L'arca di Noè

Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde debuts at La Fenice as part of the Education programme. Noye’s Fludd and – this is the original title: literally, ‘Noah’s Flood’ – is a one-act opera. Its libretto comes from an anonymous text from the late Middle Ages, part of the cycle of Chester Miracle Plays, named after the English town, where in ancient times, during religious festivals, these sacred representations were staged by artisan guilds. The biblical story of Noah is often enriched with fictional, even comical, elements. These include the quarrels between the Patriarch and his capricious, drunken wife who mocks her industrious husband; Noah’s tireless diligence in constructing the ark alongside his sons and daughters-in-law; and the grotesque procession of animals boarding the great wooden vessel that will save them from the flood. In 1958, Noye’s Fludde debuted at Orford Parish Church in Adelburgh – where Britten had founded the English Opera Group in 1947 – under the direction of Charles Mackerras. As for the score, three hymns, which are from a later period than the rest of the text, are located at the beginning, centre, and end of the theatrical action, during which a male reciting voice – trained yet offstage – represents that of the Most High. The industrious Noah is entrusted to a bass-baritone, while the intemperate wife is a contralto. The choral groups are of particular importance, performing the roles of Noah’s children and their wives, the gossips (comari) humming with the Patriarch’s wife, and the animals and birds. The not exactly simple orchestral writing, enriched by the use of a vast percussion section, includes the insertion between the songs and scenes of some instrumental interludes – where Britten is notoriously a master – the most notable of which evokes, as is obvious, the flood and the consequent storm.