La Juive
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Jewess |
| Original title: | La Juive |
Cornélie Falcon as Rachel in La Juive , 1835 |
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| Shape: | Grand opéra in five acts |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Jacques Fromental Halévy |
| Libretto : | Eugène Scribe |
| Premiere: | February 23, 1835 |
| Place of premiere: | Paris Opera , Salle Le Peletier |
| Playing time: | up to approx. 4 ¼ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Constance , 1414 |
| people | |
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La Juive (German title: Die Jüdin ) is a grand opéra in five acts by Jacques Fromental Halévy with a libretto by Eugène Scribe . The premiere was on February 23, 1835 at the Paris Opera . La Juive is considered to be Halévy's most important work.
action
prehistory
The action of the opera takes place in Konstanz at the time of the council of 1414. The political events of this turbulent time determine the fate of the people involved. The focus is on the Jewish goldsmith Éléazar and his daughter Rachel.
It preceded the following story: Éléazar, who lived in Rome, saved the daughter of the magistrate Brogni from the flames during a raid by Neapolitan troops, although he had both his sons executed. Éléazar raises the girl without his knowledge as his own daughter Rachel in the Jewish faith and takes her to Konstanz as an exile . Because of this history, the goldsmith has become tough, dogmatic and inflexible and seeks revenge . In the meantime Brogni, after the alleged loss of his family through the conflagration, entered the clergy and rose to cardinal position , has come to Constance, where he is to open the forthcoming council.
short version
Because his audible hammering disturbs the calm of the Christian holiday, which is prescribed because of the opening of the Council, Éléazar is to be punished as a heretic . The Grand Vogt demands death for him and his daughter in a quick judgment.
Rachel has fallen in love with a man who only pretends to be Jewish, but who is actually the Christian ruler Léopold. In addition, Léopold is married to Eudoxie, the emperor's niece . Out of jealousy, Rachel denounced her lover as a seducer, and a tribunal led by Cardinal Brogni sentenced the lovers and Éléazar to death.
Rachel lets herself be persuaded by the pleading request of Princess Eudoxie to withdraw her accusation against Léopold and thus obtains his pardon. She herself could stay alive by converting to the Christian faith, but decides to die together with her supposed father. At the moment of her gruesome death in a boiling kettle, Éléazar reveals Rachel's true identity to the former magistrate and current Cardinal Brogni: She is his daughter, who was believed to be lost and who had rescued Éléazar unnoticed from a conflagration. While Éléazar dies triumphantly, Brogni collapses.
The following table of contents and the division of scenes is based on the libretto published in 1841 in the complete edition of Scribe's works. The names of the musical numbers are taken from the piano reduction published by Maurice Schlesinger (without the year [1835], reprinted by Henry Lemoine ). The texts of both editions differ in some places.
first act
Place in front of the cathedral in Constance
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Scene 1. After Prince Léopold has won a great victory in the fight against the Hussites , cheering people gathers in the cathedral (“Te Deum laudamus”). Only the Jewish jeweler Éléazar does not allow himself to be dissuaded from his work and thereby arouses the displeasure of the people. His daughter Rachel pushes him back into the shop just to be on the safe side. Albert, a sergeant of the imperial guard, recognizes the disguised imperial prince himself in the crowd and informs him that Emperor Sigismond wants to come to Constance today to open the council. Léopold takes a look at Rachel's house, with whom he has a secret relationship.
Scene 2. Grand Duke Ruggiero reads out a proclamation by the emperor in which he announces a great festival. The cheers of the people are disturbed by the loud hammering of Éléazar. Ruggiero orders the guards to take him out of his house as a punishment.
Scene 3. The soldiers drag Éléazar and Rachel over, and Ruggiero condemns them both to be burnt at the stake.
Scene 4. Before the two of them are led away, Cardinal Brogni appears on the church steps and demands clarification about what has happened. Brogni and Éléazar recognize each other because they had both previously lived in Rome. Brogni was not a clergyman then and had a family that is now dead. Éléazar hates Brogny, who banished him from Rome and put his sons to the stake. Brogny is now in a mild mood. He releases the Jews and asks Éléazar for forgiveness (Cavatine: "Si la rigueur et la vengeance"). However, Éléazar cannot give up his hatred of Christians. He is brought back to his house with Rachel and the congregation breaks up.
Scene 5. After the square is empty, Léopold carefully approaches his lover's house and serenades her until she steps on the balcony and answers his song (serenade: “Loin de son amie”). In the unclear about his true identity, Rachel believes that he is a co-believer named Samuel. Since the situation on the square seems too uncertain for her, she invites him to her father's house for the evening.
Bells announce the beginning of the celebrations. People pour in. There are disputes between some drunk people (chorus: "Ah! Quel heureux destin"). Some people start dancing. As Rachel and her father try to cross the square, the crowd pushes them against the church walls.
Scene 6. Ruggiero is outraged to see the two Jews so close to the church gate. He incites the people against them, and the crowd decides to drown them in the lake. The two are taken in different directions.
Scene 7. Rachel sees her lover Samuel in the crowd and warns him that the hatred of Jews has broken out. Léopold fearlessly draws his sword and drives away the mob. The people call in soldiers to support them. Léopold orders their leader Albert to stop with a powerful gesture, and to Rachel's astonishment the soldiers obey him (“Ah surprise nouvelle!”).
Scene 8. Éléazar, who was able to free himself from the hand of his enemies, rushes over. The crowd immediately turned against him, but at another sign from Léopold, Albert ended the hunt with a word of power. The act closes with the appearance of the imperial pageant.
Second act
Room in Éléazar's house
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Scene 1. In the evening Éléazar, Rachel, Samuel / Léopold and the Jewish residents sit at the meal (prayer: “Ô dieu de nos pères”). Léopold throws away the ritual bread in an unobserved moment. When there was a knock at the door, everything was cleared away as a precaution. While Éléazar goes to the door, the others withdraw.
Scene 2. Followed by two Imperial servants, Princess Eudoxie enters the room. She is Léopold's official fiancé and wants to order jewelry from the jeweler to honor him (trio: “Tu possèdes, dit on”). Léopold hopes she doesn't notice him. A deal is quickly reached, and Éléazar is supposed to bring the jewelry to her palace the following day. Éléazar leads Eudoxie out.
Scene 3. Rachel asks Léopold to clarify what happened during the day. He promises to come back later that evening and explain everything to her.
Scene 4. Éléazar leads Léopold to the door and says a farewell blessing.
Scene 5. Rachel hopes that her lover keeps her word (romance: "Il va venir!").
Scene 6. Upon his return, Léopold confesses that he is a Christian. Rachel collects herself quickly (duet: "Lorsqu'à toi je me suis donnée"). Although she knows that a connection between Christians and Jews is usually punished with the death of both, she is ready to leave her father in order to flee with her lover (ensemble: “Prés de celle que j'aime”).
Scene 7. Éléazar surprises the two of them before they leave and immediately sees through the situation (trio: “Je vois son front coupable”). When he learns that Léopold is a Christian, he becomes enraged and wants to kill him. Rachel manages, however, to appease him. Now Éléazar is even ready to give them his blessing on marriage. Suddenly Léopold declares that he cannot marry Rachel. Such a wedding is a sacrilege. Éléazars curses him and Rachel vows to discover his secret. Léopold hurries away.
Third act
Marquee in the gardens of the imperial residence
Scene 1. The emperor sits at the table with his guests, including Léopold and Eudoxie. In the background soldiers keep the people at a distance. Everyone celebrates with song and dance (choir: "Sonnez, clairons"). The emperor thanks with a gesture and withdraws. Eudoxie now announces that she wants to honor the hero of the day (Léopold).
Scene 2. Éléazar and Rachel step out to hand over the ordered jewelery to Eudoxie and recognize Léopold among the guests. Their horror does not go unnoticed (Ensemble: "O surprise! O terreur nouvelle!"). Only Eudoxie admires the piece of jewelery unmoved. She asks Léopold to kneel and accept it as an engagement present. Rachel throws herself between the two and exclaims that Léopold has a relationship with a Jewish woman - herself. After the first horror (ensemble: “Je frissonne et succombe”) has subsided, Éléazar calls on the noble ones to punish Léopold. Brogni curses the Jews and excommunicated the prince (“Vous qui du Dieu vivant outragez la puissance” - chorus: “Sur eux anathème!”). Ruggiero and the guards arrest Éléazar, Rachel and Léopold.
Fourth act
Hall in the courthouse
Scene 1. With reference to an order from the cardinal, Eudoxie demands to be able to speak to Rachel (“Du Cardinal voici j'ordre suprème”).
Scene 2. Rachel is led here by the guards. She openly shows her contempt for Eudoxie and is determined to die with her lover. Eudoxie, however, begs her to at least save Léopold. This is possible if she declared in court that he was innocent. Rachel realizes that she still loves Léopold. She decides to make an appropriate confession. Eudoxie moves away.
Scene 3. Brogni comes to take Rachel to court. She assures him that she will make a confession. She no longer has any hope for herself, but wants to save "him" and die. Brogni feels sorry for her. He wants to try to save her with Éléazar's help.
Scene 4. Brogni advises Éléazar to convert to Christianity in order to save his daughter from the stake (duet: “La fille en ce moment est devant le concile”). Éléazar firmly rejects this. He wants to die as a pious Jew, but threatens to take revenge before he dies. He reminds the cardinal of the day in Rome when he lost his family in the flames of his palace and informs him that his daughter was saved by one of the Jews present. Only he himself knows their fate, but will take the secret with him to the grave. Brogni enters the courtroom, shaken.
Scene 5. Left alone, Éléazar wrestles with himself. Although he is not Rachel's real father, he loves her like a daughter. He finds it difficult to sacrifice her for his revenge. He implores God for enlightenment (aria: "Rachel, quand du Seigneur la grâce tutélaire"). Outside the people loudly demand the death of the Jews.
Fifth act
Great place; at the end of it a large kettle which is heated by a fiery brazier
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Scene 1. The people are looking forward to the upcoming spectacle in which the condemned Jews are to be thrown into boiling water (people: “Quel plaisir”).
Scene 2. Éléazar and Rachel are led into the square from opposite sides. Rachel throws herself fearfully into her father's arms. He says goodbye to her in the hope of an early reunification.
Scene 3. Ruggiero reads out the death sentence for Éléazar and Rachel (“Le concile prononce un arrèt rigoureux”). Léopold, on the other hand, was pardoned for exile because Rachel protested his innocence. To confirm this, she publicly repeats her confession and explains that she only accused Léopold out of jealousy.
Scene 4. Brogni and the councilors appear and announce the imminent execution of the sentence. Brogni begs Éléazar to reveal his secret, but he is silent. Instead, he asks Rachel if instead of dying she would become a Christian and live in high rank. Rachel refuses indignantly. She is led to the boiler. At the moment of her death, Éléazar calls out to the cardinal: “Your child is there!” Brogni breaks down with an outcry. Éléazar throws him a triumphant look and follows Rachel with a firm step into death.
layout
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (the second also piccolo ), two oboes (also cor anglais ), two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns (2 also à pistons), four trumpets (2 also à pistons), three trombones , ophicleide
- Timpani , percussion : bass drum , cymbals , triangle , tambour, tam-tam , anvils in g and g '
- harp
- organ
- two guitars
- Strings
- Incidental music : tambour, bells in g and c ''
Music numbers
The piano reduction published by Maurice Schlesinger (without the year [1835], reprinted by Henry Lemoine ) contains the following musical numbers:
first act
- overture
- No. 1. Introduction: "Te Deum laudamus" (scene 1)
- No. 2. Cavatine (Brogni): "Si la rigueur et la vengeance" (scene 4)
- No. 3. Serenade (Léopold): "Loin de son amie vivre sans plaisirs" (scene 5)
- No. 4. Choir: "Hâtons-nous, car l'heure s'avance" (scene 5)
- No. 5. Choir of Drinkers: “Ah! quel heureux destin "(scene 5)
- No. 6. Waltz
- No. 7. Finale: "Noël, tout la bas le cortège s'avance"
Second act
- No. 8. Between act music, prayer and cavatine: "Ô Dieu de nos pères" (scene 1)
- No. 9. Trio (Eudoxie, Éléazar, Léopold): "Tu possèdes, dit on" (scene 2)
- No. 10. Romance (Rachel): "Il va venir et d'effroi" (scene 5)
- No. 11. Duet (Rachel, Léopold): "Lorsqu'à toi je me suis donnée" (scene 6)
- No. 12. Trio (Léopold, Rachel, Éléazar): "Je vois son front coupable" (scene 7)
Third act
- No. 13. Aria: "Tandis qu'il sommeille"
- No. 14. Duet: "Que d'attraits qu'elle est belle"
- No. 15. Bolero (Eudoxie): "Mon doux Seigneur et Maître"
- No. 16. Recitative and choir: "Oh jour mémorable, ô jour de splendeur"
- No. 17. Mime and ballet
- No. 18. Finale
- A) Choir: "Sonnez, clairons" (scene 1)
- B) "Je frissonne et succombe et d'horreur et d'effroi" (scene 2)
- C) curse: "Vous qui du Dieu vivant outragez la puissance" (scene 2)
- D) "Sur eux anathème, le Ciel même les a proscrits" (scene 2)
Fourth act
- No. 19. Scene and duet (Eudoxie, Rachel): "Du Cardinal voici j'ordre suprème" (Scene 1)
- No. 20. Duettino (Eudoxie, Rachel): "Le Cardinal Madame en ce lieu doit se rendre" (scene 2)
- No. 21. Duet (Brogni, Éléazar): "La fille en ce moment est devant le concile" (scene 4)
- No. 22. Aria (Éléazar): "Rachel, quand du Seigneur la grâce tutélaire" (scene 5)
Fifth act
- No. 23. Choir: "Quel plaisir" (scene 1)
- No. 24. Funeral march
- No. 25. Finale: "Le concile prononce un arrèt rigoureux" (scene 3)
Work history
La Juive is one of the most important works of the French grand opéra . In the world premiere, the main roles were cast with the greatest stars of the Paris Opera: the tenor Adolphe Nourrit sang the role of Éléazar, and his daughter Rachel became one of Cornélie Falcon's star roles . The coloratura soprano Julie Dorus-Gras played Princess Eudoxie, and Cardinal de Brogni played the famous bass Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur .
The story was considered a memorial to the conflict between Christianity and Judaism. Appreciated by Giuseppe Verdi and Peter Tschaikowski as well as Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler , La Juive became a serial success: by 1893 it was performed 550 times at the Paris Opera alone. The work was performed for the first time in Vienna on March 3, 1836 and was on the repertoire of the Vienna State Opera until 1933 . In Munich the opera was on the program until 1931. During the time of National Socialism , when the composer was ostracized as a Jew in the lexicon of Jews in music , she disappeared from the repertoire of all of Europe - and remained forgotten for decades.
The director and general manager John Dew campaigned vehemently for the work and staged it in 1988 in Bielefeld, 1993 in Nuremberg and 1994 in Dortmund. The international renaissance of La Juive did not begin until 1999 at the Vienna State Opera . Günter Krämer staged there and Simone Young conducted it . Rachel and Éléazar were prominently cast with Neil Shicoff and Soile Isokoski . The Viennese production was seen in 2003 at the New York Metropolitan Opera , subsequently also at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv and at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.
In February 2007, during Gerard Mortier's directorship , the Opéra National de Paris brought out a highly acclaimed new production of the work at the Opéra Bastille - directed by Pierre Audi and conducted by Daniel Oren . The Éléazar in turn embodied Neil Shicoff, the Rachel was taken over by Anna Caterina Antonacci . The premiere was affected by a partial lighting strike, which was not announced to the public, but received some enthusiastic reviews. This production was taken over by De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam in 2009 .
New productions followed in 2008 at the Zurich Opera and the Württemberg State Opera in Stuttgart, and in 2016 at the Mannheim National Theater and the Nuremberg State Theater .
Also in 2016, at the Munich Opera Festival , the work found its way back into the repertoire of the Bavarian State Opera for the first time since 1931 . It was directed by Calixto Bieito , and it was conducted by Bertrand de Billy . The leading roles were starring Aleksandra Kurzak (Rachel), Roberto Alagna (Éléazar), John Osborn (Léopold), Vera-Lotte Boecker (Eudoxie) and Ain Anger (Brogni). The staging of Bieitos eschewed pomp and historical localization, tried to reduce it to elementary conflicts between people and ideologies. In the interview, the director described the opera as a "song against fanaticism". On the stage he let the cardinal wash the feet of the Jew whose sons he had executed - and kiss them. While the musical performances were enthusiastically received by the audience, the director received mixed reactions.
Roberto Alagna (Éléazar), Aleksandra Kurzak (Rachel), John Osborn (Léopold)
The cardinal washes Éléazar's feet
Rachel in the final scene
In April 2015 Peter Konwitschny staged La Juive at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp and Gent , starring Roberto Saccà , Asmik Grigorian and Dmitry Ulyanow , and Tomáš Netopil conducted. In 2016 this production was played in Mannheim - with Zurab Zurabishvili , Astrid Kessler and Sung Ha under Alois Seidlmeier - and received the German Faust Prize of 2016 in the category “Best Director in Music Theater”. This production premiered on April 7, 2017 at the Slovak National Theater in Bratislava (with Michal Lehotský , Jolana Fogašová and Peter Mikuláš under Robert Jindra ) and was in the repertoire there until April 20, 2018.
In Konstanz , the historical location of the work, there is no suitable stage for such an opera. A version premiered there on June 14, 2018, which was performed at three different venues in the historic city center. It began in the open air courtyard of the Kulturzentrum am Münster, then led to the former St. Johann church and ended in the Luther Church . The main roles were starring Kristian Benedikt, Gustavo de Gennaro (both Éléazar), Yana Kleyn (Rachel), Francisco Brito (Prince Léopold), Justyna Samborska (Princess Eudoxie), Tadas Girininkas (Cardinal Brogni) and Vladislav Pavliuk (Captain Ruggiero). The music was rearranged by Alexander Krampe , for an orchestra conducted by Hermann Dukek with 17 instruments, including the accordion and electric guitar. Instead of Halévy's overture, music by the Jewish composer Viktor Ullmann , who was murdered in the concentration camp, was played. With this version, the director Johannes Schmid aimed to concentrate on the main human conflicts of the work and created a version that could be played away from the opera stage, which also included the audience and staged the change of location through the city center as part of the action. The premiere was enthusiastically received by the audience.
literature
- Hugh Macdonald: "La Juive." In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London 1992, ISBN 0-333-73432-7 .
- Program of the Stuttgart State Opera , u. a. with a German translation of the libretto by Claire Leich-Galland, revised and supplemented by Sergio Morabito.
Recordings / sound carriers
- Philharmonia Orchestra , Conductor: Antonio de Almeida - ( Jose Carreras , Éléazar; Julia Varady , Rachel, June Anderson , Eudoxie). 1989. Philips CD 420 190-2.
Web links
- La Juive : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Libretto (French) in the complete edition of the works of Eugène Scribe. Digitized at Google Books , pp. 54–72
- Libretto (German), Munich around 1840. Digitized version of the Munich Digitization Center , based loosely on the French by Friederike Ellmenreich
- La juive (Fromental Halévy) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
Individual evidence
- ↑ In Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater and the relevant opera guides (Harenberg, Reclam, Csampai / Holland, Kloiber) the duration is given as 3½ or 3 hours. The production of the Stuttgart State Opera from 2008, however, without taking the breaks into account, took 4 ¼ hours. See the information in the program archive of the Stuttgart State Opera from March 16, 2008 .
- ^ Libretto (French) in the complete edition of the works of Eugène Scribe. Digitized at Google Books , pp. 54–72.
- ^ Sieghart Döhring : La Juive. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 2: Works. Donizetti - Henze. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-492-02412-2 , pp. 638-642.
- ↑ Peter Tschaikowski: Die Tagebücher , Berlin 1992, p. 4.
- ^ Arnold Jacobshagen : Between the score and the director's book , Halévy's ›La juive‹ and the tradition of opera staging. In: Frontal Halévy: La Juive - Die Jüdin, opera in five acts, libretto by Eugène Scribe, program book of the Stuttgart State Opera, March 16, 2008, pp. 53 to 61.
- ^ Michael Jahn : Viennese historical opera guide. Volume 4. The apple, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-85450-174-9 .
- ^ Forum Opera: Jacques Fromental Halévy (1799–1862): La Juive , accessed on June 27, 2016.
- ^ Opera: Crisis? What Crisis? , April 2007, S 8, accessed from the web cache on June 27, 2016.
- ^ Opern- & Konzertkritik Berlin: KRITIK LA JUIVE PREMIERE OPERNFESTSPIELE MÜNCHEN BIEITO: ALEKSANDRA KURZAK ROBERTO ALAGNA VERA-LOTTE BÖCKER JOHN OSBORN AIN ANGER , June 27, 2016, accessed on the same day.
- ^ BR-Klassik : With the performance "La Juive - die Jüdin" ( memento from June 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) , report by Gaby Weber , June 26, 2016, accessed on June 27, 2016, video no longer available.
- ↑ La Juive: Grandiose production of an opera rarity. Retrieved August 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Sensual and thoughtful. Retrieved August 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Regional magazine seemoz (Konstanz): "Scheiterhaufen, Currywurst und Schampus" , preliminary report , June 6, 2018, accessed on June 15, 2018.
- ↑ regional magazine seemoz (Konstanz): "Love, Faith, manslaughter" , meeting the premiere of Harald Borges , June 15, 2018 called on the same day.