''Marie Stuart'' 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 five acts composed by

Louis Niedermeyer Abraham Louis Niedermeyer (27 April 180214 March 1861) was a Swiss and naturalized French composer. He chiefly wrote church music and a few operas. He also taught music and took over the École Choron, renamed École Niedermeyer de Paris, a scho ...

to a

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 ...

by Théodor Anne loosely based on events in the life of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

. It premiered at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 6 December 1844 with

Rosine Stoltz Rosine Stoltz (born Victoire or Victorine Noël) (13 January 1815 – 30 July 1903) was a French mezzo-soprano. A prominent member of the Paris Opéra, she created many leading roles there including Ascanio in Berlioz's '' Benvenuto Cellini'', Ma ...

in the title role.

Background and performance history

''Marie Stuart'' was Niedermeyer's fourth opera and his second foray into the

genre. Although some sources, e.g. Garo (2011), have written that the libretto is based on

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

's 1800 play, '' Mary Stuart'', this provenance does not appear in the libretto published in 1845 or the synopsis published in 1844, and the opera is quite different from the play. Schiller's play depicts only the last two days in the life of

while the opera spans the period from 1561 to 1587 with the setting moving from France to Scotland and finally to England. Niedermeyer composed the score in less than a year, and the work premiered on 6 December 1844 at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique with King Louis Philippe in attendance. The production was designed by and

Cambon Cambon () is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. See also *Communes of the Tarn department The following is a list of the 314 communes of the Tarn department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommu ...

and directed by

Jean Coralli Jean Coralli (15 January 1779 – 1 May 1854) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer, best known for collaborating with Jules Perrot in creating ''Giselle'' (1841), the quintessential Romantic ballet of the nineteenth century. Early life ...

who also choreographed the ballet ''

divertissement ''Divertissement'' (from the French 'diversion' or 'amusement') is used, in a similar sense to the Italian 'divertimento', for a light piece of music for a small group of players, however the French term has additional meanings. During the 17th and ...

'' for act 3.Anne (1845) p. 1 The ballet, starring

Adèle Dumilâtre Adèle Alphonsine Dumilâtre (30 June 1821 – 4 May 1909 in Paris) was a French dancer, famous in the days of romantic ballet. After her marriage to Francisco Drake del Castillo she became a Countess. Biography The youngest daughter of Comédi ...

, was presented as a performance attended by Mary Stuart at her palace. Like many such ballets in the golden age of grand opera, it also served a dramatic function within the opera itself. Its theme, the triumph of

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

over the fallen queen

Vashti Vashti ( he, , translit=Vaštī; ; ) was a queen of Persia and the first wife of Persian king Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther, a book included within the Tanakh and the Old Testament which is read on the Jewish holiday of Purim. She was either e ...

, echoes Mary Stuart's hopes that she would triumph over Queen Elizabeth. After the premiere, Niedermeyer was made a ''Chevalier'' (Knight) of the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, but ''Marie Stuart'' had only a modest success.Fétis (1864) p.320 It remained in the repertoire of the Paris Opera with some cuts to the score until 1846, after which it was largely forgotten. It was, however, revived in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

in 1877 (performed in German translation), and extracts from the work were performed by Zurich Opera at the 2002

Festival della Valle d'Itria The ''Festival della Valle d'Itria'' is a summer opera festival held in the south eastern Italian town of Martina Franca in the Apulia region. The Festival was founded in 1975 and performances are given in July and August each summer on a specially ...

in Italy.Garo (2011) Several pieces from the opera were published separately and were frequently performed in concerts and recitals. The most notable of these was Marie's aria in act 1 where she bids her farewell to France, "Déjà la nuit s'avance" (also known as "Les adieux de Marie Stuart").Not to be confused with

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's setting of

Pierre-Jean de Béranger Pierre-Jean de Béranger (19 August 178016 July 1857) was a prolific France, French poet and Chansonnier (singer), chansonnier (songwriter), who enjoyed great popularity and influence in France during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity in the ...

's poem "Les adieux de Marie Stuart". It was performed in recitals by both male and female singers in the 19th century and continues to be performed today. It was also published in various arrangements for solo instrument including violin, piano, and flute.

Roles

References

Notes Sources *Anne, Théodore (1845)
''Marie Stuart: opéra en 5 actes ''
(libretto). C. Tresse (Paris) * Charlton, David, editor (2003)
''The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera''
Cambridge University Press. * Fétis, François-Joseph (1864)
"Niedermeyer (Louis)"
''Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie génèrale de la musique'', Volume 6, 2nd edition. Firmin-Didot *Garo, Edouard (2011)
L'oeuvre de Louis Niedermeyer
Association Niedermeyer Nyon.

External links

* * {{authority control Operas by Louis Niedermeyer French-language operas Grand operas 1844 operas Operas Opera world premieres at the Paris Opera Cultural depictions of Mary, Queen of Scots Operas set in Scotland

Background and performance history

Roles

See also

References

Further reading

External links