Le juggler de Notre-Dame
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Le juggler de Notre-Dame |
Poster of the premiere |
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| Shape: | Opera in three acts |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Jules Massenet |
| Libretto : | Maurice Léna |
| Literary source: | Anatole France in his collection L'Étui de nacre |
| Premiere: | February 18, 1902 |
| Place of premiere: | Opera Garnier |
| Playing time: | approx. 1 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Cluny in the 14th century |
| people | |
Le jongleur de Notre-Dame is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet (music) with a libretto by Maurice Léna . In the program she is referred to as Miracle in Three Acts . The work is based on the novella of the same name by Anatole France in his collection L'Étui de nacre .
Work history
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The premiere took place on February 18, 1902 at the Opéra Garnier in Monte Carlo . The part of Jean was originally written for a tenor voice. However, because of Mary Garden's popularity in the United States , most of the role was sung by a soprano.
The opera was performed in some European and North American opera houses at the beginning of the 20th century, but never became a permanent part of the usual operatic repertoire. The premiere at the Opéra-Comique in Paris took place on May 10, 1904. By the end of 1950 the opera had been shown 356 times. The work is occasionally performed at opera festivals, for example in 1984 at the Wexford Festival Opera or in 2005 at the Massenet Festival in St. Etienne . Occasionally there are concert performances, for example in 2017 in the Canadian city of Halifax .
In 1978 the entire opera was recorded for the first time in stereo with Alain Vanzo as Jean. This recording was reissued as a compact disc in 2003 .
action
Jean, a juggler, is confronted by the prior for singing vulgar songs in front of the monastery of Cluny . Due to his impoverished and hungry situation, Jean asks to join the order of monks and befriends the monastery cook, Boniface. Jean witnesses the monks giving lavish and beautiful gifts to the recently completed statue of the Virgin Mary. He then decides to do what he does best: juggle. He sneaks into the chapel late at night and juggles in front of the statue until he collapses from exhaustion. The other monks enter in horror and are about to grab Jean to punish him for blasphemy. At that moment a heavenly light begins to shine, the statue of the Virgin comes to life and blesses Jean. Suddenly he understands the traditional Latin language of the Catholic Mass and sees the Virgin ascending to heaven, who invites him to follow her. In a state of bliss, he collapses dead.
Sound carrier (selection)
- 1978: Alain Vanzo (Jean), Jules Bastin (Boniface), Marc Vento (le Prieur); Orchestra and choir of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo , conductor: Roger Boutry (EMI-Pathé)
- 2007: Roberto Alagna (Jean), Stefano Antonucci (Boniface), Francesco Ellero d'Artegna (le Prieur); Orchester National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, Conductor: Enrique Diemecke (DG)
Individual evidence
Web links
- Le jongleur de Notre-Dame : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Score (Heugel, 1902) as a digitized version on bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr
- Libretto (English) as full text on opera.stanford.edu
- Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (Jules Massenet) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Discography of Le Jongleur de Notre-Dame at Operadis