Le comte Ory

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Work data
Title: The Count Ory
Original title: Le comte Ory
Title page of the music edition, Paris 1828

Title page of the music edition, Paris 1828

Original language: French
Music: Gioachino Rossini
Libretto : Augustin Eugène Scribe and Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson
Premiere: August 20, 1828
Place of premiere: Salle Le Peletier of the Opéra , Paris
Playing time: approx. 2 ¼ hours
Place and time of the action: Formoutiers in Touraine (France) at the time of the Crusades
people
  • Le comte Ory, the count, lord of the castle ( tenor )
  • Le Gouverneur, tutor of the Count (Bass)
  • Isolier, Page of the Count ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Raimbaud, companion of the count in his follies ( bass )
  • Four knights, friends of the count (four tenors)
  • La comtesse Adèle de Formoutiers, Countess ( soprano )
  • Ragonde, porter of Formoutiers Castle (mezzo-soprano)
  • Alice, a young peasant woman (mezzo-soprano)
  • Crusaders, knights from the entourage of the count, squires, farmers, ladies-in-waiting of the countess ( choir )

Le comte Ory (Eng .: The Count Ory ) is a comic opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini . The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson based on the vaudeville piece Le comte Orry et les nonnes de Farmoutier . The work was premiered on August 20, 1828 at the Opéra in Paris and is Rossini's penultimate opera.

action

first act

A rural area.

In the background on the left the Formoutiers castle with a drawbridge. On the right side there are groups of trees, behind which you can see the entrance to a hermitage.

Scene 1-3. The lovable Count Ory is after the beautiful widowed Countess Adèle. She and her ladies are entrenched in their Formoutiers castle (introduction: “Jouvencelles, venez vite”). Their husbands went to war as crusaders, and the ladies made a vow to remain absolutely chaste until the men return. Ory tries it first as a hermit and, together with his friend Raimbaud, receives the farmers and their donations in front of his hermitage. He reveals to the girls, including Alice, who they will one day marry. Then there is Ragonde, the porter of Formoutiers, who asks the hermit to see her mistress too. She is sad because her brother is also on the crusade, and the hermit should free her from this sadness. He then answers the girls' more discreet questions in the hermitage. The rest of the crowd goes off.

Scene 4-7. Now Isolier ( trouser role ) appears, the count's page, with his tutor. He was ordered by the duke to bring his son Ory, who left his father's court eight days ago without permission, back home (aria: “Veiller sans cesse”). The page is the countess's cousin and also in love with her. When the girls come back from the hermitage and praise the holy man who has been here for eight days, Isolier suspects that it is the Count. Alice tells the tutor that the countess will also visit the hermit. Isolier then asks the hermit to help him overcome the pride of the beloved, virtuous woman (duet: “Une dame de haut parage”). He plans to dress up as a pilgrim to gain entry to the castle. Ory immediately appropriates this idea.

Scene 8–9. The countess, accompanied by Ragonde, comes to the hermitage, where she is surprised to see Isolier (aria: “En proie à la tristesse”). The hermit describes the countess's oath to live in eternal widowhood as the cause of her suffering and frees her from this oath. She thanks him for it, and Isolier sees his chance to approach the countess. The hermit, however, warns them about Isolier, who is the page of the notorious Count Ory. When the countess wants to lead the hermit to the castle, the tutor appears with the knightly entourage. He recognizes first Raimbaud and then Ory immediately, and he admits to being the count himself. The women are horrified and the count is furious that the educator has foiled his plan (Finale I: “Ciel! Ô terreur! Ô peine extrême”). Ragonde hands the Countess a letter from the Duke, who reads it aloud: The crusade is over and the crusaders would return in two days. The count says to himself that he has one more day left to get to his destination.

Second act

Production design for the last scenes of the opera, around 1830

The Countess's bedroom

Two side doors, one door in the background. On the left a day bed and a table with a lamp burning. On the right a window cross.

Scene 1–2. The countess is sitting in the castle with her ladies and is embroidering a scarf, the ladies also do handicrafts. They are outraged by the cheek with which Ory presented himself as a holy man (introduction: "Dans ce séjour calme et tranquille"). A violent storm is approaching, which finally breaks out with great force. Behind the scene, one hears voices of people seeking refuge in the castle, who are actually Count Ory, his knights, the tutor and Raimbaud. They have disguised themselves as pilgrims and ask to be admitted with disguised voices; they were on the run from the count and his entourage.

Scene 3–5. The leader of the “Pilgrims”, actually Count Ory, asks for a conversation with the Countess (duet: “Ah! Quel respect, Madame”). The countess is surprised when the pilgrim kisses her hands stormily. When the other pilgrims arrive, the count introduces them as his "brothers" and can just correct the slip of the tongue. When the men are alone, they are happy about the successful prank (choir of knights: "Ah! La bonne folie!"). Only wine is missing for a feast. Raimbaud comes in with a basket of wine bottles. He found the owner's wine cellar. He eloquently tells of his dangerous coup to bring his booty with him (aria: "Dans ce lieu solitaire" - choir of knights: "Buvons, buvons soudain").

Scene 6-8. Ragonde comes to make sure that the “pilgrims” don't miss anything. They quickly hide the bottles under their cloaks and present themselves as grateful, pious pilgrims. At the Countess's behest, they finally retire to their bedchamber.

Scene 9. Now Isolier appears in front of the lock. He gains entry by delivering an important message: that the Crusaders returned home at midnight and wanted to surprise their women. But the Duke had given orders to inform the women in good time so that the surprise might not be too sudden. Isolier explains to the women that the pilgrims are none other than Count Ory and his entourage. The ladies are horrified and run apart.

Scene 10. Isolier warns the countess about Ory and puts on her veil to camouflage (trio: “A la faveur de cette nuit obscure”). Both take a seat on the sofa in the dark. Ory steps up and answers the question who is there: "Sister Colette". He takes Isolier's hand, believing it is the countess, presses her to his heart, falls on his knees and declares his love for her. A bell and trumpets sound, the ladies rush into the room with torches. Now Ory sees his mistake and threatens isolation. But he says that the Duke, the Count's father, has also returned. His anger would hit him, and the count's companions and knights would end up in prison.

Scene 11. Isolier opens a secret door so that the count and his cronies can go unnoticed. The duke and the crusaders enter with the countess's brother, the women throw their husbands into the arms, the countess her brother. This one hugs Isolier. The opera ends with a hymn to the knights, their glorious deeds and the power of love (Finale II: “Écoutez ces chants de victoire”).

layout

Instrumentation

The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:

Music numbers

The opera contains the following musical numbers:

  • overture

first act

  • No. 1. Introduction: "Jouvencelles, venez vite" (scene 1)
    • recitative
  • No. 2. Aria (governor): "Veiller sans cesse" (scene 4)
    • recitative
  • No. 3. Duet (Isolier, Ory): "Une dame de haut parage" (scene 7)
    • March and recitative
  • No. 4. Aria (Countess): "En proie à la tristesse" (scene 8)
    • recitative
  • No. 5. Finale I: “Ciel! Ô terreur! ô peine extrême "(scene 9)

Second act

  • No. 6. Introduction: "Dans ce séjour calme et tranquille" (scene 1)
    • recitative
  • No. 7. Duet (Countess, Ory): “Ah! quel respect, Madame "(scene 3)
    • recitative
  • No. 8. Choir of Knights: “Ah! la bonne folie! "(scene 4)
    • recitative
  • No. 9. Aria (Raimbaud): "Dans ce lieu solitaire" (scene 5)
    • recitative
  • No. 10. Choir of Knights: "Buvons, buvons soudain" (scene 5)
    • recitative
  • No. 11. Trio (Countess, Isolier, Graf): "A la faveur de cette nuit obscure" (Scene 10)
  • No. 12. Finale II: "Écoutez ces chants de victoire" (scene 11)

Acquisitions from Il viaggio a Reims

Rossini took the following numbers from Il viaggio a Reims :

Il viaggio a Reims Le comte Ory
No. 1: Introduction
“Presto, presto” (Maddalena, choir),
G major, 558 bars 		No. 2 (1st act): Introduction
“Jouvencelles, venez vite” (Raimbaud, Alice, choir) in
G major, 625 bars
No. 2:
“Partir, o ciel” (Countess),
E flat major, 246 bars 		No. 4 (1st act):
“En proie à la tristesse” (Countess, choir) in
G major, 227 bars
No. 5:
“Nel suo divin sembiante” (Corinna, Cavaliere Belfiore) in
A major, 324 bars 		No. 7 (2nd act):
"Ah quel respect, madame" (Countess, Ory) in
A major, 292 bars
No. 6:
“Medaglie incomparabili” (Don Profondo) in
E flat major, 309 bars 		No. 9 (2nd act):
“Dans ce lieu solitaire” (Raimbaud),
E flat major, 292 bars
No. 7:
Gran pezzo concertato a 14 voci in
A major, 450 bars 		No. 5 Finale (1st act):
“Ciel! Ô terreur, ô peine extrême! “
(Countess, Ory, Isolier, Raimbaud, Ragonde, Alice, Gouverneur, Chor)
A major, 449 bars

Work history

Emergence

Rossini was looking for a way to use individual numbers from his occasional opera Il viaggio a Reims (1825), written for the coronation of King Charles X , in an opera independent of the occasion. Scribe and Delestre-Poirson presented him with a vaudeville piece that has gone into the libretto of the second act con Le comte Ory . About half of the score could be taken from Il viaggio , the rest was newly composed; in the first act only one number, while in the second act only the duet Adèle / Ory and the aria Raimbauds were taken over. However, the parts taken over underwent major changes and adjustments, including a significant reduction in the number of people. In any case, there can be no question of a mere new infusion: "... Rossini used his new mastery in dealing with French recitative and ensemble treatment to turn the comedy into a fully valid masterpiece, honed in every detail ..." In accordance with the customs of the Paris Opera Rossini on spoken dialogues and developed through-composed scenes. Rossini treated the individual numbers from Il viaggio here in the sense of his "serious" French operas such as Moïse et Pharaon (1827). "The musical and dramatic result is unique in opera history: an inseparable combination of Italian verve in inventing melodies and Gallic charm, of arrogance and 'sensibilité' ..."

Performance history

The first performance of Le comte Ory took place on August 20, 1828 under the musical direction of François-Antoine habeneck in the Salle Le Peletier of the Opéra . Laure Cinti-Damoreau (Comtesse Adèle), Constance Jawureck (Isolier), Mlle Mori (Ragonde), Adolphe Nourrit (Comte Ory), Henry-Bernard Dabadie (Raimbaut) and Nicholas-Prosper Levasseur (Governor) sang . The performance was an enthusiastically celebrated triumph. There were 60 performances in the first year and the opera stayed in the repertoire for twenty years. In 1853 there was a new staging, first in honor of the wedding of Napoleon III. and Eugénie was performed. In the 19th century the opera was given there for the last time in 1884. It was initially played on other European stages, for example in Berlin in 1829 and in Italy from 1830 in Italian. Like many other Rossini operas, the opera was forgotten in the 20th century. It was not until 1952 that the work was performed again as part of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (with Sári Barabás as Adèle, Giulietta Simionato as Isolier, Nicola Monti as Ory and Renato Capecchi as educator). Since then, there have been new productions on a regular basis, albeit sporadically; In 2011 the opera was staged in Geneva , Zurich (first performance of the critical new edition) and at the New York Met (DVD recording available), in 2014 at Scala and in 2015 in the opera studio of the Bavarian State Opera in the Cuvilliéstheater , directed by Marcus H. Rosenmüller .

  • Costumes from the world premiere in 1828

  • Le comte Ory (Adolphe Nourrit)

  • La comtesse (Laure Cinti-Damoreau)

  • Ragonde (Mlle Mori)

  • Isolier (Constance Jawureck)

Recordings

Le comte Ory has appeared many times on phonograms. Operadis lists 15 recordings in the period from 1956 to 2006. 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.

Web links

Commons : Le comte Ory  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Details on the critical new edition by Damien Colas at Bärenreiter-Verlag , accessed on April 25, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b c d Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater. Vol. 5. Works. Piccinni - Spontini. Piper, Munich and Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-492-02415-7 .
  3. ^ Richard Osborne: Rossini - life and work. Translated from the English by Grete Wehmeyer. List Verlag, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-471-78305-9 .
  4. ^ A b Herbert Weinstock : Rossini - A biography. Translated by Kurt Michaelis. Kunzelmann, Adliswil 1981 (1968), ISBN 3-85662-009-0 .
  5. ^ Philip Gossett , Maja Kamprath (transl.): Masterpiece of French charm. "Le comte Ory" in a new edition. In: [t] akte - Das Bärenreiter-Magazin. 2/2010 , accessed April 26, 2016
  6. ^ Anthony Tommasini: With Rossini's Mix of This and That, the Met Finds an Excuse for a Romp. In: New York Times . March 25, 2011 (Review)
  7. ↑ James Imam: The quotidian and the absurd: La Scala's rib-tickling Le Comte Ory. Performance review from July 7, 2014 on bachtrack.com (English) , accessed March 5, 2016.
  8. ^ Robert Braunmüller: Rossini's “Le Comte Ory” with the opera studio of the Bavarian State Opera. In: Münchner Abendzeitung . April 14, 2015 (premiere review)
  9. ^ Discography on Le comte Ory at Operadis, accessed on November 7, 2016.
  10. ↑ a b Richard Osborne: Review of the Gardiner recording from 1988 by Gramophone , accessed on April 26, 2016.
  11. ↑ a b c d e Gioacchino Rossini. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all opera complete recordings. Zeno.org , volume 20.
  12. ↑ a b c CD tips on “Le comte Ory” on Klassika , accessed on April 26, 2016.
  13. ↑ “Le Comte Ory” in its original form. Message from December 16, 2010 on baerenreiter.com ( Memento from April 26, 2016 in the web archive archive.today ).
  14. ↑ Richard Osborne: Review of the Zurich recording from 2012 at Gramophone , accessed on April 26, 2016.
  15. ^ Review of the Zurich performance on concertonet.com , accessed on April 26, 2016.