A Florentine Tragedy

Alexander Zemlinsky.

• Opera in one act. 1916.
• Libretto by the composer, after the work of the same name by Oscar Wilde, translated by M. Meyerfeld.
• First performance at the Hoftheater, Stuttgart, on 30th January 1917.

The Florentine merchant Simone is suspicious of the young Prince Guido, who he suspects has cuckolded him. He offers Guido all he has in his house, after selling him a formal robe, and Guido demands Simone's wife, Bianca. Her husband sets her spinning and when he has left the room she expresses her hatred of him, wishing him dead, sentiments that he overhears, returning to speak of death and adultery. Simone again leaves Guido and Bianca together and they express their love for each other. As Guido is about to leave, Simone gives him his sword and seizing his own, fights against the thief who has stolen from him, eventually overpowering and strangling Guido. Bianca, now understanding the strength of her husband, is reconciled to him.

Teacher and perhaps once the lover of Alma Mahler, teacher also of Schoenberg, his friend and later his brother-in-law, Zemlinsky was an important figure in the musical world of Vienna, particularly in the earlier years of the 20th century. Symphonic in structure, Eine florentinische Tragödie (A Florentine Tragedy) starts with an orchestral overture and makes use of Wagnerian leit-motif techniques.

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