User:Gretab/sandbox
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This is my sandbox. My projects include :
- 1. "Une education manquée", Opéra bouffe in one act by Emmanuel Chabrier
- 2. Kurt Ollmann, American Baritone singer
- 3. Mary Dibbern, American pianist and musicologist
Contents |
[edit] The Work
La Juive is one of the most popular and most admired works of the 19th century. It's libretto is the work of Eugène Scribe, one of the most prolific dramatic authors of the time. Scribe was writing in reaction to the tastes of the Opéra de Paris, where the work was first performaed : a work in five acts presenting spectacular situations (here the Council of Constance of 1414), which would give way to remarkable scenic effect, a subject which brought out a dramatic subject which was also underlined by a powerful historical subject. In addition to this, there was also the possibility of choral secenes, a ballet and scenic effects which took advantage of the entire possibilities available at the Paris Opera.
Through the story of an impossible loe between a Christian man and a Jewish woman, the work may also be seen as a case in faor of religious tolerance, in much the same spirit as Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots written several years earlier. At the time of composition, laws had recently been voted which liberalised religious practices in France. A Jewish charactor could therefore be represented freely on the stage (Meyerbeer et Halévy were both Jewish) and the Dreyfuss Affaire had not yet placed antisemitismin the center of political debates. The libretto of La Juive had a goal of reconsidering the status of Jews in French society, which was also a theme of French literature of the time (such as Balzac in La Comédie humaine, for example).
[edit] Historique
Œuvre légendaire, quoique méconnue, La Juive n’a plus été jouée à Paris de 1934 à 2007 où elle a été reprise à l'opéra de Paris. Malgré son indéniable succès lors de sa création, en 1835, et l’enthousiasme qu’elle suscita, notamment chez Mahler (Halévy ayant, quant à lui, inspiré l’admiration de Wagner et l’estime de Berlioz.
La Juive a été créé le 23 février 1835 à l'Académie royale de musique (salle Le Peletier). Par la suite, l'œuvre a été représentée près de 600 fois à l'Opéra, jusqu'au 9 avril 1934, date de sa dernière représentation. C'est La Juive qui a inauguré les représentations publiques du Palais Garnier, le 8 janvier 1875.
Sur le plan musical, La Juive est surtout connue pour l'air Rachel, quand du Seigneur, écrit spécialement pour le ténor Adolphe Nourrit qui interprétait le rôle d'Eléazar. De fait, elle nécessite un interprète de premier plan, capable de vaillance autant que d'élégance vocale. Mais le rôle de Rachel, sa fille, n'est pas en reste, qui constitue un des portraits de femme les plus complexes du répertoire, rappelant l'Euryanthe de Weber, tout autant qu'il annonce l'Elisabeth de Tannhäuser et la Marguerite de Faust. C'est Cornélie Falcon qui le créa, privilégiant la vérité de l'inflexion à l'artifice de la vocalise, et donnant ainsi son nom à une typologie vocale particulière.
Qu’en est-il pour le spectateur d’aujourd’hui, mieux averti par les faits d’histoire, de l’identité existentielle de Rachel telle qu’elle est posée dans cette œuvre ? Chrétienne qui s’ignore, sacrifiée parce que donnée pour juive sans qu’il soit assuré que dans l’un ou l’autre cas, son innocence lui soit reconnue ; relevant, en somme, des « identités meurtrières » dénoncées par Amin Maalouf.
[edit] Lien externe
[edit] Personnages
- Rôles principaux :
- Rachel (soprano dramatique)
- Le Juif Éléazar (ténor)
- Prince Léopold (ténor léger)
- La Princesse Eudoxie (soprano léger)
- Gian Francesco, le cardinal de Brogni (basse)
- Autres rôles :
- Ruggiero (baryton)
- Albert (basse)
- Héraut d'armes de l'empereur (baryton)
- Hommes du peuple (ténor et basse)
- Majordome (baryton)
- Officier de l'empereur (ténor)
- Exécuteur (baryton)
- Empereur Sigismund (rôle muet)
- Chœur
[edit] Synopisis
- Act I - A Square in the City of Constance in 1414
- Act II - Inside the house of Éléazar
- Act III - Magnificant Gardens
- Act IV - A gothic interior
- Act V - A large tent supported by Gothic colomns
Eleazar, when he was young, had lived in Italy near rome and witnessed the condemnation and executions of his sons as heretics by Count. Brogni. Eleazar himself was banished and forced to flee to Switzerland.
During his journey, Eleazar found a baby near death, abandoned inside a house which had been burnt down, which turned out to be the home of the Count. bandits had burnt the house down, and had tried to kill the entire family of Brogni, not knowing that he hmself was in Rome at the time.
Eleazar took the child, a girl, and raised it as his own daughter, naming her Rachel. Brogoni discovered the ruin of his house and the death of his family upon his return and subsequently became a priest and later, a cardinal.
At the beginning of the Opera, Rachel (now a young woman) lives with her father in the City of Constance. Eleazar is a jeweller. The animosity between Christians and Jews has continued, with laws that reflect the situation. If a Jew and a Christian have sexual relations, the Christian is excommunicated and the Jew is killed. Rachel is in love with a young man who she believes is a Jewish student. In reality, he is Leopold, a prince of the region who is not only Christian, but also maried to the Princess Eudoxie.
Rachel has invited Léopold for the Passover celebration in the Jewish community. He is present while Eleazar and the other Jews sing their Passover Prayers. Rachel becomes anxious when she notices that Léopold refuses to eat the piece of unleaved bread that she has given him. Because of this, he reveals that he is a Christian, without revealing his true indentity. Rachel is horrified and tells him that she did not understand that her actions were disrespectful not only to her father but also to her honnor and to her God. She reminds hi of the terrible consequences of such a relationship. He promises to take her away with him. She tries to resist, worrying about abandoning her father, but finally soccombes to his advances. They are confronted by Eleazar, who curses Léopold before the former runs off.
Rachel follows Léopold to his palace where he reveals his love for her, an action which will lead to death for her and excommunication for him. Eleazar has followed them. Eleazar's defiant cries attract attention to the three and they are all arrested to put in prison. In the next scene, Eudoxie (Léopold's wife) ask to see Rachel in prison. She begs Rachel to save Léopold by declaring his innocense, begging her to take complete responsability in a beatiful aria. Rachel accepts to do so.
Eudoxie leaves and Cardinal Brogni appears, telling Rachel that he could save the three of them. As a condition for pardon,Eleazar must convert to Christianity. Eleazar at first answers that he would rather die, but then lies plans to avenge himself. He reminds the Cardinal of the fire in his house near Rome many years before and tells the Cardinal that his infant daughter did not die. He says that she was saved by a Jew and that only he knows who he is. If he dies, his secret will die with him. Brogni begs him to tell him where his daughter is, but in vain. Eleazar sings of the vengence that he will have in dying, but he suddenly remembers that he will be responsable for the death of Rachel. The only way to save her is to admit that the Cardinal is her father and that he is not Jewish but Christian.
At the point where he is about to give in and tell the truth, he hears the people shouting for his death and decides that he will never give Rachel back to the Christians. Eleazar and Rachel are brought to the gallows where they will be thrown in a pot of boiling oil. Rachel is terrified and he has pity on her. Eleazar doesn't tell her who she really is, but explains that she can be saved if she converts to Christianity. She refuses and climbs to the gallows before him. As the people are singing various prayers, Brogni asks Eleazar if his daugher is still alive. Eleazar says that she is and when Brogni asks where she can be found, Eleazar point to the pot of oil, saying "There she is!" He then climbs to his own death while the Cardinal falls on his knees. The Opera ends with a chorus of monks, soldiers and the people singing "It is done and we are avenged of the Jews!"
"Oui"
"Seigneur, où est-elle ?
Eleazar montre le chaudron pendant que Rachel est jetée dedans et crie : "La voilà".
Il monte alors au supplice en triomphant, pendant que le Cardinal tombe à genoux angoissé.
L'opéra finit avec le chant des moines, des soldats et du peuple, qui n'ont pas compris la situation (passage supprimé des représentations de février / mars 2007 à l'Opéra de Paris pour éviter tout malentendu) :
"C'est fait... et nous sommes vengés des Juifs".
