Jocelyn (opera)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Jocelyn |
Jocelyn (1888) |
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| Shape: | Opera in four acts |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Benjamin Godard |
| Libretto : | Paul-Armand Silvestre and Victor Capoul |
| Literary source: | Jocelyn by Alphonse de Lamartine |
| Premiere: | February 25, 1888 |
| Place of premiere: | Théatre de la Monnaie , Brussels |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | In the Dauphiné , around 1800 |
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Jocelyn ( op. 100 ) is an opera in four acts and eight pictures by Benjamin Godard . The libretto is by Paul-Armand Silvestre and Victor Capoul based on Jocelyn by Alphonse de Lamartine in 1836. The world premiere took place on February 25, 1888 at the Théatre de la Monnaie in Brussels .
action
first act
1st picture: Garden in front of Jocelyn's parents' house
Julie's wedding is being celebrated. Jocelyn stays apart because he feels called to be a priest; he says goodbye to his mother.
2nd picture: bright morning in a wild mountain landscape
The mountain dwellers, who live in idyllic harmony, initially receive Jocelyn, who comes to them as a refugee, with suspicion, but then recognize him as the priest who once had to flee in the clothes of a civilian. In the distance soldiers are chasing a man and his son. The hunted come closer and the man entrusts Jocelyn to the boy Laurence before he is gunned down by the pursuers. Jocelyn and the boy can escape.
Second act
1st picture: Eagle's Cave
The two fleeing people rest in a hiding place. Jocelyn makes a comment about his death, in which Laurence suffers a fit of weakness from horror. Jocelyn, who wants to help the boy, realizes that it is really a young woman.
2nd photo: Courtyard of Grenoble prison, night
You can hear thuds; someone builds a scaffold and sings to it. The bishop of Grenoble, who is in custody, has called Jocelyn and, despite his concerns about his love for Laurence, is consecrating him as a priest.
3rd picture: Lively square in Grenoble, autumn morning with a bright sunrise over the mountains
The bishop is to be executed. Except for a small group of believing women, the people are satisfied. Jocelyn gives absolution to the bishop on his way to the scaffold.
Third act
1st picture: Eagle's Cave
Laurence is waiting for Jocelyn, whose mother is determined to take her in. Jocelyn, who overheard the conversation between the two in front of the cave, steps in and announces that he is now a priest. Laurence and Jocelyn say goodbye.
2nd picture: empty street in Paris; in the middle a stately house, the upper floor is illuminated; Eve
Laurence is now a lady of society and enjoys the affection of many admirers, although she is known for her loyalty to her first love. Jocelyn, who keeps passing by her house, secretly observes her on the balcony and wants to see her again; then a distant bell reminds him of his vows.
Fourth act
Street altar of the Corpus Christi procession, opposite Laurence's apartment
Laurence feels faint and feels her death coming. She calls for a priest and Jocelyn appears. He recognizes her, but wants to hide his own identity. Only in the last moment before their death does the two meet again.
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (also piccolo ), two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two cornets , three trombones , tuba
- Percussion : bass drum , cymbals , triangle , tam-tam , snare drum , tambourine
- harp
- Strings : violin 1, violin 2, violas , cellos , double basses
- Incidental music : bells
Work history
Charles Gounod was already interested in Lamartine's text five years before the opera was written. The impetus for the creation of the opera probably came from Victor Capoul, one of the two librettists who, as a tenor, had considered the role of Jocelyn as the end of his stage career.
The plot of the opera was largely taken from Lamartine's text; The main thing was that the end was changed: at Lamartine Laurence lives impoverished in a place called Maltaverne and not wealthy in Paris ; moreover, she dies in late autumn and not on Corpus Christi .
The world premiere took place on February 25, 1888 at the Théatre de la Monnaie in Brussels . Here impacted Pierre-Émile Engel as Jocelyn, Rose Caron as Laurence L. Van best as Jocelyn's mother, Mme. Storrel as Julie, Angele Legault as a young mountaineers, Mme. Falize as a young girl, Henri Seguin as bishop, Jacques Isnardon as Laurence Father and Jules Vinche as an old man. Joseph Dupont was in charge of the musical direction, Alexandre Lapissida was responsible for the production , Armand Lynen and Pierre Devis designed the sets and Feignaert's studios provided the costumes.
On October 13, 1888, the opera was rehearsed for the last time at the Théâtre du Château-d'Eau in Paris; among others, Victor Capoul as Jocelyn and Marguerite Gay as Laurence took part.
Today the main opera is the Berceuse from the second act, “Oh! ne t'éveille pas encore ”, which was often edited in the 1920s and 1940s and recorded by Bing Crosby and Placido Domingo , among others .
literature
- Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Vol. 2. Works. Donizetti - Henze . Piper, Munich and Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02412-2 , pp. 468 f .
Web links
- Jocelyn : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Work data for Jocelyn based on MGG with discography at Operone
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles H. Parsons (Ed.): The Mellen Opera Reference Index. Volume 13. Opera Premieres. An Index of Casts A-L . Mellen, Lewiston 1992, ISBN 978-0-88946-412-4 , pp. 482 .
- ↑ Jocelyn. Les archives digitales d'opéra de La Monnaie, accessed on April 27, 2017 .
- ↑ David Hamilton (Ed.): The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia. A Comprehensive Guide to the World of Opera . Thames and Hudson, 1987, ISBN 978-0-671-61732-5 , pp. 145 .
- ↑ Ute Henseler: Godard, Benjamin (Louis Paul). In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 7 (Franco - Gretry). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2002, ISBN 3-7618-1117-9 , Sp. 1173–1177 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
- ↑ Jocelyn, opera, Op. 100 at Allmusic (English). Retrieved April 27, 2017.