Déjanire

''Déjanire'' is the title of two related French works by Camille Saint-Saëns: ''Musique de scène pour ‘Déjanire’ de Gallet'' (1898) and the four-act opera, or ''drame lyrique'', ''Déjanire'' (1910, premiered 1911) for which Saint-Saëns himself fashioned the dramatic scheme and libretto using Gallet's tragedy as a basis. The vocal writing in the ''musique de scène'' is exclusively choral in the manner of Ancient Greek narration and commentary, while in the ''drame lyrique'' it focuses on solo parts as in most operas. The ''musique de scène'' was written to inaugurate an arena in Béziers; the ''drame lyrique'', last of Saint-Saëns' twelve operas, was written for Monaco. The latter's libretto has, besides Gallet, Sophocles' Trachiniae as a source, a main character being Hercule, in the path of Händel; Hercules had already been the subject of two Saint-Saëns tone poems: ''Le rouet d'Omphale'' (1869) and ''La jeunesse d'Hercule'' (1877).

Composition history

''Déjanire'' began its life in 1898 as a play with accompanying symphonic music, choruses and a ballet. Hugh Macdonald: "Déjanire ", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2 March 2009)
(subscription access)
Fernand Castelbon de Beauxhostes, one of the owners of a newly constructed arena in Béziers (used primarily for staging bullfights), wanted to make Béziers a centre for the performance of open-air opera as well. He persuaded Saint-Saëns to write the score for a performance of Louis Gallet's epic verse-drama ''Déjanire'' to inaugurate the project.

At first Saint-Saëns was reluctant to have his music performed in what he called an "abominable temple of blood". However, Castelbon managed to convince him by inviting him to visit the arena where his arrival was greeted by hidden musicians playing in his honour. In August 1898 ''Déjanire'' opened in Béziers with two performances before 12,000 spectators each time. The reception was ecstatic with Saint-Saëns conducting a huge musical ensemble consisting of a choir of hundreds, massed military bands and an orchestra that included 18 harps and an array of 25 trumpets. Although fatally ill and suffering from deafness, Louis Gallet managed to attend the second performance. In his memoirs Saint-Saëns recalled:

In spite of everything, including his ill health which made the trip very painful, he wanted to see his work once more. He heard nothing, however – neither the artists, the choruses, nor even the applause of the several thousand spectators who encored it enthusiastically. A little later he passed on, leaving in his friends' hearts and at the work-tables of his collaborators a void which it is impossible to fill.

Twelve years later, Saint-Saëns transformed Gallet's play into a fully-fledged opera to fulfill a commission from the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Gabriel Fauré was in the audience for its world premiere on 14 March 1911, conducted by Léon Jehin and directed by Raoul Gunsbourg.

Performance history

The first performance was given on 28 August 1898 in the arena at Béziers, with Saint-Saëns conducting, in front of an audience of 8000. The following year it was performed again, this time with Gabriel Fauré conducting and Saint-Saëns in the audience. Following the Monte Carlo premiere, the work was performed at the Paris Opera on 22 November 1911. (The Paris premiere caused a minor scandal when Mlle. Delsaux danced the ballet segment with bare legs and clad only in "flimsy draperies" instead of the traditional bell-shaped skirt.)

The first performance of ''Déjanire'' in the United States came on 9 December 1915 when it was presented by the Chicago Opera Association with Carmen Melis and Lucien Muratore in the leading roles. Although very rarely performed today, ''Déjanire'' was revived at the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier in a 1985 performance conducted by Serge Baudo.

Synopsis

:Place: Trachis
:Time: Ancient Greece

Hercule has killed King Eurytus, and sacked the city of Oechalia with the intention of taking the king's beautiful daughter, Iole as his bride. The task of informing Iole of the impending marriage falls to Philoctète, who is actually her lover. Iole confesses her love for Philoctète to Hercule and must now marry him to save Philoctète's life. Meanwhile, Phénice tries to convince Hercule's wife, Déjanire, to leave him forever. Instead, the desperate Déjanire tries in vain to win back her husband. When this fails, she decides to help Iole by giving her a tunic impregnated with the blood of Nessus. Before he died, Nessus had told Déjanire that his blood had magic powers to make the unfaithful return. What Déjanire does not know is that the blood is actually tainted with a terrible poison. Iole gives the tunic to Hercule on their wedding day. When he puts on the fatal gift, he is overcome by an excruciating burning pain. In agony he throws himself into the flames of the wedding pyre and dying ascends to Mount Olympus.This synopsis is based on Gelli (2007)

Recordings

*The tenor aria, "Viens, O toi dont le clair visage", from ''Déjanire'' can be heard on ''Antonio Paoli – Il Mito Dell'opera'' (Bongiovanni #1117).
*Concert performance and world premiere recording in December 2020 at the Prinzregententheater, Munich by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester in collaboration with the Palazzetto Bru Zane was cancelled due to the corona pandemic.

References

Notes

Sources
*
*Festival de Radio France et Montpellier
Camille Saint-Saëns: ''Déjanire'', 9 July 1985
Accessed 24 February 2009.
*Fournier, Michel. Béziers, Bayreuth français In: La révolte du Midi viticole cent ans après, 1907-2007 nline Perpignan: Presses universitaires de Perpignan, 2008 (generated 21 août 2021). Available on the Internet: http://books.openedition.org/pupvd/23927, .
*Gelli, Piero (ed.)
"Déjanire"
in ''Dizionario dell'Opera'', Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, . Accessed online 27 February 2009.
*Hero, Florian
"Saint-Saëns en plein vent"
Maison de la Radio, 9 June 2021.
* Lahee, Henry Charles
''Annals of Music in America''
Marshall Jones Co., 1922. Accessed 24 February 2009.
* Macdonald, Hugh, "Déjanire", ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 24 February 2009)
(subscription access)
.
*Molénat, Jacques

''L'Express'', 10 August 2000. Accessed 24 February 2009.
*''The New York Times''
Dances Shocked Paris; Flimsy Draperies Now Barred
17 December 1911. Accessed 24 February 2009.
*Rees, Brian

''The Independent'', 22 February 1999. Accessed 24 February 2009.
*Saint-Saëns, Camille
''Musical Memories''
(in English translation by Edwin Gile Rich), Small, Maynard & Co., 1919. Accessed 24 February 2009.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dejanire
Operas
Operas by Camille Saint-Saëns
French-language operas
1911 operas
Opera world premieres at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Operas based on classical mythology
Operas based on works by Sophocles
Libretti by Louis Gallet