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CASSANDRA AND THE STRAUSS CASE
“An inquiry, an investigation on the artistic quality of Gnecchi’s music was opened at the beginning of the century with the usual two factions guilty and innocent, and in the fire of the polemic then fiery it was possible to achieve the reversals of the roles of guilty and victim , and then to turn them around again, until someone stated, with tardy common sense , that the crime was presumed and even non existent and that both the accused were to be acquitted from the charge for not having committed the crime.
Without doubt, much ado about nothing, was raised mainly by one circumstance: one of the supposed guilty party was a musician of sublime stature, such to crash the name of the other, notwithstanding his fine talent (….) The “case” was a fatal impediment, one of those irreversible misfortunes that change the course of a life from the very beginning, when many games are still to be played”.
The quote recalls a writing of the musicologist Quirino Principe appeared in 1990 on the pages of the “ Rivista Illustrata del Museo Teatrale alla Scala” which summed up the story of the presumed plagiarism having as protagonists two names: Vittorio Gnecchi same and Richard Strauss ; object of the contention two operas: Cassandra and Elektra.
But the story - and it is the more serious fact- seems to hide more troubled reasons that find their sad roots in real and unjustified prejudices on the figure of Gnecchi composer same.
He belonged to a very rich family, and therefore could have a private musical education by the most illustrious teachers such as Michele Saladino (teacher also of Mascagni and De Sabata) and Gaetano Coronaro, and was also fellow student of Tullio Serafin, “acquiring so unconsciously – so was writing already in 1932 Mario Nordio, another name who cared for Gnecchi destiny – since then the first demerit title in front of his future enemies , who had found nothing better to do than accusing him of being a “dilettante”.”
In any case, the performance in the family villa of Verderio of the newborn Pastorale action Virtù d’Amore, composed on the libretto of the aunt Maria Rossi Bozzotti- whose plot appears today having analogies with Strauss opera Ariadne auf Naxos, opera dated 191, was a difficult precedent...
In conclusion, on the 7th of October 1896, Gnecchi, then just nineteen years old, knew the first laurel of success, even if only in a family ambience, but with the homage of the presence of the most influent musical critics, invited for the occasion: G.B. Nappi of the Italian newspaper “Perseveranza”, G. Antona Traversi of the newspaper “Vita Italiana” as well as two London journalists of the newspapers “Musical Courier” and the “Gentlewoman”. Also the publisher Giulio Ricordi , who had just published the opera in the edition per canto and piano, attended and wrote about him on the “ Gazzetta Musicale” with deep approval: “ Vittorio Gnecchi has just entered into the world of serious musical studies, giving a magnificent proof of his ingenious; and if, now and then, we find a little exuberance in the forms and some complications in the ideas […..] this is a beautiful defect belonging to the juvenile ardour, consequence of richness and not of poverty of ideas. But the main merit of the young musician is that of being able to frankly say: Ladies and Gentlemen this is all my own work!”
In the following years the idea of a new opera was born, inspired to the immortal power of the Greek tragedy. Gnecchi wrote the subject starting from the beloved Orestea of Eschilo and entrusted the libretto with the wise Luigi Illica, who lavished advices and suggestions, thanks to his affirmed theatrical experience. In 1903 , after almost two years of work, Cassandra was born. As soon as the opera was completed Gnecchi rushed to make it listen to Giulio Ricordi, who had expressed a strong appreciation, while listening during the previous year to the initial and final scenes just composed. But this time the publisher showed far less enthusiasm: “Dear Vittorio, you understand very well that it will never be possible to stage in any big theatre this dilettante essay of yours. At the most you can stage it in your Verderio little theatre, inviting your friends ”.
Inopportune words since in 1904 Gnecchi presented the score to Toscanini, obtaining a totally different reaction, with his promise of baptising the opera, if the choice of the theatre could be left to him.
On the 5th of December 1905 Toscanini conducted the first performance of Cassandra at Bologna Municipal Theatre, with exceptional interpreters: Elisa Bruno in the role of Cassandra, Salomea Krusceninski (who the following year was going to be the second Italian Salomé in the homonymous opera written by Strauss and the first at La Scala) in the role of Clytemnestra.
And still the tenor Giuseppe Borgatti and the baritones Quercia and Federici. Although the task during the rehearsals showed a series of dramatic organization mishaps, forcing Toscanini to work with musicians not prepared and with an approximate staging, it was the determination of the author and the conductor (at this point not so more convinced) to save the fate of a concert which seemed destined to failure. The performance in fact was of a very high level and had a good success even if it was contrasted by polemics of no use.