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FRENCH GRAND OPERA Introduction Paris at the turn of the nineteenth century drew in many composers, both French and foreign, and especially those of opera. This cosmopolitan combination of influences helped to form the style of ''grand opera''. Several Italians working during this period including Luigi Cherubini demonstrated that the use of recitative was suited for the powerful dramas that were being written. Others, such as Gaspare Spontini , wrote works to glorify Napoleon . These operas were composed on a suitably grand scale for the emperor. Another consideration was the ability of the large Paris Opéra which was capable of staging a sizeable work and the long tradition of French ballet and stagecraft. Precursors Several operas by Gaspare Spontini , Luigi Cherubini , and especially Gioacchino Rossini can be regarded as precursors to French grand opera. These include Spontini's '' La Vestale '' (1807) and Fernand Cortez (1809, revised 1817), Cherubini's '' Les Abencerages '' (1813), and Rossini's '' Le Siège De Corinthe '' (1827) and '' Moise '' (1828). All of these have some of the characteristics that are normally associated with French grand opera. Early French Grand Opera (1828-1836) Thus, the time was ripe for the combination of influences to bear fruit starting in 1828 with '' La Muette De Portici '' by Daniel Francois Auber . The next major ''grand opera'' was Rossini 's '' Guillaume Tell '' (his final opera; 1829 ). The acknowledged superstar of this form is Giacomo Meyerbeer , who reached prominence in the Paris opera scene beginning with '' Robert Le Diable '' in 1831 . He followed this work with his masterpiece, '' Les Huguenots '', in 1836 . Another very important early ''grand opera'' was Halévy 's '' La Juive '' ( 1835 ). This work, while not quite as successful as ''Les Huguenots'', was also performed all over the world, and is still viewed as being among the most influential and among the higher quality ''grand operas'' of all time. Grand Operas of the 1840s The early grand operas of the 1830s were huge box-office successes, and even inspired the young Richard Wagner to try his hand at ''grand opera'' with his early work, '' Rienzi '' ( 1842 ). The latter was very successful at its premiere in Dresden, but was soon left behind by Meyerbeer in most other German cities. During the 1840s, the major ''grand operas'' were '' Les Martyrs '' by Gaetano Donizetti , '' La Reine De Chypre '' by Halévy (perhaps the only major ''grand opéra'' yet to be performed during the post-war period) (1841), '' Dom Sebastien '' by Gaetano Donizetti (1843), and '' Le Prophète '' by Meyerbeer (1849). Grand Operas of the 1850s and 1860s The 1850s only saw one even moderately successful ''grand opera'', that being '' Les Vêpres Siciliennes '' by Giuseppe Verdi (1855), which was to be much more widely given in Italy and other Italian language opera houses than in France. In the meantime, '' Sapho '', the first opera by Charles Gounod , did not qualify, being a less grandiose work, while Meyerbeer concentrated on two opéras comiques, and Halévy was unable to equal the successes of '' La Juive , La Reine De Chypre '', and '' Charles VI ''. Oddly, the ever popular '' Faust '' ( 1859 ) by Charles Gounod started life as another opéra comique, and did not become a ''grand opera'' until the 1860s. '' Les Troyens '' by Hector Berlioz (composed from 1856 - 1858 , later revised, was not given a full performance until nearly a century after Berlioz had died, although portions had been staged before). While the 1850s were relatively dry as far as ''grand opera'' was concerned, the 1860s made up for lost time. The first significant entry was '' La Reine De Saba '' by Charles Gounod . This was rarely given in it's entirety, but the big tenor aria, "Inspirez-moi, race divine" was made famous in a recording by Enrico Caruso . The great Meyerbeer died on 2 May, 1864, thus his '' L'Africaine '' was premiered posthumously in 1865. Giuseppe Verdi returned to Paris for what many see as the greatest French grand opera ever, the immortal '' Don Carlos '' (1867). Ambroise Thomas contributed his '' Hamlet '' in 1868, and finally, to close out the decade, '' Faust '' was premiered at the Opéra. By then, the work had enough additions for it to qualify as a full-fledged ''grand opéra''. Late French Grand Operas In spite of France's defeat at the hands of the Prussians in the '' (Paris, 1886). It was quite successful, running up nearly 100 performances in Paris, and quite a few in Belgium, where the action takes place, but seems to have disappeared without a trace. NUMBER OF PERFORMANCES OF FRENCH GRAND OPERAS AT THE OPéRA IN PARIS (from première to 1962, as given by Stéphane Wolff, Albert Soubies and other sources)
DECLINE OF FRENCH GRAND OPERA There are two distinctly separate aspects to the decline of French grand opera:
The two problems are closely interrelated. The first is due partly to the fact that the musical establishment (critics, opinion leaders, conductors, other composers, and other opera professionals) was much more vocal and much more influential than the paying audiences. Some, such as Claude Debussy , were embarrassed by what they saw as the excesses of French grand opera, while others, especially avant gardists, would demand more Wagner . As a result, several French composers, notably Vincent D'Indy , Ernest Chausson , and Gabriel Fauré , but others as well, would try to imitate Wagner with works like '' Fervaal '', '' Le Roi Arthus '' and '' Pénélope '', respecively. It should be noted that the French Wagner imitations were generally much less successful, even in France, than the real thing. Steven Huebner's volume on French opera of the "fin du siécle" (see bibliography) provides an excellent discussion of these aspects. The second was both a direct outgrowth of the first and the fact that as new operas are composed, room must be made for them in the repertory. Thus, the demand for the less popular works of the old repertory would lessen, and they would slowly disappear from the Opéra. But there were other theatres in Paris, such as the Gaité Lyrique which would engage artists of the first rank and give the old favorites. '' La Juive '' was performed there regularly, and, in 1917, they devoted an entire season to these older works. One of them was Halévy's '' La Reine De Chypre '' starring the legendary John O'Sullivan . There is reason to suspect that the decline of French grand opera at the Paris Opéra was at least partly due to the desire of the management to make it into an "International house", rather than strictly a French house, making it obligatory for them to stress including as much Wagner as possible in their repertory. This was not seen as being nearly as much of an imperative in opera houses outside Paris, hence it was possible for them to retain the old favorites longer. The same was true of many houses outside France, especially Vienna, where critics like Eduard Hanslick , who definitely preferred Meyerbeer to Wagner, still wielded a lot of influence. Combined with Gustav Mahler 's great respect for ''La Juive'', this resulted in the latter work being given in Vienna almost every season until the Nazis took control of Germany, and the Viennese could see the handwriting on the wall. The situation was similar in Spain, Portugal and Latin America, where Wagner, although popular, took longer to take hold Today only a handful of these works survive, as their sheer length and the expense of staging them can still be prohibitive, even for the largest Opera House s. ITALIAN GRAND OPERA (OPERA BALLO) Introduction One of the major differences between operatic customs in France (Paris) and Italy lies in the role of and attitude to the ballet. Parisian audiences invariably demanded a formal ballet, which would be an integral part of the opera, and, often, played a role in the plot. Italians also loved the ballet, but, in Italy, it was customary to provide a ballet independent of the opera, usually between the acts of the opera. Of course, the ballet might or might not be different between the premiere of an opera and subsequent stagings in the same or another city. The net result was that, if, as an example, Giuseppe Verdi wanted to stage his '' Il Trovatore '' in French at the Opéra , he would have to add a ballet. This would not be necessary for performances in Italian at the Théâtre Italien . Another result was that there were a number of Italian precursors to grand opera by composers like '' (1836) which does have a ballet, and according to William Ashbrook's liner notes for the Opera Rara recording was written with the French taste in mind. Italian operas with their own ballet started to become relatively common in the late 1860s and 1870s. Some of these, such as '' Il Guarany '' by Antônio Carlos Gomes were actually designated as "opera ballo". Others, such as '' La Gioconda '' by Amilcare Ponchielli were not, although they really had earned the term. Early Italian "grand operas" (1860s) There is a fascinating chapter on Italian grand opera by Fiamma Nicolodi in the Charlton "Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera". She discusses many of the Italian operas premiered between 1865 and 1893, and lists them on page 384 of the book. The composers most often mentioned are Antônio Carlos Gomes (5 operas), Filippo Marchetti (4 operas), and Amilcare Ponchielli (also 4 operas). Others are by Boito, Catalani, Puccini, Franchetti and Leoncavallo. Strangely, she mentions '' Aida '' only in passing, and '' La Forza Del Destino '' not at all--could it be because one was premiered in Cairo and the other was premiered in 1862 in St. Petersburg? Be that as it may, Forza did show some influence of French grand opera, but not enough to qualify as an Italian grand opera. Neither did Marchetti's '' Romeo E Giulietta '' or the first edition of Boito's '' Mefistofele ''. But both because of its designation as an "Opera ballo" and extensive ballet, I would consider '' Il Guarany '' as the earliest true Italian grand opera, although it is somewhat shorter than the French models. Aïda and Other Italian Grand Operas of the 1870s Although it did not even have its' premiere in Italy, '''' by Saverio Mercadante , with the heroine entombed alive. To return to ''Aïda'', it was a huge success, both at its world premiere in Cairo and its Italian premiere in Milan. It can hardly be surprising that many of the ensuing Italian operas tended to be strongly influenced by what '' (1874) and most importantly '' La Gioconda '' (Milan, 1876, revised 1880). '' Fosca '' with its Venetian setting and self-sacrificing heroine almost seems like a warm-up for '' La Gioconda ''. Together with '' Il Guarany '' and '' Maria Tudor '' it was revived in Sofia some years ago with fine casts of young Bulgarian singers to be released in Brazil. '' Salvator Rosa '' was the fourth opera to be released as part of that series, although the recording originated near London. There are plans to produce '' Gustavo Wasa '' at some point in the next few years, and judging from the two Marchetti operas already familiar, this could well be an interesting revival. '' I Lituani '' has already been revived, first in Italy, then by the Lithuanian community in Chicago, and finally in Lithuania itself. Judging from the one available recording it is a first class work, although it does not quite come up to the level of '' La Gioconda ''. The latter, of course, has long been a staple of the repertory in Italy, Iberia, Latin America, and the United States. But it has been a rarity in Northern Europe, and is yet to have its first staging in Paris. GERMAN GRAND OPERA Very often, when German attempts at composing true grand operas are mentioned, the only composer to be mentioned seriously is Richard Wagner. This is often done with references to his '' Rienzi '', sometimes with a comment (perhaps in jest, perhaps not-but there are those who rarely jest when it comes to belittling Meyerbeer) that this was Meyerbeer's greatest opera. It is to be hoped that it was made in jest, because if it were meant in earnest, it would be a sad reflection on the scholarship of the person making it. The fact is that '' Rienzi '' did have a successful premiere in Dresden, but that may well have been the only German city where it was successful, and even there it was soon passed in the number of performances by '' Le Prophète ''. But there were other German grand operas which are worth mentioning, including two by Wagner: '' Tannhäuser '' and '' Götterdämmerung '', both of which are considered superior to '' Rienzi '', although they do not quite come up to the level of Meyerbeer's best work. German grand operas by other composers include a marvelous opera by '' (Vienna, 1875), Lachner's still unfamiliar '' Catharina Cornaro '' (Munich, 1841) and especially the long forgotten (except in Italy) '' Agnese Von Hohenstaufen '' (Berlin, 1829, revised 1837) by Gaspare Spontini , although it is in only three acts.another three act opera that should be mentioned is '' Ein Feldlager In Schlesien '' by Meyerbeer . Although the work in its entirety is officially a Singspiel, Act II has all the characteristics of grand opera, with a brief ballet and what may be the most elaborate march in all of opera. Actually this is a triple march, with three disparate groups blending together to form a stunning whole. This was eventually transferred in its entirety into the same composer's '' L'étoile Du Nord ''. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bartlet, M Elizabeth C: ''Grand opéra'' in 'The New Grove Dictionary Of Opera ', ed. Stanley Sadie, Macmillan Publishers Limited, London, 1992 ISBN 0-333-73432-7
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