Médée (Cherubini)
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Medea |
| Original title: | Médée |
Scene from the first act, Théâtre-Italien Paris, drawing by Jean-Auguste Marc |
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| Shape: | Opéra-comique in three acts |
| Original language: | 1st version: French 2nd version: German |
| Music: | Luigi Cherubini |
| Libretto : | François-Benoît Hoffman |
| Literary source: |
Euripides : Medea , Pierre Corneille : Médée |
| Premiere: | Version 1: March 13, 1797 Version 2: November 6, 1802 |
| Place of premiere: | 1st version: Théâtre Feydeau , Paris 2nd version: Kärntnertortheater , Vienna |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ¾ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Corinth , legendary time |
| people | |
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Médée ( German Medea ) is an opéra-comique in three acts by Luigi Cherubini . The first performance of the French first version with spoken dialogues took place on March 13, 1797 at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris . A shortened second version in German was first performed on November 6, 1802 in the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna. In 1855, Franz Lachner replaced the dialogues with recitatives , which were translated into Italian by Luigi Arditi in 1865 . The work gained greater popularity from 1953 onwards through Maria Callas ' design of the title role.
content
prehistory
Jason had gone to Colchis with the Argonauts to steal the Golden Fleece . He only succeeded in doing this with the help of the sorceress Médée ( Medea ), who had fallen in love with him. The two married, fled to Corinth together and had two children. A few years later Jason fell in love with Dircé ( Glauke , depending on the version also Glauce or Kreusa), the daughter of the Corinthian king Créon ( Creon ), and rejected Médée in order to be able to marry her. The children stayed with Jason to be raised at the royal court.
At the beginning of the opera, Jason's wedding to Dircé is imminent. Suddenly Médée appears and tells Jason to come back to her. Since Jason refuses, Médée seeks revenge. She kills Dircé with a poisoned dress and ultimately even her own children.
first act
Gallery in the Palace of Créon
Scene 1. Dircé's friends are in a celebratory mood about their upcoming wedding to Jason. Dircé himself, however, cannot be really happy. She fears an act of revenge by Médées and is plagued by premonitions (Arie Dircé: "Hymen! Viens dissiper une vaine frayeur").
Scene 2. Créon assures his future son-in-law Jason that he will protect the lives of his children. These are currently being brought up in the temple and have learned to hate the mother as an evil sorceress.
Scene 3. Créon and Dircé sit on the throne to receive the Argonauts' honorary testimonies (chorus: "Belle Dircé, l'invincible Jason"). They put the Golden Fleece and a replica of the Argo ship at Dircé's feet. This reminds Dircé again of Jason's abandoned wife. She fears that Médée will reclaim Jason and devastate the country with her magic. Jason and Créon calm them down. The choir praises the wedding and love gods Hymen and Amor , and Jason and Dircé join the singing.
Scene 4. Suddenly a captain reports the arrival of a veiled woman who does not want to reveal her name. Créon lets them lead in.
Scene 5. The mysterious woman reveals herself to those present as Médée. The Argonauts and the people flee for fear of their magic power. Dircé suffers a fit of weakness and has to be supported by her companions.
Scene 6. As feared, Médée asks Jason to return to her. She asks Créon to cancel his daughter's wedding. If he refuses, he will feel her vengeance. Créon is not intimidated, but responds with counter threats. He leaves the room with Dircé and her ladies.
Scene 7. Médée reminds Jason of her past love and the sacrifices she made for him. She begs him on her knees to feel sorry for her as an abandoned mother (Arie Médée: “Vous voyez de vos fils la mère infortunée”). But Jason doesn't let himself be softened. When he firmly rejects her wish to flee Corinth with her, she swears revenge. Both curse the Golden Fleece, which now causes so much suffering (duet Médée / Jason: "Perfides ennemis, qui conspirez ma peine" - "O fatale toison! O conquête funeste!")
Second act
On one side a wing of Créon's Palace, from the end of which a portico leads to the Temple of Juno
Scene 1. Médée, who goes down the steps of the palace alone, laments her fate. She swears revenge on Créon and his daughter: Dircé is to perish in front of Jason's eyes.
Scene 2. Médée's servant Néris rushes over and tells Médée that the people are demanding their deaths and that the palace has already been surrounded. She urges her mistress to flee immediately.
Scene 3. Créon appears with his guards. He informs Médée that Jason has asked him to spare her life. But Médée now has to leave the country as soon as possible, as he fears her dark magic. Médée reminds him of her own deeds in Colchis, without which Jason would no longer live, and begs Créon to grant her asylum so that she can see her children at least occasionally - but Créon remains adamant (Morceau d'ensemble: “Ah! du moins à Médée accordez un asyle ”). Néris agrees to Médée's plea, and the guards pray to be spared Médée's vengeance. Finally, Créon allows her to stay one more day. Créon and the guards return to the palace. Médée follows them to the gate and, in pain, sits down on the stairs.
Scene 4. Néris approaches her mistress with compassion. She promises to share her fate in any case (Arie Néris: "Ah! Nos peines seront communes"). Médée, on the other hand, has decided to use the day left for her revenge.
Scene 5. When Jason asks Médée why she wants to stay, she begs him to let her have the children. Jason is not prepared to do this under any circumstances. However, since Médée realizes that he honestly loves the children, she gives in with tears. Thinking about their past together, Jason becomes uncertain about his feelings. He promises Médée that she will see the children until they leave (duet Médée / Jason: “Chers enfans, il faut donc que je vous abandonne!”). At that moment, priests come out of the temple to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the king. Jason says goodbye to Médée.
Scene 6. After Jason leaves, Médée vows that he will pay dearly for her faked tears. She asks Néris to give Dircé jewelry and a dress soaked with poison as a wedding present.
Scene 6. Finale. Créon, Jason and Dircé enter the temple with their entourage. Part of the people is waiting in front of the portal. From outside Médée listens to the chants of the wedding celebration (choir: “Fils de Bacchus”). She invokes the wedding god Hymen to smile in her revenge.
Third act
On one side in the background a mountain with rocks, trees and a grotto, on top a temple. On the other side, a wing of Créon's palace, gardens and buildings
Scene 1. Gloomy sky, rumbling thunder, occasional lightning. After a violent thunderstorm, Néris comes out of the temple at the king's side with the two children of Médées. They wear the crown and dress intended for Dircé and enter the palace in silence. The thunderstorm continues. After a while, Médée slowly descends from the top of the mountain. Her hair is tousled and she wears a black veil and a dagger in one hand. Arrived in front of the temple, she calls on the gods of the underworld for assistance. Determined to kill her own children, she still has to overcome remorse.
Scene 2. Néris brings the children. Médée takes her by the hand, her dagger falls to the ground and she is overwhelmed by feelings of motherhood (Arie Médée: “Du trouble affreux qui me dévore”). Néris, who wants to try to save the children, reports that Dircé has accepted her gifts and is already wearing the dress. Let vengeance be enough. Médée asks them to take the children to safety. Néris leads them into the temple and closes the gates.
Scene 3. Médée again wavers between motherly love and the urge for revenge (Aria Médée: “O Tisiphone ! Implacable déesse”). She takes back her fallen dagger. At that moment, the people and Jasons shouted from the palace: Dircé was killed by the poisoned dress (finale: "O crîme! O trahison! Déplorable princesse!"). Médée hates that Jason should keep his complaints for his children. She hurries into the temple with her dagger drawn.
Scene 4. Jason and the Corinthians rush over in a panic. While Jason searches for his children, the people demand the death of Médée.
Scene 5. Néris rushes out of the temple and tells Jason that Médée wants to kill the children.
Scene 6. At that moment the temple gates open and Médée steps out with the bloody dagger. She is accompanied by the three eumenids who are grouped around her on the stairs. Médée informs him that she has been avenged by the blood of the children. Jason could now look for a young woman instead of a mother, but he would find no peace from repentance. She herself will happily go to the underworld and wait for him on the banks of the Styx . She pierces herself with the dagger, the Eumenids seize her, fire spreads around temple and palace, and with a clap of thunder the mountain and the temple collapse. The opera ends with the horror screams of the fleeing people when the whole theater goes up in flames (chorus: “Justes ciel! L'enfer se découvre à nos yeus!”).
layout
Although Cherubini's Médée is only referred to as “Opera” in the first editions and there are no comical elements, it is an opéra-comique due to the musical numbers separated from each other by spoken dialogues . Dramaturgically, it is more based on the works of Gluck and the late Opera seria . Overarching scenes are often made up of several numbers. The “noble simplicity” of Gluck's operas clearly surpasses Cherubini's work in its “gloomy grandeur and grandeur”. It is completely tailored to the figure of the title character, who is almost continuously on stage and whose torn emotional world between love and hate forms the focus. In contrast, the external action takes a back seat.
The musical voice guidance changes constantly between dramatic, lyrical and declamatory elements. The choir takes an active part in the plot. The orchestra is used for tone painting to characterize the emotional states of the characters. There are memory motifs such as a plaintive halftone motif that recurs at central points in each act. Further motivic links connect the different music numbers to form closed scenes. The thunderstorm at the beginning of the third act also represents Médée's inner conflict before the murder of her children.
Dircé's aria “Hymen! viens dissiper une vaine frayeur ”(first act, scene 1) is accompanied by a solo flute. To Néris' aria “Ah! nos peines seront communes ”(second act, scene 4) is played by a solo bassoon.
Of the many Medea operas, Cherubini's work is considered the most important. Johannes Brahms assessed it as follows: "This Medea, that is what we musicians among ourselves recognize as the highest in dramatic music."
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (2nd also piccolo ), two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns
- Timpani
- Strings
- Incidental music: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, three trombones , thunder machine
Work history
The Medea material had already been dramatically edited many times before Cherubini. Cherubini's opera is based on the ancient tragedy Medea des Euripides and Pierre Corneille's drama Médée from 1635. The libretto is by François-Benoît Hoffman . In terms of content, it is limited to the final catastrophe. Hoffman received an award for “best opera text” for his libretto.
Julie-Angélique Scio-Legrand (Médée), Pierre Gaveaux (Jason), Alexis Dessaules (Créon), Rosine (Dircé) and Auvray (Néris) sang at the premiere on March 13, 1797 at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris . The production was not a success. It was only played 20 times and there was no resumption.
The work achieved greater distribution in German-speaking countries - initially on February 17, 1800 in a translation by Karl Alexander Herklots in Berlin (Medea: Margarete Luise Schick ).
For a production in Vienna, which was given for the first time on November 6, 1802 in the Kärntnertortheater , Cherubini himself created a shortened new version of the opera. The German translation of the libretto came from Georg Friedrich Treitschke . Anna Milder-Hauptmann sang the title role .
In 1854, Franz Lachner replaced the spoken dialogues with recitatives in the style of Richard Wagner for a production in Frankfurt the following year . This version was played a lot in Germany. B. in Mainz 1865, Leipzig 1869, Karlsruhe 1871 (conductor: Hermann Levi ), Munich 1872 (Medea: Therese Vogl , Jason: Heinrich Vogl ), Berlin 1872, Vienna 1880 (conductor: Hans Richter , Medea: Amalie Materna ) and Gotha 1893. In 1925, another revision by Hans Schüler and Heinrich Strobel was played in Erfurt , in which dialogues were used again. None of these versions led to a permanent reception. Eduard Hanslick wrote after a performance in Vienna in 1880: "Highly praised and casually visited, admired by everyone, loved by a few, that has always been the fate of the Cherubine Medea".
In London, the opera was first performed in Italian on June 6, 1865 at Her Majesty's Theater . The musical direction was Luigi Arditi , from whom the recitatives used came from. Therese Tietjens sang the Medea . On December 30, 1870, production at Covent Garden was resumed.
On December 30, 1909, an Italian version by Carlo Zangarini based on Lachner's recitatives was performed with moderate success at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan (Medea: Ester Mazzoleni).
- Costume pictures, Milan 1909
Medea
Giasone
Glauce
Il re di Corinto
On the basis of Zangarini, Vito Frazzi and Tullio Serafin created a version for a production at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1953, which - with Maria Callas in the title role - only meant the actual breakthrough for the work. The conductor was Vittorio Gui , the director came from André Barsacq and equipping of Lucien Coutaud . Gabriella Tucci (Glauce), Fedora Barbieri (Neris), Carlos Guichandut (Giasone) and Mario Petri (Creonte) also played roles . Callas' portrayal of Medea was considered to be a “musical-dramatic model interpretation of the 20th century”. She then sang the role in Milan in 1953 (conductor: Leonard Bernstein , director: Margarethe Wallmann, set design: Salvatore Fiume, singers: Maria Luisa Nache, Fedora Barbieri, Gino Penno and Giuseppe Modesti ), 1954 in Venice, 1955 in Rome, 1958 / 59 in the Civic Opera Dallas (direction: Nicola Rescigno , direction: Alexis Minotis , set design: Jannis Tsarukis, singers: Elisabeth Carron, Teresa Berganza , Jon Vickers and Nicola Zaccaria ), in 1959 in London, 1961 in Epidauros and again in 1961/62 in Milan.
It was not until July 28, 1984 that the original French version with spoken dialog was performed again at the Buxton Festival - and also on November 6, 1998 at Covent Garden.
In 2013, American physicists at Stanford University used X-rays to restore parts of the aria Du trouble affreux qui me dévore , which the composer is said to have blackened with coal due to criticism of the length of the opera.
Recordings
Médée has appeared many times on phonograms. Operadis lists 35 recordings in the period from 1953 to 2008. Therefore, only those recordings that have been particularly distinguished in specialist journals, opera guides or the like or that are worth mentioning for other reasons are listed below.
- December 10, 1953 (Live recording; Italian; Gramophone : "don't miss [...] the Bernstein set.", The Guardian : "Medea was arguably Maria Callas's greatest achievement, and this version, taped at La Scala in 1953, is the finest “
) Leonard Bernstein (conductor), orchestra and choir of the Teatro alla Scala Milan. Maria Callas (Medea), Gino Penno (Giasone), Giuseppe Modesti (Creonte), Maria Luisa Nache (Glauce), Fedora Barbieri (Neris). Warner Classics 563879, EMI Classics 5 67909 2, Fonit Cetra CDE 3002 - September 1957 (studio recording; abridged; Italian; Opernwelt CD tip: “artistically valuable”): Tullio Serafin (conductor), orchestra and choir of the Teatro alla Scala Milan. Maria Callas (Medea), Mirto Picchi (Giasone), Giuseppe Modesti (Creonte), Renata Scotto (Glauce), Miriam Pirazzini (Neris). Dischi Ricordi CD: ACDOCL 201 (2 CD), Everest LP: S-437/3, EMI CD: 7 63625 2.
- September 2011 (video; live from Brussels; first French version; Gramophone rating: “Every aspect of this production is a triumph vindicating Cherubini's forward-looking genius”): Christophe Rousset (conductor), Krzysztof Warlikowski (director), Les Talens Lyriques . Nadja Michael (Médée), Kurt Streit (Jason), Vincent le Texier (Créon), Hendrickje van Kerckhove (Dircé), Christianne Stotijn (Néris). Bel Air Classiques BAC076 (DVD).
Web links
- Médée : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Libretto (French), Paris 1797. Digitized at Google Books
- Libretto (Italian / English), London 1865. Digitized in the Internet Archive
- Libretto (German), Berlin 1875. Digitized version of the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main . With the recitatives by Franz Lachner and an introduction to the work by Hermann Mendel .
- Libretto (Italian), Milan 1909. Digitized from the Museo internazionale e biblioteca della musica di Bologna
- Libretto (French) as full text on operafolio.com
- Action by Médée (Cherubini) on Opera-Guide landing page due to URL change currently not available
- Performances (1770–1830) by Médée in the DFG opera project
- Discography on Médée at Operadis
- Work information and table of contents at Klassika.info
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Klaus Hortschansky : Médée. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , pp. 558-561.
- ↑ a b c d e Médée. In: Harenberg opera guide. 4th edition. Meyers Lexikonverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-411-76107-5 , pp. 157-158.
- ↑ a b c Wulf Konold : Medea (Médée). In: Rudolf Kloiber , Wulf Konold , Robert Maschka: Handbuch der Oper. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag / Bärenreiter, 9th, expanded, revised edition 2002, ISBN 3-423-32526-7 , pp. 102-105.
- ↑ Luigi Cherubini and the changing times. Part 2 (PDF). Manuscript of the SWR2 music lesson from September 14, 2010, accessed on March 3, 2017.
- ^ Médée (Cherubini). In: Reclam's Opernlexikon. Philipp Reclam jun., 2001. Digital Library, Volume 52, p. 1669.
- ↑ March 13, 1797: “Médée”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ a b c d e Stephen C. Willis: Médée (II). In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ November 6, 1802: "Medea". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ^ Médée (Luigi Cherubini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on March 3, 2017.
- ↑ May 7, 1953: "Medea". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ Stanford University physicists use X-rays to uncover long-lost notes of historic 1797 opera blacked out by its composer after critics complained it was too long. In: Daily Mail , June 2013, accessed June 12, 2013.
- ↑ SLAC X-rays resurrect 200-year-old lost aria. In: Stanford News , June 2013, accessed June 12, 2013.
- ^ Discography on Médée at Operadis.
- ↑ Mike Ashman: Cherubini Medea
- ↑ Tim Ashley Cherubini: Medea: Callas / Bernstein et al , December 20, 2002.
- ↑ Luigi Cherubini. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings. Zeno.org , volume 20.
- ↑ Mike Ashman: Review of Christophe Rousset's DVD on Gramophone , accessed February 27, 2017.
- ↑ Inclusion by Christophe Rousset (2008) in the Médée discography at Operadis.