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THE LEONARDO BRIDGE
A SINGSPIEL IN 3 ACTS
by DANIEL NAZARETH
500 years ago, supposedly after a meeting with Sultan Bayezid II in Istanbul, Leonardo da Vinci designed a bridge for an inlet of the Bosphorus at the Golden Horn. Whatever the reasons… its outlandishly futuristic design, the rivalry it provoked at the Court, or simple political ineptitude,… the bridge was never built. In fact, the letter Leonardo sent to the Sultan, meticulously describing how he would build his bridge, “went missing” until it was accidentally found at the Topkapi archives 1956. 2006 the Turkish Parlament finally decided it was time to build the Leonardo Bridge and construction should begin 2010.
Recounting the story of the bridge, this Singspiel is more than a mere historical record. Its sine qua non lies in a rebus of melody and rhyme from Leonardo´s notebooks. Leonardo’s melody codes his favorite Pythagoras theorem (3² + 4² = 5²), from which he derived the “Golden Measure” he used in most of his works. The descending intervals of the 3rd, 4th and 5th become the building blocks of the entire Singspiel. His text written into the notes: “Amore solla mi fa remirare, la sol mi fa sollecita” (“It’s love alone that guides me, love alone that drives me”), gives the Singspiel its central message… that of bridging civilisations and cultures.
Latest research, derived mainly from Leonardo’s fingerprints found on his paintings, hints at the probability of his semitic origin – his mother, Catarina, could have been a slave girl from Istanbul. This greatest multifacetted genius of mankind, was, in all probability, the epitome of intercultural, interracial diversity!
In the final scene of the Singspiel two groups debate the feasability of living together in peace and harmony. Their conclusion rings positive : “Let’s celebrate our diversity with one resounding harmony. We have one world to share, let’s make sure that we care. In our lives let us start, showing one another compassion and heart. May this bridge usher in a humanity, where we are all akin, where we all share and win.”
SYNOPSIS AND CAST
SYNOPSIS
Act 1
Scene 1:
1526.TOPKAPI PALACE. Sultan Suleiman bids farewell to Roxelane, his favorite consort of Ruthenian origin, and departs on a military campaign. The Harem girls start teasing and poking fun at Roxelane with a Karagoz puppet screen. The ensuing riot culminates in Roxelane bleeding from a book thrown at her by Gulbahar. Ibrahim Pasha is called in to end the tumult. Roxelane’s express desire to marry the Sultan is ridiculed.
Scene 2:
While her Nedime attends to her bleeding face, Roxelane is drawn to a particular sheet of paper among the many scattered on the floor. The Nedime recognizes the drawing on it and reminiscences to a story she heard told at the Palace:
Scene 3:
1482.THE RECEPTION HALL AT TOPKAPI PALACE. Leonardo Da Vinci and his associates Zoroastro and Atalante entertain Sultan Bayezid II and his Defterdar with riddles. One is about the prophet Mani. A musical riddle features the 47th Theorem of Pythagoras. The Sultan comes up with a riddle about the Unity Cave at Ephesus. Leonardo employs the Pythagoras Theorem again for a riddle about a bridge at the Golden Horn. He sketches it and sings about it bridging peoples and cultures.
Scene 4:
1526.TOPKAPI PALACE. Roxelane, holding Leonardo’s sketch of his bridge, expresses her wish to have it built as a symbol of her union with Sultan Suleiman. Assisted by her Nedime, she writes a letter to Suleiman.
Act 2
Scene 1:
1530. WEDDING OF SULEIMAN AND ROXELANE. Various ethnic ensembles make offerings to the royal couple and perform dances. They get embroiled in a dispute over the words “Salam, Shalom, Salema” and are admonished by Ibrahim Pasha. Suleiman sings his own love song for Roxelane. A wedding chest from King Francis I is brought in. It contains a small model of the Leonardo Bridge and a letter recounting Leonardo’s dying wish: that his bridge be built at the Golden Horn. Architect Sinan doubts the feasibility of the bridge. Pasha has a letter from Leonardo, describing his bridge, hid. Roxelane and Suleiman express the desire that the bridge be built as a symbol of their marriage.
Scene 2:
ENTR’ACT. A traditional Karagoz Puppet Theatre: Karagoz and Hacivat discuss the infeasibility of the bridge. A Roxelane Puppet bewitches a Suleiman Puppet with a magic potion. She orders that Gulbahar and her son be expelled, that Pasha be killed, and that Sinan build the bridge. A Sinan Puppet glosses over his architectural achievments. Karagoz, Hacivat, Roxelane, Suleiman and Sinan finally sing the merits of the Leonardo Bridge.
Act 3:
Scene 1
1952.THE TOPKAPI ARCHIVES. In a dusty folder an architect and archivists unexpectedly discover the long lost Leonardo letter to the Defterdar. It contains vital technical data about the bridge that now make its construction feasible.
Scene 2:
SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE. THE LEONARDO BRIDGE AT THE GOLDEN HORN. A man sits reading a newspaper with the headline “Cultures clash again”. Two groups debate this headline. Those advocating unity and interdependence prevail. The soloists join in saluting the bridge and bridging cultures in an overwhelming joyous finale.
CAST
ROXELANE ...................................…………………………………Soprano
SULTAN SULEIMAN ........................…………. …………………...Tenor
LEONARDO DA VINCI.....................…………... ……………………Baritone
IBRAHIM PASCHA, Grand Vizier……………… ...........................Bass
NEDIME, Roxelane’s nurse……………………… ………………………..Mezzosoprano
GULBAHAR/ ARCHITECT……………………………………..................Mezzosoprano
SINAN, court architect/ BAKI, poet/ ……………………..………........Baritone
SULTAN BAYEZID II/ KARAGOZ ............................................Tenor
DEFTERDAR/ HACIVAT...........................................................Bass
ZOROASTRO, Leonardo’s assistant/ ARCHIVIST 1 …….……………...Tenor
ATALANTE, Leonardo’s assistant/ ARCHIVIST 2/ KORAN TEACHER..Baritone
Carpet Weaving Girls/ Koran and Poetry Students – Blindfolded Maitre de Dance
5 Ethnic Dance Troupes – Soldiers - Pedestrians – Janissary Band – African Eunuch
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