Les Troyens
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Trojans |
| Original title: | Les Troyens |
Title page of the piano reduction, 1863 |
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| Shape: | Poëme Lyrique in five acts |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Hector Berlioz |
| Libretto : | Hector Berlioz |
| Literary source: | Virgil: Aeneid Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice |
| Premiere: | complete version: 5. – 6. December 1890 |
| Place of premiere: | Karlsruhe Court Theater |
| Playing time: | approx. 4 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Troy and Carthage at the time of the Trojan War |
| people | |
in Troy
in Carthage
Others
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Les Troyens ("The Trojans ") is a grand opéra composed from 1856 (original name: "Poëme Lyrique") in five acts by Hector Berlioz based on a libretto based on Virgil's Aeneis and a scene from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice .
action
First part: La prize de Troie - The capture of Troy
first act
The abandoned army camp of the Greeks in front of the city gates
No. 1. Drunk with joy at the alleged flight of the Greeks, the Trojans discover a huge wooden horse on the beach , which they believe is an offering to Pallas Athene . In the evening they want to move to the city.
No. 2. Only Cassandre ("Les Grecs ont disparu ...") sees doom approaching.
No. 3. Even her fiancé Khorèbe does not believe her and refuses to flee.
No. 4 and 5. Invasion of the Trojan protagonists and subsequent dances (“Dieux protecteurs…”).
No. 6. Silent mourning of Andromaque and her son Astyanax for the fallen Hector , accompanied by a gorgeous choir (“Andromaque et son fils…”). Cassandre, warning again, walks in the background.
No. 7. The rushing Énée reports furiously about the events on the beach. Laocoon wanted to burn the horse and was devoured by two huge snakes.
Nos. 8 and 9. The people and the Trojan dignitaries see the punishment ("Châtiment effroyable") of the Laocoon as a sign of the angry goddess and prepare the escort of the wooden horse into the city.
Nos. 10 and 11. Cassandre desperately sings about the approaching doom. The slowly swelling song of the convoy can be heard. Nothing can stop the march. Even the noise of the guns that can be heard inside the horse does not stop the people.
Second act
Bedchamber in Enées Palace
No. 12. The noise of the war alarms Énée. He sees the distorted shadow of Hector in his room. This admonishes him to flee in order to lay the nucleus for a new, world-ruling empire in the distance (→ Alba Longa ).
No. 13. Panthée reports to Énée about Priam's death and the terrible losses caused by the Greek attack. Despite the hopelessness, Énée wants to face the enemy together with his son Ascagne .
No. 14. The women of Troy pray for their salvation (“Ah! Puissente Cybèle”).
Room in the palace of Priams with a gallery to a low-lying square
Nos. 15 and 16. Cassandre confirms Hector's prophecy. Her fiancé Chorèbe is dead. Together with most of the other women, she decides to die in freedom. They disdain the hesitant (“Honte sur vous”). The Greeks who join them are dismayed when the Énée escapes with the treasure of Troy.
Second part: Les Troyens à Carthage - The Troyans in Carthage
Third act
Great hall with many plants in Didon's palace, an amphitheater in front of the palace
Nos. 17 and 18. The people of Carthage celebrate the city and its Queen Didon (“Gloire à Didon…”).
No. 19. Didon commemorates the flight from Tire seven years ago ("Nous avons vu ...") and praises what has been achieved on the coast of Africa. Faced with the threat posed by the Nubian king Iarbas , the people swear allegiance to her until death.
Nos. 20, 21 and 22. Enter the builders, seamen and farmers.
No. 23. Honor of the farmers as breadwinners of the people.
No. 24. Didon sings of her melancholy after the death of her husband Sichée (Sychäus) (“Les chants joyeux…”). Her sister Anna believes in love again.
No. 25. Iopas, poet at Didon's court, enters: an unknown fleet, marked by the battle with the sea, asks for an audience. Didon granted the wish.
No. 26. Appearance of the Trojans in disguise.
27. Ascagne asks for admission and places valuable gifts at Queen Didon's feet.
No. 28. Narbal enters and reports of the approaching troops of Iarbas. Énée drops his disguise and offers to strengthen the defeated army of Carthage ("Reine, je suis Énée ..."). Didon agrees, impressed by the hero's magnificent figure. All resolutely sing the war song ("Des armes! Des armes!").
Fourth act
African forest with grotto and stream
The enemy troops are defeated.
No. 29. Mime. Lyrical scene during the hunt. Surprised by the rain, Didon and Énée seek shelter in a small cave. Surrounded by satyrs, nymphs and forest spirits in a confused dance, the two find their love.
Didon Gardens by the sea. sunset
No. 30. Anna tries to dispel the narbal's worries about Didon's idleness and her love.
No. 31. Narbal suspects a dark fate (“De quels revers…”). While Anna is delighted with her sister's new love ("Vaine terreur ...").
No. 32. Enter Didon, Énée, Panthée, Iopas and Ascagne.
No. 33.Ballet of the Slaves.
No. 34. Song of Iopas ("Ô blonde Cérès").
No. 35. Énée tells of the fate of the Andromaque. She was abducted by Pyrros (Neoptolemus), the murderer of her father-in-law. And how she finally marries him. Didon sees this as a sign that she too can forget her first husband. (“A vaincre mes remords er mon coeur est absous”).
No. 36. Septet Didon, Énée, Ascagne, Anna, Iopas, Narbal, Panthée and choir on the beauty of the moment (“Tout n'est…”).
No. 37. Didon and Énée rise in a heavenly love duet to the climax of the opera (“Nuit d'ivresse”). Mercury appears in a ray of the moon and points across the sea to Italy. In a dark voice he admonishes Providence.
Fifth act
Sea shore with the tents of the Trojans
No. 38. Song of the sailor Hylas ("Vallon Sonore").
No. 39. Panthee and the Trojan leaders fear the wrath of the gods if the fleet remains in Carthage.
No. 40. Two guards shake their heads at the desire to leave in the face of the amenities in Carthage.
No. 41. Énée knows that he has to leave Didon. Despite the terrible pain of parting ("Ah! Quand viendra ...").
Nos. 42 and 43. The shadows of Priam, Hector and Chorèbe force his immediate departure.
No. 44. Didon rushes over to see the incredible for himself. She bitterly complains about the upcoming Énées descent.
Didon's room
No. 45. Didon asks her sister Anna to implore Énée to stay at least for a few more days.
No. 46. Iopas reports on the final departure. Didon curses the Énée and the Trojans ("Dieux immortels ...").
Nos. 47 and 48. Close to madness, Didon makes the decision to die (“Adieu, fière cité”).
Part of Didon's seaside gardens
No. 49. Against the backdrop of a huge pyre, the Carthaginians pray for the imminent death of Énée.
No. 50 and 51. In a trance, Didon stabs himself with his own sword. In the process of death, she sees the fall of Carthage.
No. 52. The people of Carthage swear eternal hatred (“Haine éternelle à la race d'Énée!”).
Instrumentation
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (2nd also piccolo ), two oboes (2nd also English horn ), two clarinets (2nd also bass clarinet ), four bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets , two pistons , three trombones , ophicleide or tuba
- Timpani , percussion : bass drum , cymbals , triangle game , drum , stirring drum , two pairs of antique small cymbals in E and F, tambourine , tam-tam
- six to eight harps
- Strings
- Incidental music on the scene: three antique double flutes or above, two soprano sax horns or trumpets, two alto sax horns or trumpets, two tenor sax horns or horns, two bass sax horns or tubas, percussion ( sistrum , tamtam, tarbuka), harp
- Incidental music behind the scene: three top small saxhorn , four Tenorsaxhörner or horns, two trumpets, three Pistons, three trombones, Ophicleide, two pairs of timpani, percussion (pool, several pairs of cymbals, thunder machine), six to eight harps
200 to 300 singers are required for the choir.
Work history
Berlioz created the composition of Les Troyens mainly between 1856 and 1858, but continued to revise it until 1864. The libretto of both parts of the opera (first and second act and third to fifth act) comes from Berlioz himself, who, in critical examination of the contemporary grand-opéra librettistics of Eugène Scribe, consciously also uses the formal language and dramaturgical conception of older models (esp . the operas of Gluck and Spontinis). The plot is essentially taken from books 1, 2 and 4 by Virgil's Aeneis as well as individual scenes from other books of the same work. He also integrated the text of the love scene between Jessica and Lorenzo from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice . The descriptions of the sets are inspired by paintings by Pierre Narcisse Guérin .
The opera was never performed in full during Berlioz's lifetime (1803–1869). Both parts can also be performed separately. Initially, on November 4, 1863, only the second part, Les Troyens à Carthage, was played. Adolphe Deloffre and the composer were in charge of the music . Directed by Léon Carvalho . Jules-Sébastien Monjauze (Énée), Estagel (Ascagne), Péront (Panthée), Anne-Arsène Charton-Demeur (Didon), M. Dubois (Anna), Jules-Émile "Giulio" Petit (Narbal), De Quercy [ Dequercy] (Iopas) and Édouard [Cabel] Dreulette (Hylas). The first performance of the first part, La prize de Troie, took place in 1879, ten years after Berlioz's death.
The first complete performance on two consecutive days was on December 6th and 7th, 1890 at the court theater in Karlsruhe under the direction of Felix Mottl in a production by August Harlacher . The German translation of the text came from Otto Neitzel . Alfred Oberländer (Aeneas), Elise Harlacher-Rupp (Ascanius) and Carl Nebe (Pantheus) sang in the three main roles . There were also Luise Reuss-Belce (Kassandra), Marcel Cordes (Chorebus), Pauline Mailhac (Hekuba and Dido), Hermann Rosenberg (Helenus and Iopas), Annetta Heller (Polyxene), Christine Friedlein (Anna), Fritz Plank (Narbal) and Wilhelm Guggenbühler (Hylas).
For a long time the work was only played in abridged and heavily edited versions. It wasn't until 1950 that both parts were performed in one evening in Boston. In 1969 in Glasgow and under the direction of Colin Davis at Covent Garden in London, the full version was given for the first time after the new critical edition.
Trivia
In the film Star Trek: First Contact , you can hear a short excerpt from the song by the young sailor Hylas (first scene, fifth act).
literature
- Klaus H. Kohrs: Hector Berlioz '"Les Troyens". Stroemfeld, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86600-083-4 .
Web links
- Les Troyens : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Libretto (French), Paris 1864. Digitized at Google Books
- Work information and libretto (French) as full text on operalib.eu
- Libretto (French) as full text on hberlioz.com
- The plot and libretto of Les Troyens in German on Opera-Guide's target page cannot be reached at the moment due to a change of URL
- Discography of Les Troyens at Operadis
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Hellmuth Kühn: Les Troyens. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 1: Works. Abbatini - Donizetti. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 .
- ↑ Andreas Münzmay, “Librettist Berlioz. The 'idée fixe' in Les Troyens and Berlioz 'relationship to the Scribe grand opéra ”, in: Thjomas Betzwieser (ed.): Von Gluck zu Berlioz. The French opera between the reception of antiquities and monumentality , Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 2015, pp. 227–250.
- ↑ November 4, 1863: "Les Troyens à Carthage". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singer lexicon . KG Saur Verlag, Munich, 1999, 2000, edition on CD-ROM (Directmedia Publishing GmbH, www.digitale-bibliothek.de )
- ↑ December 6, 1890: "Les Troyens". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ December 7, 1890: "Les Troyens". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..