Henriette Méric-Lalande

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henriette Méric-Lalande, around 1827 lithograph by Josef Kriehuber

Hénriette Clémentine Méric-Lalande ( November 4, 1798 in Dunkerque - September 4, 1867 in Chantilly ) was a French opera singer ( soprano , soprano sfogato ). She worked almost exclusively in Italy and was known there under her Italianized name Enrichetta Méric-Lalande . She is considered one of the great prima donnas of the early romantic bel canto opera of the 1820s and 1830s. Several important roles were played for her a. a. composed by Vinzenzo Bellini , Gaetano Donizetti , Giacomo Meyerbeer and Giovanni Pacini .

biography

Henriette was the daughter of the conductor Jean Auguste Lamiraux, known as Lalande, from whom she probably received her first music lessons. She made her debut in Nantes in 1814 at the age of 16 , and in the following years sang on various stages in the French provinces. After her marriage to the horn player Jules Prosper Méric, she carried the double name Méric-Lalande. In Paris she was noticed by the music critic Castil-Blaze , and in 1823 she took lessons from the famous tenor and singing teacher Manuel García . She then went to Milan to continue her studies with Bonfichi and Banderali. As her following career at the most important opera houses in Italy and her collaboration with the greatest opera composers in Italy shows, by this time her voice had developed into a dramatic coloratura soprano of wide scope and great flexibility, with spectacular coloratura skills. Within a very short time she rose to become one of the leading singers of the era.

Already in 1823 and 1824 Méric-Lalande performed at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, where she sang the title role in the world premiere of Stefano Pavesi's Egilda di Provenza on December 26, 1823 ; together with the alto Brigida Lorenzani , the castrato Giovanni Battista Velluti and the tenor Gaetano Crivelli . In the same line-up, she was heard in the world premiere of Ilda d'Avenel by Francesco Morlacchi on January 20, 1824 , and on March 8, 1824 as the first Palmide in Giacomo Meyerbeer's most successful Italian opera Il crociato in Egitto .

Henriette Méric-Lalande lithograph by Charles Ch. (Sic)

In September of the same year she sang in La rosa bianca e la rosa rossa by Johann Simon Mayr in Cremona , after which she was again at La Fenice in Venice in the 1824–1825 season, where she performed in operas by Giacomo Cordella , Pavesi, and in Rossini's Mosè appeared in Egitto as Elcia, as well as in the title role of his Zelmira , in the two Rossini operas the famous tenor Giovanni David and the bass Antonio Tamburini sang at her side .

In October 1825 the Lalande sang Rossini's Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra in Bologna , and at the end of the year she traveled to Turin , where she was performed at the Teatro Regio 1825–1826 as Desdemona in Rossini's Otello , and later in the world premiere of Bianca di Messina by Nicola Vaccai could see and hear.

By April 1826 at the latest she was at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples , where her collaboration with Vincenzo Bellini began, whose Bianca e Gernando had its world premiere on May 30th; the famous tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini sang at her side . In July she was Gaetano Donizetti's first Elvida , and Zobeida in his Alahor in Granata . She also sang the title role in the world premiere of Carlo Contis (1796–1864) Olimpia in October 1826 , again with Rubini. She also worked on a revival of Meyerbeer's Il crociato (this time under the title Il cavaliere Armando d'Orville in Egitto ).

In 1827 the Méric-Lalande was on tour in Vienna , where she a. a. appeared in Giovanni Pacini's Gli Arabi nelle Gallie, o sia Il trionfo della fede . In August she was already in Milan , where she played the role of Ottavia alongside Rubini and Tamburini at La Scala in Pacini's successful opera L'ultimo giorno di Pompei . On October 27, 1827, Bellini's Il pirata was also premiered at La Scala in Milan , again with Rubini and Tamburini; he had written the role of Imogene especially for Lalande.

This was now at the peak of her career. Performances of Rossini's Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra (from December 26, 1827), and in 1828 of Nicola Vaccais Saladino e Clotilde (February; premiere), Rossini's Otello (April), Pacinis I cavalieri di Valenza (June; WP ), Donizetti's L'Esule di Roma (July), Carlo Coccias L'orfano della selva (from November; WP ), and Rossini's L'assedio di Corinto (from December 26, 1828).

Enrichetta Méric-Lalande as Alaide in La straniera by Bellini, Milan 1829

In 1829 Bellini composed two more leading roles for Enrichetta Méric-Lalande: the Alaide in La straniera at La Scala in Milan (premiere on February 14th), and the Zaira in Parma (premiere on May 16th). During her guest performance in Parma in the spring and summer of 1829, she also sang Rossini's Semiramide (May 30, under the title La morte di Semiramide - The Death of Semiramis). the Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia (June 13th), and the Zilia in Luigi Ricci's Colombo (June 27th; premiere).

After that she could be heard again in Milan: in revivals of Bellini's Il pirata (summer 1829; Teatro alla Conobbiana), and Bianca e Fernando (from September 5), and in the world premiere of Carlo Conti's Giovanna Shore (October 31).

After such a dense program of the most difficult prima donna roles and strenuous journeys, it is not surprising that the music critic Henry Chorley said in 1829 that the Méric-Lalande was slowly getting vocal problems because he noticed a slow vibrato in her ; thanks to her spectacular temperament, however, she is said to have managed to compensate for this problem to a certain extent.

At the beginning of 1830 Bellini's La straniera was once again on the program at La Scala in Milan, and in March she sang Pacini's Giovanna d'Arco (WP) with Rubini and Tamburini there. Then the Méric-Lalande traveled back to France, and appeared in the Paris Théâtre-Italy in Pacini's L'ultimo giorno di Pompei ; here it should not have pleased the audience as much as they had hoped, possibly because of the vocal weaknesses mentioned, or because the Paris audience had a slightly different taste. In 1831 she could also be heard in London , where she sang Rosina in Rossini's Barbers at the King's Theater in the Haymarket .

The Mèric-Lalande returned to Italy. She sang less often from now on, probably out of a very sensible consideration for her voice. In Milan she created the title role of his Lucrezia Borgia on December 26th, 1833 at La Scala for Gaetano Donizetti , including with Marietta Brambilla in the trouser role of Maffio Orsini. The Lalande is said to have insisted on a virtuoso aria finale , which the composer had not originally planned; Donizetti then wrote the highly dramatic coloratura aria "Era desso il figlio mio", which today is one of the breakneck highlights of this opera.

From February 6, 1834, Donizetti's Parisina followed , still in La Scala in Milan. In early 1835 she appeared at La Fenice in Venice in Bellini's I Capuleti ei Montecchi , and on March 21, 1835 in the world premiere of Giovanni Pacini's Carlo di Borgogna ; this opera as a whole was unsuccessful and was even felt by Pacini himself as such a great failure that he withdrew from the stage for a few years. Enrichetta Méric-Lalande received positive reviews, e.g. B. wrote the newspaper L'Apatista about her:

“The Lalande, always a singer of the highest order, unfolded all her art in the extremely difficult Cavatina, and in the Rondò she received applause, which is only the deserved reward for her services. In the ensembles and especially in the finale of the first act, their peaks are clear and strong and project wonderfully; such artists (like Lalande and Grisi, translator's note) are the delight of our audience with good reason. "

- L'Apatista : from the review of Pacini's “Carlo di Borgogna”, Venice 1835

Shortly before, Enrichetta could also be heard at the Teatro Grande in Trieste in Mercadante's Emma d'Antiochia (Carnival 1835); and in Trieste she sang Desdemona again in Rossini's Otello (autumn 1835) in the autumn of the same year .

Her career was now drawing to a close. By autumn 1837 at the latest, Lalande was in Palermo , where she sang Donizetti's Gemma di Vergy and in 1838 his Anna Bolena . Her last roles on stage were Mercadante's Il giuramento , Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia (under the title Alfonso duca di Ferrara ). and Queen Elisabetta in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux , all three in the autumn of 1838 and again in Trieste; her partners in these three performances were the tenor Francesco Pedrazzi, the young baritone Giorgio Ronconi and the mezzo-soprano Marietta Brambilla.

After that, Enrichetta Méric-Lalande withdrew from the stage forever. She went back to France and died almost 30 years later in Chantilly.

literature

  • Roland Mancinik, Jean-Jacques Rouveroux: Le Guide de l'opéra. Fayard, 1986, ISBN 2-213-01563-5 .
  • Don White: Meyerbeer in Italy. Booklet text for CD Giacomo Meyerbeer - Il crociato in Egitto. Opera Rara (ORC 10), 1991/1992.

Web links

Commons : Henriette Méric-Lalande  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. If here and in the following there is talk of world premiere, it does not mean that Méric-Lalande only appeared in this one performance, but that the part in question was composed for her. The abbreviation UA ​​(for premiere) in brackets indicates the same situation.
  2. If not otherwise stated, all of the following information about performances by Henriette Méric-Lalande comes from Corago.
  3. ↑ Back then the standards were much tougher than they are today, when even young singers sometimes make their debut with a relatively strong vibrato. In the 20th century, a strong and intentionally produced vibrato mode was sometimes even introduced.
  4. German translation from English.
  5. The Brambilla only sang in Il giuramento and Lucrezia Borgia .

Individual evidence

  1. Egilda di Provenza (Stefano Pavesi) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on 19 October 2017th
  2. ^ Ilda d'Avenel (Francesco Morlacchi) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Il crociato in Egitto (Giacomo Meyerbeer) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  4. ^ Mosè in Egitto (Gioachino Rossini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  5. Zelmira (Gioachino Rossini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  6. ^ Il cavaliere Armando d'Orville in Egitto (Giacomo Meyerbeer) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  7. Gli Arabi nelle Gallie, o sia Il trionfo della fede (Giovanni Pacini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  8. ^ L'ultimo giorno di Pompei (Giovanni Pacini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  9. Il pirata (Vincenzo Bellini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  10. Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra (Gioachino Rossini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  11. La morte di Semiramide (Gioachino Rossini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  12. Colombo (Luigi Ricci) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  13. ^ Giovanna d'Arco (Giovanni Pacini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  14. a b c d Jeremy Commons: Booklet text on the CD Giovanni Pacini - Carlo di Borgogna. Opera Rara (ORC 21), 2002.
  15. Lucrezia Borgia (Gaetano Donizetti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  16. Il giuramento (Saverio Mercadante) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  17. Alfonso duca di Ferrara (Gaetano Donizetti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.
  18. ^ Roberto Devereux (Gaetano Donizetti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna , accessed on October 19, 2017.