. Although Don Carlos is saddened by the news of his friend's death, Juan and Constanza are delighted: the obstacle to their love has been removed. Both Don Pedro and Don Carlos agree to the marriage. In fact, Don Carlos confesses that he likes the fact that the two families coming together are Spanish. Everyone joins in a final chorus singing the praises of Love.
The music, consisting of instrumental and vocal parts, for Los lacónicos is in the Municipal Library of Madrid. A fragment of the autograph score is in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris but is not available due to the poor condition of the manuscript.
Thus, I have transcribed from the parts, which contain numerous errors (especially wrong notes and missing accidentals) and inconsistencies. One really wonders how they performed it! I have the feeling that instrumentalists in those times performed a bit more like jazz musicians do today: they followed the harmonic progressions and thus added the necessary accidentals and corrected errors as suggested by the progression.
Missing from the orchestral parts is an overture. While it is possible that it was lost (or misfiled), it is also possible, if not likely, that García chose to salvage the overture from his failed opera El preso which had just premiered earlier in 1806. Thus, I have included that overture in my transcription below.
All of the Madrid manuscripts of Los lacónicos (libretto and orchestral parts) are now available on-line: Los lacónicos. The second copy listed has stage directions for the opening-night cast (which included García, his wife Manuela Morales and mistress/future wife Joaquina Briones) and also includes at the end the signature of approval of the censor, Don Juan Bautista de Espeleta. The first copy listed is essentially the same but, beginning on page 43, includes texts of musical numbers ("Guión de Música") as sung in the first performances (i.e. in some cases altered by García). These differ at times from the original song texts written by Enciso Castrillón in the "Guión de Música" included with the instrumental parts (MS 283-1 of the Municipal Library, the fourth item listed at the website).
Click on the links below to download the libretto, orchestral score, vocal score, and synthesized audio files. If you download the score to your desktop first, then you can follow it while listening to the audio files.
This music is for personal use only. All copyright restrictions apply.
Libretto/English Translation
Orchestral Score:
Overture
No. 1 "Oh Dios, ¡qué pena! (Juan)
No. 2 "En los ojos de Lisardo" (Constanza)
No. 3 "Cuando veo que suspira" (Liseta, Juan, César)
No. 4 "Vivo aquí muy oprimido" (Martín)
No. 5 "De repente, Señor mío" (Martín, Liseta, Pedro)
No. 6 "Piensa un joven muy erguido" (Pedro)
No. 7 "Cuando el ancho mar surcaba" (César, Arabela)
No. 8 "Ven dulce dueño" (Juan)
No. 9 "Con dulces trinados" (Constanza, Arabela, Juan, César)
No. 10 "En día tan dichoso" (Everyone)
Vocal Score:
No. 1 "Oh Dios, ¡qué pena! (Juan)
No. 2 "En los ojos de Lisardo" (Constanza)
No. 3 "Cuando veo que suspira" (Liseta, Juan, César)
No. 4 "Vivo aquí muy oprimido" (Martín)
No. 5 "De repente, Señor mío" (Martín, Liseta, Pedro)
No. 6 "Piensa un joven muy erguido" (Pedro)
No. 7 "Cuando el ancho mar surcaba" (César, Arabela)
No. 8 "Ven dulce dueño" (Juan)
No. 9 "Con dulces trinados" (Constanza, Arabela, Juan, César)
No. 10 "En día tan dichoso" (Everyone)
Audio:
Overture
No. 1 "Oh Dios, ¡qué pena! (Juan)
No. 2 "En los ojos de Lisardo" (Constanza)
No. 3 "Cuando veo que suspira" (Liseta, Juan, César)
No. 4 "Vivo aquí muy oprimido" (Martín)
No. 5 "De repente, Señor mío" (Martín, Liseta, Pedro)
No. 6 "Piensa un joven muy erguido" (Pedro)
No. 7 "Cuando el ancho mar surcaba" (César, Arabela)
No. 8 "Ven dulce dueño" (Juan)
No. 9 "Con dulces trinados" (Constanza, Arabela, Juan, César)
No. 10 "En día tan dichoso" (Everyone)
According to the literary historian Emilio Cotarelo y Mori (Isidoro Máiquez y el teatro de su tiempo, p. 238) the libretto was by Félix Enciso Castrillón and well written:
Está escrita con gracia, It is written with grace (humor)The story involves the romantic intrigues of a group of Spaniards living in London. The "laconic ones" are Don Pedro and his nephew, Juan. As the operetta opens, the servant Martín is puzzled by Juan's laconicism, inasmuch as back in Jerez he had been quite talkative. Juan's friend César appears, having just returned from navy duty in the Spanish East Indies. He notes that Juan seems depressed (as well as laconic!) and the latter opens his heart to him: Juan is frustrated because he is in the same house as the woman he loves, Constanza, but he can't see her because she is kept under lock and key by Don Pedro. She is an orphan and her uncle, Don Carlos, has entrusted her care to Don Pedro as her guardian. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Don Pedro wants Juan to marry his daughter Arabela—whom Juan can't stand!
a pesar de la poca novedad del asunto, despite the lack of originality of the subject,
y versificada con desembarazo and versified with naturalness
y armonía. and harmony.
As it turns out, César is in love with Arabela, so both men team up to work out a solution to the problem. Suddenly they hear singing: it is the voice of Constanza from the other side of the wall. Then they hear knocking, they note that the portrait on the wall (of Juan's father) is moving and a note falls from behind the painting. Yes, it is a love-letter from Constanza addressed to Juan. At that moment Constanza's servant Liseta appears and explains to the men that she and Constanza made a hole in the wall behind the painting, to enable Juan to rendezvous with his beloved. Both Juan and César climb in and promise to signal to Liseta when they are ready to come out. Unfortunately, while they are inside, Don Pedro returns and decides to dictate some letters to Martín in the very room where Liseta is waiting. Martín, who has seen the painting move, is spooked because he thinks it's a sign that Juan's father (the subject of the portrait, who was a shrewd businessman) is in hell.
When Juan knocks to be let out from the other side of the wall, Liseta humorously has to cover it up in front of Don Pedro. Eventually they all leave and Don Pedro comes back because he suspects that something "fishy" is going on. He moves the painting and discovers the hole. He promises to punish his nephew and Constanza.
Meanwhile, Arabela has appeared on the scene. She has heard that César has returned and is hurt that he hasn't asked for her. He arrives, they make up, he explains the situation and she agrees to help in the scheme to bring Juan and Constanza together.
Finally, when both couples are assembled, Don Pedro appears and confronts them with their misdeed. To make things even worse, Don Carlos appears on the scene and likewise berates them. Don Pedro seems willing to let Juan marry Constanza but Don Carlos affirms that her parents had promised her to "Sir James Brick" and he can't break that promise. "Sir James Brick?" César asks. As it turns out, Sir James Brick was a friend of César's and he died just after returning to London. Although Don Carlos is saddened by the news of his friend's death, Juan and Constanza are delighted: the obstacle to their love has been removed. Both Don Pedro and Don Carlos agree to the marriage. In fact, Don Carlos confesses that he likes the fact that the two families coming together are Spanish. Everyone joins in a final chorus singing the praises of Love.
The music, consisting of instrumental and vocal parts, for Los lacónicos is in the Municipal Library of Madrid. A fragment of the autograph score is in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris but is not available due to the poor condition of the manuscript.
Thus, I have transcribed from the parts, which contain numerous errors (especially wrong notes and missing accidentals) and inconsistencies. One really wonders how they performed it! I have the feeling that instrumentalists in those times performed a bit more like jazz musicians do today: they followed the harmonic progressions and thus added the necessary accidentals and corrected errors as suggested by the progression.
Missing from the orchestral parts is an overture. While it is possible that it was lost (or misfiled), it is also possible, if not likely, that García chose to salvage the overture from his failed opera El preso which had just premiered earlier in 1806. Thus, I have included that overture in my transcription below.
All of the Madrid manuscripts of Los lacónicos (libretto and orchestral parts) are now available on-line: Los lacónicos. The second copy listed has stage directions for the opening-night cast (which included García, his wife Manuela Morales and mistress/future wife Joaquina Briones) and also includes at the end the signature of approval of the censor, Don Juan Bautista de Espeleta. The first copy listed is essentially the same but, beginning on page 43, includes texts of musical numbers ("Guión de Música") as sung in the first performances (i.e. in some cases altered by García). These differ at times from the original song texts written by Enciso Castrillón in the "Guión de Música" included with the instrumental parts (MS 283-1 of the Municipal Library, the fourth item listed at the website).
Click on the links below to download the libretto, orchestral score, vocal score, and synthesized audio files. If you download the score to your desktop first, then you can follow it while listening to the audio files.
This music is for personal use only. All copyright restrictions apply.
Libretto/English Translation
Orchestral Score:
Overture
No. 1 "Oh Dios, ¡qué pena! (Juan)
No. 2 "En los ojos de Lisardo" (Constanza)
No. 3 "Cuando veo que suspira" (Liseta, Juan, César)
No. 4 "Vivo aquí muy oprimido" (Martín)
No. 5 "De repente, Señor mío" (Martín, Liseta, Pedro)
No. 6 "Piensa un joven muy erguido" (Pedro)
No. 7 "Cuando el ancho mar surcaba" (César, Arabela)
No. 8 "Ven dulce dueño" (Juan)
No. 9 "Con dulces trinados" (Constanza, Arabela, Juan, César)
No. 10 "En día tan dichoso" (Everyone)
Vocal Score:
No. 1 "Oh Dios, ¡qué pena! (Juan)
No. 2 "En los ojos de Lisardo" (Constanza)
No. 3 "Cuando veo que suspira" (Liseta, Juan, César)
No. 4 "Vivo aquí muy oprimido" (Martín)
No. 5 "De repente, Señor mío" (Martín, Liseta, Pedro)
No. 6 "Piensa un joven muy erguido" (Pedro)
No. 7 "Cuando el ancho mar surcaba" (César, Arabela)
No. 8 "Ven dulce dueño" (Juan)
No. 9 "Con dulces trinados" (Constanza, Arabela, Juan, César)
No. 10 "En día tan dichoso" (Everyone)
Audio:
Overture
No. 1 "Oh Dios, ¡qué pena! (Juan)
No. 2 "En los ojos de Lisardo" (Constanza)
No. 3 "Cuando veo que suspira" (Liseta, Juan, César)
No. 4 "Vivo aquí muy oprimido" (Martín)
No. 5 "De repente, Señor mío" (Martín, Liseta, Pedro)
No. 6 "Piensa un joven muy erguido" (Pedro)
No. 7 "Cuando el ancho mar surcaba" (César, Arabela)
No. 8 "Ven dulce dueño" (Juan)
No. 9 "Con dulces trinados" (Constanza, Arabela, Juan, César)
No. 10 "En día tan dichoso" (Everyone)
—James Radomski
(published December 5, 2014)
(published December 5, 2014)