Robert le diable (opera)
For the mediaeval legend, see Robert the Devil.
| Giacomo Meyerbeer |
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Operas
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Robert le diable (Robert the Devil) is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, often regarded as the first grand opera. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Casimir Delavigne and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique, "Meyerbeer persuaded Scribe to change (the opera)...to a five-act grand opera".[1] The dramatic music, harmony and orchestration of Robert, its melodramatic plot, and its sensational stage effects (especially the Ballet of the Nuns) made it an overnight success and instantly confirmed Meyerbeer as the leading opera composer of his age, and compelled Frédéric Chopin, who was in the audience, to say "If ever magnificence was seen in the theatre, I doubt that it reached the level of splendour shown in Robert.....It is a masterpiece...Meyerbeer has made himself immortal".[1]
The opera was the first new production by the new manager of the Opéra, Louis-Désiré Véron, and its success underwrote his policy of commissioning similar works, which were to include Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots, Fromental Halévy's La Juive, and Daniel Auber's Gustave III.
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[edit] Performance history
The opera premiered on 21 November 1831 at the Paris Opéra, and was the work that brought Meyerbeer international fame. The success owed much to the opera's star singers - Nicolas Levasseur as Bertram, Adolphe Nourrit as Robert—and to the provocative "ballet of the nuns" in the third act, featuring the great ballerina, Marie Taglioni. The set for the ballet was also an innovative and striking design by Charles Duponchel and Pierre Cicéri.[2]
The opera - under the title of The Fiend-Father in a version by Rophino Lacy - was first presented in London at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 20 February 1832 and in its original version at the Haymarket Theatre on 11 June of that year. Lacy's version was given in New York on 7 April 1834.[1]
At the invitation of Nourrit Cornélie Falcon made her debut at the age of 18 at the Opéra in the role of Alice on 20 July 1832. The cast included Nourrit. Although suffering from stage fright, Falcon managed to sing her first aria without error, and finished her role with "ease and competence." Her tragic demeanor and dark looks were highly appropriate to the part,[3] and she made a vivid impression on the public,[4] which included on that night Auber, Berlioz, Halévy, Maria Malibran, Giulia Grisi, Honoré Daumier, Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo. On hearing her in the role, Meyerbeer himself declared his opera at last 'complete'.[5]
As noted by critic Tom Kaufman,
- "By April, 1834, the opera passed the 100 performance mark, a good five months ahead of William Tell, even though the Rossini opera had had a 27 month head start. In the meantime it had been translated into both English and German (two versions of each) and had started its triumphant tour of the civilized world. In 1832 it was heard in London, Berlin, Strasbourg, Dublin and Liege. In 1833 it reached Brussels, Copenhagen, Vienna and Marseille. Lyons, New York (in English), Budapest, Le Haye, Amsterdam and St. Petersburg were some of the cities to hear it in 1834. Its first American performance in the original French took place in New Orleans on December 24, 1836. It was not translated into Italian until 1838, when it was given in Lisbon; a different Italian version was used for its Italian premiere in Florence in 1840."[6]
By the late Nineteen Century, Meyerbeer's operas gradually disappeared. There were revivals in the twentieth century, including those in "New Orleans and Nice in 1901, Paris (at the Gaite Lyrique) in 1911, Barcelona in 1917, Vienna (at the Volksoper) in 1921 and Bordeaux in 1928. Its first postwar revival took place in Florence in 1968, but in an incomplete Italian version. The 1984 revival by the Paris opera (with Rockwell Blake (Robert), Samuel Ramey (Bertram), Walter Donati (Raimbaut), Michèle Lagrange (Alice) and June Anderson (Isabelle))was the first in that city since 1911, and the first at the Opéra since 1893".[6]
A performance of a new critical edition of Robert le Diable by musicologist Dr. Wolfgang Kuhnhold was presented at the Staatsoper in Berlin in March 2000[7] with Jianyi Zhang (Robert), Stephan Rügamer (Raimbaut), Kwangchul Youn (Bertram), Marina Mescheriakova (Alice), and Nelly Miricioiu (Isabelle), conducted by Marc Minkowski.
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 21 November 1831 (Conductor: François Antoine Habeneck) |
|---|---|---|
| Robert, Duke of Normandy | tenor | Adolphe Nourrit |
| Isabelle, Princess of Sicily Palmide | soprano | Laure Cinti-Damoreau |
| Bertram, Robert's friend | bass-baritone | Nicolas Levasseur |
| Alice, Robert's half-sister | soprano | Julie Dorus-Gras |
| Raimbaut, a minstrel | tenor | Marcelin Lafont |
| Alberti, a knight | bass | Jean-Pierre Hurteau |
| Herald | tenor | Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol |
| Lady-in-waiting to Isabelle | soprano | Lavry |
| Priest | bass | |
| Prince of Granada | silent | |
| Helena, Abbess | ballerina | Marie Taglioni |
[edit] Synopsis
The opera is based loosely on the medieval legend of Robert the Devil, many versions of which allege that the Duke Robert the Magnificent of Normandy (father of William the Conqueror) was the devil.
[edit] Act 1
Robert and his mysterious friend Bertram are carousing in Palermo. The minstrel Raimbaud, not recognising Robert, sings a ballad referring to him as 'Robert the Devil'. Raimbaud begs for pardon and tells Robert that he is engaged to marry Robert's half-sister Alice. Alice enters and tells Robert she bears a message from their dying mother. Robert tells her to keep it till later and asks her to take a letter to his own fiancée, the Princess Isabelle. Bertram challenges Robert to a game of dice, at which Robert loses his entire possessions.
[edit] Act 2
The Prince of Granada challenges all comers for the hand of Isabelle, but Robert has been led astray by Bertram and does not respond.
[edit] Act 3
Bertram reveals that he has undertaken to obtain Robert for the devil by the end of the day, and this is echoed by a chorus of demons. He tells Robert that he can regain his fortunes by the aid of a magic branch, which can make him invisible. He leads Robert to the ruins of a convent, where the branch can be found. A ballet takes place of the ghosts of debauched nuns, rising from their coffins, led by their abbess.
[edit] Act 4
The invisible Robert enters Isabelle's chamber as she is preparing for her marriage with the Prince of Granada. He is intending to abduct her, but she admits that she loves him. In despair, Robert breaks the branch and the spell it has created, and is taken into custody.
[edit] Act 5
The Cathedral of Palermo. Against a background of chanting monks, Bertram reveals to Robert that he is Robert's true father and is willing to renege on his obligation to deliver him to the devil. Enter Alice, with news that the Prince refuses to marry Isabelle. She also reads her mother's message, which is to shun the man who betrayed her (Bertram). Midnight now strikes, and the time for Bertram's coup is past. Bertram falls down into hell, and Robert falls into the arms of Isabelle.
[edit] The influence of Robert le diable
The brilliant transcription of its themes made by the composer and virtuoso Franz Liszt was so popular that it became his calling card: on more than one occasion he was forced to interrupt his programmed concerts to play it because of the demands of the audience.
Frédéric Chopin, who attended the premiere, and Auguste Franchomme jointly composed a Grand Duo concertant on themes from the opera, for cello and piano, in 1832.
Italian pianist and composer Adolfo Fumagalli composed an elaborate fantasy on the opera for left hand alone as his Op. 106.
The work's popularity spawned many parodies and pastiches including one by W. S. Gilbert, Robert the Devil, which opened the Gaiety Theatre, London in 1868.
Given the year of the opera's premiere, not long after the July Revolution, it was widely and passionately interpreted by critics and literati, such as Honoré de Balzac and Heinrich Heine, as a comment on the revolutionary history of France and on its political and social present and future.
[edit] Recordings
| Year | Cast (Robert, Alice, Isabelle, Bertram, Raimbaut) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label[8] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Giorgio Merighi, Stefania Malagù, Renata Scotto, Boris Christoff, Gianfranco Manganotti |
Nino Sanzogno, Orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Recording of a performance at the Maggio Musicale, 7 May) |
Audio CD: Pantheon Music Cat: XLNC-127 |
| 1985 | Rockwell Blake Michèle Lagrange June Anderson Samuel Ramey, Walter Donati |
Thomas Fulton, Orchestra and Chorus of Paris Opera (Video recording of a performance in the Palais Garnier, June) |
DVD: Encore Cat: DVD 2006 |
| 2000 | Jianyi Zhang Marina Mescheriakova Nelly Miricioiu Kwangchui Youn, Stephan Rügamer |
Marc Minkowski, Orchestra and Chorus of Berlin State Opera (Recording of a performance in the Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin, 14 March) |
Audio CD: House of Opera Cat: CD 689 |
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ a b c Holden, p. 572
- ^ Carnegy, Patrick (2006). Wagner and the art of the theatre.
- ^ Pitou 1990, p. 449.
- ^ Fétis 1862, p. 179.
- ^ Smart 2003, pp. 113-4
- ^ a b Kaufman, "A Few Words About Robert le Diable"
- ^ Agus, Stephen A., "An account of two extraordinary performances of Robert le Diable in March, 2000" on the "Meyerbeer Fan Club website, meyerbeer.com Retrieved 10 January 2010
- ^ Recordings of Robert le diable on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
- Cited sources
- Amadeus Almanacco, accessed 29 June 2011
- Fétis F-J. (1862). Biographie universelle des musiciens (in French), second edition, volume 3. Paris: Didot. View at Google Books.
- Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-140-29312-4
- Pitou, Spire (1990). The Paris Opéra: An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers. Growth and Grandeur, 1815–1914. New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313262180.
- Smart, Mary Ann (2003). "Roles, reputations,shadows: singers at the Opéra, 1828-1849", in The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera, ed. David Charlton, Cambridge:Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780521646833, pp. 108–128.
- Online sources
[edit] External links
- Kaufman, Tom, "A Few Words About Robert le Diable" on the "Meyerbeer Fan Club" website, meyerbeer.com Retrieved 10 January 2011
