Les Danaïdes
| Work data | |
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| Title: | Les Danaïdes |
Title page of the first edition of the score in Paris (1784) |
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| Shape: | Tragédie lyrique |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Antonio Salieri |
| Libretto : | François Bailly du Roullet and Louis Théodore Baron de Tschudi |
| Literary source: | Ranieri de 'Calzabigi |
| Premiere: | April 26, 1784 |
| Place of premiere: | Opéra , Paris |
| Playing time: | about 2 hours |
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Les Danaïdes (German: Die Danaiden ) is a tragedy lyrique in five acts by Antonio Salieri, the text of which is by François Bailly du Roullet and Louis Théodore Baron de Tschudi, based on an Italian version by Ranieri de 'Calzabigi .
The premiere took place on April 26, 1784 in the Opéra de Paris .
Salieri's opera, dedicated to the French Queen Marie Antoinette , was initially announced as a joint production between the composer and his friend and sponsor Christoph Willibald Gluck . After the overwhelming success of the premiere, Gluck announced in the renowned Journal de Paris that Salieri was the sole author of the work.
With this work Salieri joined Gluck's immediate successor , following his first operatic reformation approaches in Armida (1771) and L'Europa riconosciuta (1778). The well-composed work gives the choir an extraordinarily important role, which directs the main focus from the love drama between Hypermnestre and her fiancé Lyncée to the mass wedding of the Danaids and the monstrous massacre during the wedding night. The opera closes with an impressive tableau vivant showing the sisters of Hypermnestre in Tartarus, tormented by demons. Particularly noteworthy is the development of the role of Hypermnestra, who already anticipates the Spontinis and Cherubinis operas in her major solo scenes .
action
first act
Temple on the seashore
Danaus and Lyncée swear at the altar to the goddess Juno to end all disputes between their families. On this occasion the fifty daughters of Danaus are to be married to the fifty sons of Egyptus. Hypermnestre and Lyncée praise their future happiness (duet “Oublions tous ces jours de peine”). General dance.
Second act
Underground room of the palace, dedicated to the goddess Nemesis
Danaus reveals to his daughters that the reconciliation with Egyptus is only a disguise of his brother. This wants to overthrow him and seeks his life. Under the cloak of friendship, the latter hides an implacable hatred for him.
Danaus orders his daughters to murder their husbands on their wedding night. They should swear vengeance in front of the statue of the nemesis. The Danaids obey. Danaus takes a bundle of daggers from the altar and distributes them to his daughters (aria “Je vous vois frémir de colère” and chorus “Oui, qu'aux flambeaux des Euménides, l'Hymen allume ses flambeaux”). Hypermnestre, appalled by the terrible plan, refuses to swear the required oath. Danaus threatens and curses them.
Hypermnestre laments her fate, which forces her to choose her family or Lyncée (aria “Foudre céleste! Je t'appelle!”).
Third act
Decorated garden, dedicated to Bacchus and the wedding gods
The wedding of the young couple is celebrated. Danaus and the newlyweds come to celebrate the festival with dancing and singing. Hypermnestre refuses to receive the wedding bowl from Lyncée's hand. She fled because she was afraid of her father's persecution (aria “Mon père… mon époux… Dieux!”). Lyncée wants to follow her, but is held back by Danaus. The choir celebrates the happiness of the new couples. Each couple is led into their wedding chamber ( pantomime in G major).
Fourth act
Gallery with entrances to the wedding rooms
Hypermnestre begs her father for mercy. Their pleading, their tears and their lamentations cannot soften his heart. Danaus demands obedience. He leaves her, only the palace guards remain with the order to occupy the door of the bridal chamber.
The desperate hypermnestre has only one wish: Lyncée may leave her (aria “Vous qui voyez l'excès de ma faiblesse”). This tries to persuade her to flee and, when she refuses, accuses her of falsehood (aria “Au peine aux autels d'Hymenée”). The fear of the consequences for her father prevents her from making a confession (duet "Hélas! Que ne puis-je te suivre dans les déserts les plus affreux!"). Pélagus announces the sign of murder, Lyncée wants to rush to the aid of his brothers. Behind the scene you can hear the screams of the unfortunate (chorus “Arrête, arrête, implacable furie!”). Hypermnestre sinks to the floor, passed out.
Fifth act
Gallery with entrances to the wedding rooms
Hypermnestre wakes up and weeps for her husband, whom she believes dead (aria “Père barbare, arrâche-moi la vie”). Danaus appears and asks his daughter if she killed Lyncée. She says no. In conversation with her father, she learns that Lyncée escaped the massacre. Danaus puts the disobedient in chains and orders that Lyncée be found. The Danaids want to complete their father's revenge after he has told them about Lyncée's flight (chorus "Gloire! Gloire! Évan!"). In the meantime, Lyncée has rallied his warriors and invades the palace. Danaus has Hypermnestre brought to sacrifice her. When he is about to take action, Pélagus lunges at him and stabs him. Hypermnestre passes out. Darkness falls, the earth shakes, it thunders. Lyncée and his soldiers flee. The palace is sinking, struck by lightning.
transformation
Hell with the shore of a sea of blood, in the middle a rock
The Danaids, tied up in groups, are tormented by demons and snakes and tormented by furies; Danaus is forged on the rock, his bloody entrails are eaten away by a vulture. The sisters try in vain to appease the tormenting demons. While the theater is filled with their screams, constant rain falls.
Performance history
At the Paris Opera, Les Danaïdes was on the program a total of 127 times from 1784 to 1827, and shortly after the premiere the piece was broadcast into German, Danish and Russian and played in numerous European cities. The opera found countless admirers among Salieri's contemporaries. a. Ludwig van Beethoven , Gaspare Spontini or Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold , Victor Hugo and Franz Liszt ; Richard Wagner and Charles Gounod were still familiar with the piece. Hector Berlioz , who attended a performance of the opera in 1822, was exuberantly enthusiastic about Salieri's composition and decided to break off his medical studies and devote himself exclusively to music. Honoré de Balzac discusses Salieri's creation in the second part of his Illusions perdues .
Adaptation to a German opera
Around 1807, Salieri reworked the opera under the title Danaus into a four-act German opera - probably at the request of Beethoven's patron Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz - with the poet Franz Xaver Huber making significant changes to the plot of the piece. Salieri composed some new arias and ensembles for this. The entire work was probably not performed, only the concert performance of the two choirs “Down in the lap of Amphitrite” (III.3) and “Love follows Bacchus in the escort” (III.6) can be documented Concert of the Vienna Society of Music Friends on January 7, 1816.
Revised version for the Paris revival in 1817
For the Paris resumption in 1817, Salieri reworked a few numbers and wrote several new dance movements. His colleague Spontini , who directed the resumption, also wrote a large bacchanal as a ballet interlude . The general public continued to be enthusiastic, while critical voices viewed the work as out of date.
Recent performances and recordings
Les Danaïdes have recently seen some new productions, for example in 1983 in Perugia, 1986 in Vienna and Montpellier with Montserrat Caballé in the role of Hypermnestre under Gianluigi Gelmetti, in 1990 in Ravenna with the Italian soprano Daniela Dessì under the baton of Claudio Scimone , 1996 in Verona and Zurich, and in 2006 concert at the Ludwigsburg Palace Festival under the direction of Michael Hofstetter and at the Festivales musicales in Buenos Aires. In 1990 a CD production of the opera with the Südfunk Choir and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra was released, as well as a post-production of the Ludwigsburg performance in 2007. The opera's ballet music was published on CD in 2008, along with other Salieri's overtures and ballets. In 2013, Les Danaïdes by Christophe Rousset and the Talens Lyriques were given in concerts in Paris and Vienna. In 2015 a recording of these performances was released on the French music label Palazzetto Bru Zane.
The overture to the opera is now part of the repertoire of various orchestras and has been documented by numerous CD and radio productions.
Web links
- Les Danaïdes (Antonio Salieri) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Work data for Les Danaïdes based on the MGG with discography at Operone
- Les Danaïdes : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- First print of the score for Les Danaïdes in the Virtual Rare Book Room of the University of North Texas