''Esclarmonde'' () is an

opéra This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

(french: opéra romanesque) in four acts and eight

tableaux The International Conference on Automated Reasoning with Analytic Tableaux and Related Methods (TABLEAUX) is an annual international academic conference that deals with all aspects of automated reasoning with analytic tableaux. Periodically, it jo ...

, with prologue and epilogue, by

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

, to a French

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 ...

Alfred Blau Alfred Blau (died 23 February 1896) was a French dramatist and opera libretto, librettist. He was a cousin of Édouard Blau, another French librettist of the same period. In late 1887 he was in negotiations with Emmanuel Chabrier for a libretto on ...

and Louis Ferdinand de Gramont. It was first performed at the Exposition Universelle on 15 May 1889 by 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 ...

at the

Théâtre Lyrique The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien). The company was founded in 1847 as the Opér ...

on the Place du Châtelet in Paris. ''Esclarmonde'' is perhaps Massenet's most ambitious work for the stage and is his most ''

Wagnerian 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 ...

'' in style and scope. In orchestral coloring and structure of melody, however, it follows French traditions. The opera has been revived sporadically in the modern era, most notably during the 1970s with Joan Sutherland, conducted by Massenet champion Richard Bonynge. The role of Esclarmonde is notoriously difficult to sing, with stratospheric coloratura passages that are possible for only the most gifted of performers.

Background

The story of the opera is based on the medieval chivalric tale '' Parthénopéus de Blois'', which was written in the middle of the 12th century by Denis Pyramus. In the original tale, however, the protagonist sorceress is called "Melior"; Esclarmonde's name was borrowed from another ''chanson de geste'' of the 13th century: ''

Huon de Bordeaux Huon of Bordeaux is the title character of a 13th-century French epic poem with romance elements. ''Huon of Bordeaux'' The poem tells of Huon, a knight who unwittingly kills Charlot, the son of Emperor Charlemagne. He is given a reprieve from de ...

''. Although the Esclarmonde who appears in ''Huon'' is completely different from her operatic counterpart, ''Huon'' clearly served as the basis of at least part of the opera's libretto. Alfred Blau discovered ''Parthénopéus'' in 1871 in the library of

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

, where he took refuge during the time of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

. The libretto was originally called ''Pertinax''; it was first drafted in prose and later versified by Blau's collaborator, Louis de Gramont. In that form – a romantic melodrama in five acts – it was offered in 1882 to the Belgian composer

François-Auguste Gevaert François-Auguste Gevaert (31 July 1828 in Huysse, near Oudenaarde – 24 December 1908 in Brussels) was a Belgian musicologist and composer.N. Slonimsky, Ed., ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th ed., Schirmer Books, NY Li ...

, who, however, declined to set it. Soon the libretto found its way into Massenet's hands, though the precise circumstances in which this occurred remain a mystery. On 1 August 1886, Massenet and his publisher

Georges Hartmann Romain-Jean-François "Georges" Hartmann (15 May 1843 – 22 April 1900) was a French music publisher, dramatist and opera librettist (publishing under the pen name Henri Grémont). Born in Paris, he was the son of Jean Hartmann (1804–1880), a G ...

attended a performance of ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival'' ...

'' at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

, an event which deeply impressed the composer and had a significant influence on his music. He had already seen the entire ''

Ring cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

'' when it was produced in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1883. In his ''Memoirs'', which were compiled in 1911 near the end of his life, Massenet ascribes the creation of the role of ''Esclarmonde'' to a chance meeting with

Sibyl Sanderson Sibyl Sanderson (December 7, 1864May 16, 1903) was a famous American operatic dramatic coloratura soprano during the Parisian Belle Époque. Biography She was born in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Sibyl's father Silas Sanders ...

sometime in the spring of 1887. He recounts how he was astonished by the range and capacity of her voice, realizing at once that she was the perfect choice for the heroine of his new opera, which he had begun to compose at the end of 1886. It is almost certain, however, that he had received the libretto to ''Esclarmonde'' much earlier than that, and the meeting with Sybil Sanderson served rather as an additional catalyst – a stimulus to complete the opera. The work was commissioned as a spectacular event to open the Paris Exposition of 1889. During the most intensive period of creation in the summer of 1887, Massenet moved into the Grand Hotel in

Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...

, where Miss Sanderson was also staying; there he rehearsed with her each evening the various sections of his new opera as he composed them. The opera was completed by the end of 1888, and stage rehearsals started at Opéra-Comique. Massenet dedicated the work to Sybil Sanderson in gratitude, allowing her signature to stand alongside his own in the manuscript of the score.

Rodney Milnes Rodney Milnes Blumer OBE (26 July 1936 – 5 December 2015) was an English music critic, musicologist, writer, translator and broadcaster, with a particular interest in opera.Rodney Milnes. ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera''. Macmillan ...

suggests that Massenet's "passion for his leading lady resulted in some of his most chromatically tortuous erotic writing" while observing that the operatic events are "dispatched in just over two hours of music".Milnes, Rodney. Esclarmonde. In : ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', ed. Sadie, Stanley. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997. Crichton notes also the skill of Massenet in writing for male voices - both the tenors Roland and Énéas, but also for the Bishop, the Emperor Phorcas and the King. He also points to the scoring of low instruments, where the bass clarinet and tuba show "an individual application of lessons well learned from the later parts of The Ring, used with a discretion unlikely to upset the general public of the day". Seven black and white projections for the scenes of sorcery, using the magic lantern technology, were created by

Eugène Grasset Eugène Samuel Grasset (25 May 1845 – 23 October 1917) was a Swiss decorative artist who worked in Paris, France in a variety of creative design fields during the Belle Époque. He is considered a pioneer in Art Nouveau design. Biography G ...

, who also illustrated the original vocal score. After a very successful initial run, however, the opera disappeared from the repertoire and fell into almost complete oblivion. Soon afterwards Sybil Sanderson fell ill. When she died around the start of the 20th century, it seems that Massenet himself lost interest in the opera he had written for her and he discouraged any further productions. The work was not revived until 1923, well after the composer's death. Some short-lived revivals then followed, either staged or in concert performance. It was only in the 1970s that the efforts of Richard Bonynge and Joan Sutherland brought ''Esclarmonde'' back to life. Since then the work has been performed more frequently.

Performance history

Listing below are partially based on (extracted from) * 17 December 1888 – the first (stage) rehearsal of ''Esclarmonde'' by the ''Opéra-Comique'' company (at the Salle du Châtelet, Ancien Théâtre-Lyrique des Nations de la Comédie-Italienne) in Paris. * 13 May 1889 – the final (dress) rehearsal of ''Esclarmonde''. * 15 May 1889 – the world premiere (9th day after inauguration of ''l'

Exposition Universelle (1889) The Exposition Universelle of 1889 () was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 5 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fourth of eight expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more than thirty-two million visitors. The ...

'') under the direction of Charles-Auguste–Marie Ponchard, choreography by Louise Marquet, scenography and design by Antoine Lavastre, Eugène-Louis Carpezat, Amable Petit and Eugène-Benoît Gardy.

performed the title role in her professional debut. The original costumes were by Charles Bianchini, the sets by Antoine Lavastre and

Eugène Carpezat Eugène Louis Carpezat (Paris, 4 November 1833 – Paris, 26 February 1912) was an acclaimed French scenographer in the Belle Époque. Career Carpezat was the son of lemonade makers Claude François Carpezat and Jacqueline Caniou. After conside ...

, and Amable and Eugène Gardy. * 10 September 1889 – 50th performance of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Opéra-Comique (the cast the same as the premiere). * 27 November 1889 – premiere of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in

– conductor Joseph Dupont, Marguerite Zinah "Emma De Nuovina" (Esclarmonde), Émilie Durand-Ulbach (Parséis),

Guillaume Ibos Guillaume Ibos (10 July 1860 – 22 September 1952) was a French opera singer. Career Born in Muret (Haute-Garonne), Ibos continued his musical studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he won first prize. He was immediately hired at t ...

(Roland), Paul Isouard (Énéas), Max Bouvet (Bishop of Blois), Mr. Challet (Cléomer), Mr. Sentein (Phorcas). 20 more performances followed. * 10 January 1890 – premiere of ''Ex-Clarmonde'' at the Théâtre de l'Alcazar in Brussels. This ''folie-parodie'' by Luc Malpertuis and George Garnir had musical arrangements and new ballet music by Georges Nazy. It was the first production to feature stage sets by the prolific Albert Dubosq. * 6 February 1890 – 100th performance of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Opéra-Comique (the cast as at the premiere). Before end of that season number of performances reached 110 (on average almost three per week), Sybil Sanderson singing in all of them. Within the next few years performances in France took place in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

(with Mme. Georgette Bréjean-Silver aka Bréjean-Graviére), and

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

(with

Alice Verlet Alice Verlet (1873–1934) was a Belgian-born operatic coloratura soprano active primarily in France. She sang principal roles at the operas in Lyon, Nice, and Monte Carlo; at His Majesty's Theater in London; at La Monnaie in Brussels; and at t ...

, and Mlle. Marie Vuillaume). * 16 January 1892 – premiere of ''Esclarmonde'' in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(at the Hermitage Theater at the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...

), the main cast (including Sybil Sanderson) exactly as from the Paris premiere, sung in the original French. The next few years, however, in Saint Petersburg, ''Esclarmonde'' was presented also at

Mariinsky Theater The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

, sang in Russian, where notable stars were Eduard Krushevsky (who debuted at conducting with great success that opera without prior preparation), and tenors Ivan Yershov and Mikhail Mikhaylov who shared the role of Roland). * 10 February 1893 – The U.S. premiere at the

French Opera House The French Opera House, or ''Théâtre de l'Opéra'', was an opera house in New Orleans. It was one of the city's landmarks from its opening in 1859 until it was destroyed by fire in 1919. It stood in the French Quarter at the uptown lake corner o ...

, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. Sybil Sanderson sang the title role there also. * 13 December 1893 – premiere of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen, France. Mme. Priollaud sang the title role. * 30 January 1897 – premiere of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Grand Théâtre de

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland. * 24 December 1923 – premiere of ''Esclarmonde'' at the

Théâtre de l'Opéra 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 k ...

( Palais Garnier) in Paris.

Philippe Gaubert Philippe Gaubert (5 July 1879 – 8 July 1941) was a French musician who was a distinguished performer on the flute, a respected conductor, and a composer, primarily for the flute. Biography Gaubert – commonly referred to as Gauberto – ...

(conductor); Pierre Chéreau (direction); C. Brooke (choreography); Paul Paquereau, Simas and Alexandre Bailly (scenography and design);

Fanny Heldy Fanny Heldy (29 February 1888 – 13 December 1973) was a Belgian lyric soprano opera singer. Life Born Marguerite Virginie Emma Clémentine Deceuninck in Ath (some sources say Liège), Hainaut Province, Belgium, she graduated from the Royal Con ...

(Esclarmonde), Yvonne Courso (Parséis), Paul Franz (Roland), Gaston Dubois (Énéas), Jean-François Delmas (Phorcas), Édouard Roux (Bishop of Blois), Albert Huberty (Cléomer). * 6 February 1924 – premiere of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Théâtre Municipal in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, France. * 11 November 1931 – revival of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Théâtre de l'Opéra (Palais Garnier) in Paris.

François Ruhlmann François Ruhlmann (11 January 1868 – 8 June 1948) was a Belgian conductor. Life and career Born in Brussels, Ruhlmann was a pupil of Joseph Dupont in his native city. As a child he sang in the chorus at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, a ...

(conductor), Pierre Chéreau (direction), Albert Aveline (choreography), Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi (Esclarmonde), Jeanne Manceau (Parséis),

Georges Thill Georges Thill (14 December 1897 – 17 October 1984) was a French opera singer, often considered to be his country's greatest lyric-dramatic tenor. Born in Paris, his career lasted from 1924 to 1953, peaking during the 1930s. Career A pupil of ...

(Roland), Henri Le Clezio (Énéas), John Brownlee (Bishop of Blois), Albert Huberty (Phorcas), Grommen (Cléomer). * 2 June 1934 – 27th performance of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Palais Garnier in Paris. Ruhlmann (conducting), Chéreau (direction), Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi (Esclarmonde), Odette Ricquier (Parséis), Georges Thill (Roland), Henri Le Clezio (Énéas),

Martial Singher Martial Singher (August 14, 1904 – March 9, 1990) was a French baritone opera singer born in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Initially singing only as a hobby, he was encouraged by then French education minister Édouard Herriot ...

(Bishop of Blois), Albert Huberty (Phorcas), Armand-Émile Narçon (Cléomer). * 4 June 1942 – partial revival of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Théâtre de l'Opéra during a "Massenet Gala", when after part of his oratorio ''

La Vierge ''La Vierge'' is an oratorio (''légende sacrée'') in four scenes by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Charles Grandmougin. It was first performed at the Opéra in Paris on May 22, 1880. The oratorio is a recounting of the story of the V ...

'', there was a concert performance of the 3rd tableau of ''Esclarmonde'' (first part of act 2); Ruhlmann conducted,

Elen Dosia Elen Dosia (1915 – 10 May 2002), born Hélène Odette Zygomala, sometimes known as Ellen Dosia, was a French opera singer of Greek origin. Dosia was born in Istanbul, then in the Ottoman Empire. She became a soprano singer, and enjoyed her first ...

sang Esclarmonde with Charles Fronval as Roland. * 1 January 1944 – revival of ''Esclarmonde'' at the Théâtre La Monnaie, Brussels, with six performances given: Clara Clairbert (Esclarmonde), Livine Mertens (Parséis), José Lens (Roland), Francis Barthel (Énéas), Emile Colonne (Bishop of Blois), Maurice De Groote (Cléomer), Albert Mancel (Phorcas). * 19 November 1963 – first performance of ''Esclarmonde'' after World War II, a radio broadcast of the full opera in Paris for RTF (

Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF; ''French Radio and Television Broadcasting'') was the French national public broadcaster television organization established on 9 February 1949 to replace the post-war "''Radiodiffusion Française''" ...

Gustave Cloëz Gustave Cloëz (3 August 1890 – 15 March 1970)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''. Social Security Administration. was a French conductor who was particularly active at the Paris Opéra-Comique in the mid-20th century, and made a significa ...

(conducting),

Jacqueline Brumaire Jacqueline Brumaire (born Herblay, 5 November 1921, died in Nancy 29 October 2000) was a French operatic soprano and later teacher. Life and career After training at the Conservatoire de Paris under Madeleine Mathieu, she debuted on 13 October ...

(Esclarmonde), Janine Capderou (Parséis),

Henri Legay Henri Legay (1 July 1920 in Paris – 16 September 1992 in Paris) was a French operatic tenor. He was primarily French-based as his light lyric voice was especially suited to the French operatic repertoire. Life and career Legay studied in Bru ...

(Roland). * 23 October 1974 – the

War Memorial Opera House (San Francisco) War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regula ...

premiere, with additional performances in October (26 and 29) and November (2 and 8, the latter broadcast live). Production by

Lotfi Mansouri Lotfollah "Lotfi" Mansouri (15 June 1929 – 30 August 2013) was an Iranian-born opera director and manager. He was an opera director from about 1960 onwards, and is best known for being the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company and ...

, scenery and design by

Beni Montresor Beni Montresor (31 March 1926 – 11 October 2001) was a versatile Italian artist, opera and film director, set designer, author and children's book illustrator. He won the 1965 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing '' ...

, choreography by Norbert Vasek. All cast in debut role: Richard Bonynge conducting, Joan Sutherland (Esclarmonde), Giacomo Aragall (Roland), Huguette Tourangeau (Parséis), William Harness (Énéas),

Clifford Grant Clifford Scantlebury Grant (11 September 1930 – 7 October 2021) was an Australian operatic Bass (voice type), bass singer. Life and career Grant was born in September 1930 in Randwick, New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney. In 1966, he joined Eng ...

(Phorcas), Robert Kerns (Bishop of Blois), Philip Booth (Cléomer). * 19 November 1976 – the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

premiere, production borrowed from San Francisco, with 9 other performances in November (24th, 27th) and December (1st, 4th, 7th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 20th), live broadcast on December 11. Richard Bonynge (conducting), Joan Sutherland (Esclarmonde), Huguette Tourangeau (Parséis), Giacomo Aragall (Roland), John Carpenter (Énéas),

Louis Quilico Louis Quilico, (January 14, 1925 – July 15, 2000) was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was ofte ...

(Bishop of Blois), Clifford Grant (Phorcas), John Macurdy (Cléomer). * 28 November 1983 – the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

premiere at Covent Garden, London, followed by four performances on 6, 10, 13 and 16 December. Production by Lotfi Mansouri, Beni Montresor (set design, costumes and lighting), Terry Gilbert (choreography), Richard Bonynge (conducting), Joan Sutherland (Esclarmonde), Ernesto Veronelli (Roland),

Diana Montague Diana Montague (born 8 April 1953) is an English mezzo-soprano, known for her performances in opera and as a concert singer.Sleeman, Elizabeth (ed.)"Montague, Diana" ''The International Who's Who 2004'', Routledge, 2003, p. 1161. Biography En ...

(Parséïs), Ryland Davies (Énéas),

Gwynne Howell Gwynne Howell (born 13 June 1938) is a Welsh operatic bass, known particularly for his performances of Verdi and Wagner roles. Life and career Born in Gorseinon, Wales, he studied at the RMCM, where he sang Leporello in concert, and Hunding, ...

(Phorcas), Jonathan Summers (Bishop of Blois). * October and November 1992 – at the Massenet Festival in Saint-Étienne; Denia Gavazzeni-Mazzola and Anna-Maria Gonzales shared the title role, Luca Lombardo and José Sempere that of Roland; Patrick Fournillier conducted. The production was then seen at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on November 18. * 17 November 1992 – the Italian premiere at the Nuovo

Teatro Regio di Torino The Teatro Regio (Royal Theatre) is a prominent opera house and opera company in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Its season runs from October to June with the presentation of eight or nine operas given from five to twelve performances of each. Several bu ...

(5 other performances followed; in November: 19, 24, 26, 28, and December 2). Lorenzo Mariani (direction), Pasquale Grossi (scenery and design), Tiziana Tosco (choreography), Alain Guingal (conducting);

Alexandrina Pendatchanska Alexandrina Pendatchanska (sometimes written as Alexandrina Pendachanska) ( bg, Александрина Пендачанска) (born 24 September 1970) is a Bulgarian operatic soprano. Increasingly, she is known professionally as Alex Penda. Ca ...

(Esclarmonde), Claudia Nicole Bandera (Parséïs), Alberto Cupido (Roland), Ivan Kiurkciev (Enéas), Michele Pertusi (Phorcas), Manrico Biscotti (Bishop of Blois), Boris Martinovich (Cléomer). A second cast took over on 28 November. * 7 January 1993 – premiere at the

Teatro Massimo The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II. It is the biggest in Italy, and one of the largest of Europe (at the time of its i ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

(7 other performances followed that same month: on 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd, 24th, and 26th), with Denia Mazzola Gavazzeni (Esclarmonde) (Rosella Redoglia sang the title role too, but only on January 24), Elena Zilio (Parséïs), Pietro Ballo (Roland), Jean-Philippe Courtis (Phorcas), Tom Fox (Bishop of Blois), Salvatore Ragonese (Enéas), ( Bonaldo Giaiotti (Cléomer), directed by Jean-Louis Pichon, conducted by

Gianandrea Gavazzeni Gianandrea Gavazzeni (25 July 19095 February 1996) was an Italian pianist, conductor (especially of opera), composer and musicologist. Gavazzeni was born in Bergamo. For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor at La Sca ...

. * 6 June 1998 – concert performance by the Chelsea Opera Group, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

Raphaëlle Farman Raphaëlle Farman (born Paris) is a French operatic soprano. Farman completed a master's degree in law, and later studied singing at the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris and at the Lyric School of the Opéra Bastille. She graduated in 1992. Sinc ...

(Esclarmonde), Harriet Williams (Parséïs),

Justin Lavender Justin Lavender (born 4 June 1951) is an operatic tenor, a professor of vocal studies at the Royal College of Music and co-founder and Musical Director of Arcadian Opera. He was educated at Bedford Modern School, Queen Mary University of London, ...

(Roland), Jeremy White (Phorcas), Roberto Salvatori (Bishop of Blois), Richard Robson (Cléomer), Stephen Rooke (Enéas); Christopher Fifield (Chorus Master), conducted by Howard Williams. * 8 April 2005 – Washington Concert Opera performance. Celena Shafer (Esclarmonde), Gigi Mitchell-Velasco (Parséis), Robert Breault (Roland), Dean Peterson (Phorcas), Robert Gardner (Bishop of Blois), François Loup (Cléomer), Antony Walker conducting; in Lisner Auditorium of

the George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presid ...

. * 26 May 2013, German premiere at

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

, conducted by Daniel Carlberg in a production by Roman Hovenbitzer and Angelina Ruzzafante in the title role.

Roles

Synopsis

The story is based on a medieval legend and revolves around Esclarmonde, an empress and sorceress of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

. Sequestered by her emperor father, Phorcas, who has recently abdicated the throne to her, she bemoans her love for Roland, a knight and Count of

, believing she will never be allowed to be with him. Following a suggestion from her sister, Parséïs, Esclarmonde uses her magic powers to transfer Roland to the magic island where she joins him and continues to do so on a nightly basis and, hiding behind a veil, never reveals her identity. She reveals to him also that his country is in danger, attacked and besieged by the

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

, and grants him a magic sword with which he will be capable of defeating the enemy. It will serve him well as long as he will remain faithful to her. Roland then goes to help the besieged Blois and wins the battle with the leader of the Saracens. In reward, he is granted by the king of France the hand of his royal daughter. But Roland refuses to accept that offer not disclosing the reason. When he finally confesses his nightly tryst to the Bishop of Blois, the bishop and a group of monks intervene on Esclarmonde's arrival, performing an

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

and in a crucial moment manage to tear off her veil and thus reveal her identity. Feeling betrayed, Esclarmonde, in her bravura aria ''O Roland, tu m'as trahie, et me voilà... Regarde-les ces yeux'', rebukes Roland for his faithlessness. The confrontation scene proceeds with Roland trying at the last moment to use his sword to defend her from the monks. Suddenly, the magic sword shatters to pieces, and Esclarmonde, surrounding herself with a ring of fire and demons, curses Roland and disappears. The ex-emperor, Phorcas, upon hearing of Esclarmonde's disobedience, summons her to him and insists she renounce Roland. He threatens to remove her magic powers and to execute Roland. Reluctantly, she submits and when Roland is brought before her she implores him to forget her. A tournament takes place to award the victor with Esclarmonde's hand in marriage. When the winner, clad all in black, is asked his name, he replies "despair", and refuses the hand of Esclarmonde. Esclarmonde recognizes the voice immediately, however, as that of Roland, and when her veil is lifted he recognizes her as well and all hail the new empress and her valiant consort.

Recordings

A studio recording by Decca was made on 2–15 July 1975 at the

Kingsway Hall The Kingsway Hall in Holborn, London, was the base of the West London Mission (WLM) of the Methodist Church, and eventually became one of the most important recording venues for classical music and film music. It was built in 1912 and demolished ...

, London, with Joan Sutherland (Esclarmonde), Huguette Tourangeau (Parséis),

(Phorcas), Giacomo Aragall (Roland),

(The Bishop of Blois), Ryland Davies (Enéas), Robert Lloyd (Cléomer), Finchley Children's Music Group,

John Alldis Choir John Alldis (10 August 192920 December 2010) was an English chorus-master and conductor. Biography Alldis was educated at King's College School, Cambridge and Felsted. He then returned to King's College, Cambridge as a choral scholar under Bo ...

National Philharmonic Orchestra The National Philharmonic Orchestra was a British orchestra created exclusively for recording purposes. It was founded by RCA Records producer and conductor Charles Gerhardt and orchestra leader and contractor Sidney Sax. The orchestra was creat ...

, cond. Richard Bonynge.

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

. 475-7914 (3 CDs).

ADD Addition (usually signified by the plus symbol ) is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the other three being subtraction, multiplication and division. The addition of two whole numbers results in the total amount or '' sum'' of ...

STEREO STUDIO. In addition, recordings of live performances have been made available: * Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau,

, Giacomo Aragall, William Harness (Enéas), Philip Booth (Cléomer), Robert Kerns (The Bishop of Blois), Gary Burgess (Saracen Envoy, Byzantine Herald), War Memorial Opera House Orchestra and Chorus, cond. Richard Bonynge, November 8, 1974, live broadcast. Living Stage. 1110 (2CDs), MONO (quasi-stereo). * Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau, Clifford Grant, Giacomo Aragall, Louis Quilico, cond. Richard Bonynge, December 11, 1976 (

Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast The Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts are a regular series of weekly broadcasts on network radio of full-length opera performances. They are transmitted live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The Metropolitan Opera I ...

) available from the MetOpera radio during periodical re-broadcasts o
Sirius Radio
or "music on demand" a
Rhapsody
or by subscription within
the Met-player
(TT: 147'22"). * Joan Sutherland,

(Parséis),

(Phorcas), Ernesto Veronelli (Roland),

Jonathan Summers Jonathan Summers (born 2 October 1946) is an Australian operatic baritone who has mainly worked in the UK. He sang the role of Captain Balstrode in the 1980 recording of Benjamin Britten's ''Peter Grimes'' which won a Grammy award for Best Opera ...

(The Bishop of Blois), Geoffrey Moses (Cléomer), Ryland Davies, Royal Opera Covent Garden Chorus and Orchestra, cond. Richard Bonynge, November 28, 1983), live in-house recording. Available as the web stream a
Opera Today archives
(TT: 142'55") *

(Esclarmonde), Claudia Nicole Bandera (Parséis), Alberto Cupido (Roland), Michele Pertusi (Phorcas), Manrico Biscotti (The Bishop of Blois), Teatro Regio di Torino, cond. Alain Guingal (November/December 1992), Charles Handelman VHS Video Cassette – Live Opera 09122, NTSC, 2002. (TT: 158'00") * Denia Mazzola-Gavazzeni (Esclarmonde), Hélène Perraguin (Parséis), José Sempere (Roland), Jean-Philippe Courtis (Phorcas and Cléomer); Christian Tréguier; Guy Gabelle. Choeurs du Festival Massenet, Orchestre Symphonique Franz Liszt, Budapest, cond.

Patrick Fournillier Patrick Fournillier (born 26 December 1954 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French people, French Conducting, conductor, particularly associated with opera and with the works of Jules Massenet. He studied in Paris with Louis Fourestier and Pierre Derva ...

. Live recording in October/November 1992 at the Massenet Festival in Saint Étienne. ''Koch-Swann'', released 1994, DDD, 3-1269-2 H1 (TT: 156'31", 3 CDs). In 1920 Maria Kousnezoff recorded "Regarde-les, ces yeux" (Act 3) with orchestra, on Pathé saphir 80t 2024.

Instrumentation

Woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

: 3

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s (incl. also

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

), 3

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s (incl. also English horn), 3

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

s (incl. also

bass clarinet The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...

), 3

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

s (incl. also

double bassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consid ...

) *

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

: 4

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

s, 3

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s, 3

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

saxtuba The saxtuba is an obsolete valved brasswind instrument conceived by the Belgian instrument-maker Adolphe Sax around 1845. The design of the instrument was inspired by the ancient Roman cornu and tuba. The saxtubas, which comprised a family of ha ...

Timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(incl.

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

tamtam The tamtam, sometimes spelled tam-tam, is a type of gong. TamTam, Tam-Tam, tamtam, or tam-tam may also refer to: * ''Tam-Tam'' (album), a 1983 album by Amanda Lear * Tam Tam (''Samurai Shodown''), a character from the fighting game ''Samurai Sh ...

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

crash cymbal A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to a ride cymbal. It can be mounted on a stand and played with a drum stick, or by hand in pairs. One or two crash c ...

s, orchestral

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

) * Organ *

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, 2

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

s * Mixed

Choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

, children's choir

Notes

References

Sources * * * * * * * * * * * * Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). ''Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762–1972''. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. .

External links

*
Esclarmonde
Visual documentation of the premiere o
GallicaExtensive synopsis of ''Esclarmonde''

French libretto (from other source)

Discography for ''Esclarmonde''

Digitized manuscript
of Luc Malpertuis and George Garnir's parody ''Ex-Clarmonde'' (1890) at th
Archives & Musée de la Littérature
Brussels {{Authority control Operas by Jules Massenet French-language operas 1889 operas Operas Medieval legends Music for orchestra and organ Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique Exposition Universelle (1889)