La Esmeralda (opera)
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''La Esmeralda'' is a
grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and orchestras, and (in their original productions) lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on o ...
in four acts composed by
Louise Bertin Louise-Angélique Bertin (15 January 1805 – 26 April 1877) was a French composer and poet.Hugh Macdonald, "Bertin, Louise", in: ''Grove Music Online'Oxford Music Online(subscription required) (accessed 30 December 2010). Life and music Louise ...
. The
libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
was written by
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
, who had adapted it from his 1831 novel ''
Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
'' (''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''). The opera premiered at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 14 November 1836 with
Cornélie Falcon Cornélie Falcon (28 January 1814 – 25 February 1897) was a French soprano who sang at the Opéra in Paris. Her greatest success was creating the role of Valentine in Meyerbeer's ''Les Huguenots''. She possessed "a full, resonant voice"Warrack ...
in the title role. Despite the lavish production, the premiere was a failure, and ''La Esmeralda'' proved to be the last opera composed by Bertin, although she lived for another 40 years.


Background

Partially paralyzed from birth, and basically chair-bound,
Louise Bertin Louise-Angélique Bertin (15 January 1805 – 26 April 1877) was a French composer and poet.Hugh Macdonald, "Bertin, Louise", in: ''Grove Music Online'Oxford Music Online(subscription required) (accessed 30 December 2010). Life and music Louise ...
had been somewhat of a child prodigy. She painted, wrote poetry, and when she was only 19 composed her first opera, ''Guy Mannering'' for which she also wrote the libretto based on
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
's novel, '' Guy Mannering or The Astrologer''. Two of her later operas were produced at the
Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...
, ''Le loup-garou'' (''The Werewolf'') in 1827 and ''Fausto'' in 1831 (again with a libretto by Bertin, this time adapted from
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
's play ''
Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...
''). Although many of Victor Hugo's plays and novels were later adapted as operas (e.g. '' Hernani'', ''
Ruy Blas ''Ruy Blas'' is a tragic drama by Victor Hugo. It was the first play presented at the Théâtre de la Renaissance and opened on November 8, 1838. Though considered by many to be Hugo’s best drama, the play was initially met with only average ...
'', ''
Le roi s'amuse ''Le roi s'amuse'' (; literally, ''The King Amuses Himself'' or ''The King Has Fun'') is a French play in five acts written by Victor Hugo. First performed on 22 November 1832 but banned by the government after one evening, the play was used for G ...
'', '' Angelo, Tyrant of Padua'', ''
Marie Tudor ''Marie Tudor'' is an 1833 play by the French writer Victor Hugo. It is a historical work portraying the rise, fall and execution of Fabiano Fabiani, a fictional favourite of Mary I of England (1516–1558). Mary has Fabiani thrown in the Tower of ...
'', and ''
Lucrèce Borgia ''Lucrèce Borgia'' (also known as ''Lucretia Borgia'' or ''Sins of the Borgias'') is a 1953 French drama film starring Martine Carol and Pedro Armendáriz. The film was directed by Christian-Jaque, who co-wrote screenplay with Cécil Saint-Laur ...
''), ''La Esmeralda'' was the first and only libretto which he wrote himself in direct collaboration with the composer. Shortly after he completed ''
Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
'' in 1830, Hugo began sketching out an operatic adaptation. The success of the novel had brought him many offers from composers anxious to turn it into an opera, including
Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...
and Berlioz.Hugo (1964), II 1901 He had declined those proposals, but according to Hugo's wife, he changed his mind out of friendship for the Bertin family.Halsall (1998) p. 171 In September 1832, while Hugo was staying with the Bertins, Louise, supported by her father
Louis-François Bertin Louis-François Bertin, also known as Bertin l'Aîné (''Bertin the Elder''; 14 December 176613 September 1841), was a French journalist. He had a younger brother, Louis-François Bertin de Vaux; two sons, Edouard François and Louis-Marie F ...
, asked him for permission to create an opera from the work. He immediately commenced work on a libretto, completing it on his return to Paris (despite the frenzy of rehearsals for his play ''
Le Roi s'amuse ''Le roi s'amuse'' (; literally, ''The King Amuses Himself'' or ''The King Has Fun'') is a French play in five acts written by Victor Hugo. First performed on 22 November 1832 but banned by the government after one evening, the play was used for G ...
''), and sending Louise the first draft manuscript on 30 October 1832. The process of preparing the final libretto was slow, and rehearsals for the opera did not begin until over three years after Hugo wrote the first lines. Bertin's requests for lines of various lengths to fit the music partly contributed to this as well as the task of condensing a long novel into a four-hour opera. Many of the characters were eliminated including Jehan Frollo, the dissolute younger brother of the chief antagonist
Claude Frollo ''Monseigneur'' Claude Frollo () is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1831 novel ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (known in French as ''Notre-Dame de Paris''). He is the Archdeacon of Notre Dame, as well as an Alchemi ...
, although some aspects of his character were incorporated into Claude's. The main protagonist of the novel,
Quasimodo Quasimodo (from Quasimodo Sunday) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the novel ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (1831) by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster, but h ...
, has a much reduced role in the opera, which concentrates more on the love story between Esmeralda and
Phoebus Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
. At Bertin's request, the ending of the novel was also changed with Esmeralda escaping execution. In 1834, ''Notre-Dame de Paris'' had been placed on the ''
Index Librorum Prohibitorum The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidden ...
'', the list of works condemned by the Catholic Church. The opera libretto was submitted to the censors in January 1836 who required the title to be changed to ''La Esmeralda'' and all references to Claude Frollo as a priest to be removed. (The printed libretto which was sold prior to the premiere did have the change of title but retained the use of "priest" regardless, and some of the singers at the premiere sang the original lines, claiming they had forgotten which words were censored.) No expense was spared for the production. The four principal roles were assigned to the reigning stars of the
Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...
:
Cornélie Falcon Cornélie Falcon (28 January 1814 – 25 February 1897) was a French soprano who sang at the Opéra in Paris. Her greatest success was creating the role of Valentine in Meyerbeer's ''Les Huguenots''. She possessed "a full, resonant voice"Warrack ...
,
Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit (3 March 1802 – 8 March 1839) was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini and Giacomo ...
,
Nicolas Levasseur Nicolas Levasseur (9 March 1791 – 7 December 1871) was a French bass, particularly associated with Rossini roles. Born Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur at Bresles, Oise, he studied at the Paris Music Conservatory from 1807 to 1811, with Pierre-Je ...
and Jean-Étienne Massol. The well-known interior and theatrical designers Humanité-René Philastre and
Charles-Antoine Cambon Charles-Antoine Cambon (21 April 1802 – 22 October 1875) was a French scenographer, theatrical production designer, who acquired international renown in the Romantic Era. Career Little biographical information exists on Cambon's early year ...
designed the sets and costumes. Bertin's limited mobility made it difficult for her to participate in the rehearsals, and her father commissioned Berlioz to conduct the rehearsals and direct the singers. Berlioz found the experience dispiriting. The singers and orchestra were unenthusiastic, and showed it during the rehearsals. There were also backstage rumblings that the opera was only being produced because of the Bertin family's influence and a persistent rumor that Berlioz had written the best arias in the piece, a back-handed compliment which he firmly denied. He wrote to
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
, "What an inferno that whole world is, an ice-cold inferno!" Hugo was travelling in Brittany and absent for almost all the rehearsals. According to Adèle Hugo, on his return he was not pleased with the set and costume designs, finding, in his opinion, "nothing rich nor picturesque." In particular, he found the use of obviously new cloth to clothe the beggars and vagabonds inappropriate and blurred the distinction between the social classes.


Performance history

''La Esmeralda'' premiered on 14 November 1836 at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris. There was some disruption at the premiere, as members of the audience who disliked the Bertin family shouted out that the work had been written by Berlioz. Berlioz himself denied this accusation, and labelled Bertin a "writer and a musician of considerable distinction and one of the most intelligent women of our time". There were also accusations that it had only been performed because of her brother's connection to the administration of the Paris Opera and the family's directorship of the influential newspaper, ''
Journal des débats The ''Journal des débats'' ( French for: Journal of Debates) was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times. Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, it was, after the ou ...
'' (to which both Victor Hugo and Berlioz were contributors) led to open disdain by those who opposed the newspaper's political stance. There were hisses and groans, and after the one aria, Quasimodo's "Air des Cloches" ("Song of the Bells") in act 4, several members of the audience, including
Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
, shouted "It's by Berlioz!". The opera was withdrawn after six performances. For the last of these, 16 December 1836, it had been shortened to three acts and was followed by the ballet '' La Fille du Danube'' starring
Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in th ...
. It was at the final performance, that a near-riot ensued. The anti-Bertin faction began shouting "Down with Bertin!" "Down with the ''Journal des débats''!" "Bring down the curtain!" They kept it up until Cornélie Falcon fled the stage and the curtain was lowered. It was not raised again until the ballet began. Louise Bertin would never compose another opera, although she lived for another 40 years. In her memoirs, Adèle Hugo wrote of the opera's final word, "Fatalité!":
A first fatality was this suppression of a work the singers of which were M. Nourrit and Mademoiselle Falcon, the composer a woman of great talent, the librettist M. Victor Hugo, and the subject ''Notre Dame de Paris''. The fatality followed the actors. Mademoiselle Falcon lost her voice; M. Nourrit soon after committed suicide in Italy. A ship called ''Esmeralda'', crossing from England to Ireland, was lost, vessel and cargo. The Duke of Orleans named a mare of great value Esmeralda and in a steeple-chase she ran against a horse at a gallop and got her head broken.Hugo (1863) p. 170
The full orchestral score was never published. However, the
autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...
manuscript is held in the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
and a copy in the library of the Paris Opera. Franz Liszt's version of the score reduced for piano and voice was published by Troupenas in 1837 and republished in 2009 by Lucie Gallande. The first act, revised to include the principal arias from the rest of the opera, continued to be performed sporadically between 1837 and 1839 as a
curtain-raiser A curtain raiser is a short performance, stage act, show, actor or performer that opens a show for the main attraction. The term is derived from the act of raising the stage curtain. The first person on stage has "raised the curtain". The fashio ...
for ballet productions, and excerpts from the work were played in a concert in 1865. After that it sank into obscurity. However, ''La Esmeralda'' was revived in February 2002 when it was staged to piano accompaniment (using the Bertin/Liszt score) at the Théâtre-Opéra in
Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...
to mark the 200th anniversary of Hugo's birth. A concert performance using the full orchestral score was given on 23 July 2008 at the Opéra Berlioz in Montpellier as part of the
Festival de Radio France et Montpellier The Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier, formerly the Festival de Radio France et de Montpellier, is a summer festival of opera and music held in Montpellier, France created in 1985. The music festival concentrates on classical music and j ...
and later released on CD.


Roles


Synopsis

Setting: Paris, 1482


Act 1

''The
Cour des miracles ''Cour des miracles'' ("court of miracles") was a French term which referred to slum districts of Paris, France where the unemployed migrants from rural areas resided. They held "the usual refuge of all those wretches who came to conceal in this ...
at night'' The beggars and thieves of Paris, led by Clopin, are celebrating carnival season with rowdy songs. Esmeralda entertains them with a gypsy dance. Frollo, the corrupt archdeacon of
Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
watches the scene from his hiding place and is consumed with desire for her. Before she finishes her dance, Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer at the cathedral is led in to be crowned "The Fools' Pope" When Frollo angrily remonstrates with him, the crowd turns on Frollo who is rescued by Clopin. With Quasimodo's help, Frollo then attempts to kidnap Esmeralda, but she is rescued by the arrival of Phoebus and his archers. Esmeralda and Phoebus are taken with one another and as a parting gift, he gives her a scarf.


Act 2

''Scene 1: The
Place de Grève Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...
'' The crowd taunts Quasimodo who has been placed in the
stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...
for his role in the attempted kidnap of Esmeralda. However, she takes pity on him and offers him a drink of water. ''Scene 2: A magnificent room in the house of Fleur de Lys de Gondelaurier'' A reception is about to begin. Phoebus, who is engaged to Fleur de Lys, reflects on his love for Esmeralda. The guests arrive but are soon drawn to the window to watch Esmeralda who is dancing in the street below. During the course of her dance she waves the scarf which Phoebus had given her. Fleur de Lys is horrified. The scarf had been her present to Phoebus. At this sign of his infidelity, Fleur de Lys and her wealthy guests turn on Phoebus.


Act 3

''Scene 1: Outside a tavern'' Phoebus and his men are carousing outside the tavern. He sings to them of his new love, Esmeralda, who is to meet him for a tryst at the tavern later that night. Frollo appears and attempting to prevent the tryst warns Phoebus that Esmeralda is a sorceress. Frollo is hiding in a niche where he can spy on the lovers. In a fit of jealousy, he rushes out and attacks Phoebus with his sword badly wounding him.


Act 4

''Scene 1: A prison'' At the behest of Frollo, Esmeralda has been imprisoned and sentenced to death for the murder of Phoebus, although unbeknownst to her he is still alive. Frollo offers to have her freed if she becomes his lover. Esmeralda angrily refuses. ''Scene 2: A square outside Notre Dame Cathedral'' As Quasimodo rings the cathedral bells, Esmeralda prepares herself for the execution. Frollo is now planning to abduct her again, this time with Clopin's help. As the crowd pours into the square to witness the execution, Quasimodo grabs Esmeralda and takes her into the cathedral where she will have sanctuary from the executioner. Attempts are made to remove her, but suddenly the wounded Phoebus arrives. His testimony exonerates her, but he dies in her arms. She throws herself on his body, vowing to follow him. Frollo cries out "Fatalité!", echoed by the chorus of onlookers.


Recording

*Louise Bertin: ''La Esmeralda'' – Maya Boog (Esmeralda), Manuel Nuñez Camelino (Phoebus), Francesco Ellero d'Artegna (Frollo), Frédéric Antoun (Quasimodo); Orchestre national de Montpellier and the Chœur de la Radio Lettone,
Lawrence Foster Lawrence Foster (born October 23, 1941) is an American conductor of Romanian ancestry. He is currently the artistic director and chief conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the music director of the Marseille Opera and the ...
(conductor). Live recording of the performance on 23 July 2008 at the Opéra Berlioz, Montpellier. Label: Accord 4802341Crory (September 2009)


Notes and references


Sources

*Bennett, Douglas M. (February 2002)
"Louise-Angélique Bertin, Dilettante or Icon?"
''Donizetti Society Newsletter'', No. 85 *Bennett, Douglas M. (June 2002)

''Donizetti Society Newsletter'', No. 86 *Berlioz, Hector (20 November 1836)
Review of ''La Esméralda''
(in French). ''
Revue et gazette musicale de Paris The ' was a weekly musical review founded in 1827 by the Belgian musicologist, teacher and composer François-Joseph Fétis, then working as professor of counterpoint and fugue at the Conservatoire de Paris. It was the first French-language ...
'', vol. 3, no. 47, pp. 409–411 *Berlioz, Hector and Newman, Ernest (1932/1966)
''Memoirs of Hector Berlioz: from 1803 to 1865''
Edited, annotated and English translation revised by Ernest Newman. Originally published by Alfred Knopf 1932, published in facsimile by Courier Dover Publications, 1966. *Bertin, Louise and Hugo, Victor (1836)
''La Esmeralda: Opéra en quatre actes''
(libretto). Maurice Schlesinger. * Cairns, David (2003)
''Berlioz'', Volume Two: ''Servitude and Greatness, 1832–1869'
University of California Press. *Crory, Neil (September 2009)

''Opera Canada'' * Gerhard, Anselm (2000)
''The Urbanization of Opera: Music Theater in Paris in the Nineteenth Century''
University of Chicago Press. *Halsall, Albert W. (1998)
''Victor Hugo and the Romantic Drama''
University of Toronto Press. *Hibberd, Sarah (2009
"Monsters and the Mob: Depictions of the Grotesque on the Parisian Stage 1826–1836"
in Rachael Langford (ed.), ''Textual Intersections: Literature, History and the Arts in Nineteenth-century Europe'', pp. 20–40. Rodopi. *Hugo, Adèle (1863)
''Victor Hugo''
(in English translation by
Charles Edwin Wilbour Charles Edwin Wilbour (March 17, 1833 – December 17, 1896) was an American journalist and Egyptologist. Wilbour is noted as one of the discoverers of the Elephantine Papyri and the creator of the first English translation of ''Les Misérables' ...
). Carleton *Hugo, Victor, ed. J.-J. Thierry and Josette Mélèze (1964). ''Théatre complet'', Paris: Editions Gallmard (2 vols). *
Kutsch, K. J. Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and co-author with Leo Riemens of the ''Großes Sängerlexikon'', the standard reference for opera singers. Life and work Born in Gangelt, Kutsch studied me ...
;
Riemens, Leo Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...
(2003). ''
Großes Sängerlexikon ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The first ...
'' (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. .


External links

*
Autograph score of ''La Esmeralda'': act 3
at the
Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esmeralda, La Operas by Louise Bertin French-language operas Operas set in France Operas based on novels Grand operas 1836 operas Operas Opera world premieres at the Paris Opera Operas based on works by Victor Hugo Works based on The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Plays by Victor Hugo