L'éclair
| Fromental Halévy |
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Operas
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L'éclair (The Lightning Flash) is an opéra comique by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.
L'éclair was premiered by the Paris Opéra-Comique at the Salle de la Bourse on 16 December 1835; Jacques Offenbach was a cellist in the orchestra. The opera was well received which placed Halévy in the unusual position of having two simultaneous successes on the Paris stage (the other being his grand opera masterpiece, La juive).
The opera remained popular in the 19th century (Emma Calvé sang in it in 1885) and has been revived in modern times. Some of its arias (including the tenor aria 'Quand de la nuit') have been recorded.
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[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 16 December 1835[1] (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| George | tenor | Joseph Antoine Charles Couderc |
| Henriette | soprano | Amélie Miro-Camoin |
| Lyonel | tenor | Jean-Baptiste Chollet |
| Madame Darbel | soprano | Félicité Pradher, née More |
[edit] Synopsis
The opera is set in contemporary Boston, and recounts the amours of the Englishman George and the American Lyonel for two sisters, Henriette and the widow Mme. Darbel. These are complicated by the temporary blindness suffered by Lyonel when he is struck by lightning in a thunderstorm.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Cast from Wolff 1953, p. 227; full names and spelling from Jowers and Cavanagh 2000, pp. 471–473, 493.
[edit] Sources
- Jordan, Ruth (1996). Fromental Halévy: His Life and Music, 1799–1862, pp. 76–78. London: Kahn & Averill. ISBN 9781871082517.
- Jowers, Sidney Jackson; Cavanagh, John (2000). Theatrical Costume, Masks, Make-up and Wigs: A Bibliography and Iconography. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415247740.
- Wolff, Stéphane (1953). Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900-1950). Paris: André Bonne. OCLC 44733987, 2174128 and 78755097
[edit] External links
- Libretto of L'éclair at the Wayback Machine (archived September 26, 2007)
