Yelva, the Russian orphan
Yelva, the Russian Orphan ( Yelva ou l'Orpheline russe ) is a play by Eugène Scribe that premiered on March 18, 1828 at the Théâtre du Gymnase-Dramatique Paris. It is one of the most popular dramas of the 19th century. The piece also belongs to the genres vaudeville and melodrama . The main role is a silent role .
Scribe's collaborators Théodore Ferdinand Vallou Devilleneuve and Armand Chapeau are listed as co-authors. The original music comes from Antoine François Heudier, a ballet master at the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique .
action
I. act
Simple apartment in Paris: the rich Russian Tchérikof asks for the hand of the charming Yelva, who, like him, comes from Russia. From her governess Mme Dutilleul he learns that Yelva has been mute since she had to see her father's death as a child. As an orphan , she grew up in a foster family. However, this does not prevent Tchérikof from advertising. Yelva finds him likeable, but turns him down, and Tchérikof soon finds out that a wedding is already planned between Yelva and Alfred, the son from her foster family. Tchérikof generously promises to be there as best man. Suddenly, Yelva's stepmother, Mme de Césanne, appears and explains to her that her husband has got into financial difficulties that could only be solved by Alfred marrying a rich Russian heiress. Yelva renounces the wedding and leaves. When Alfred appears with the wedding party without meeting the bride, everyone assumes that Tchérikof has kidnapped them.
II. Act
Rich Polish-Russian country estate: Tchérikof welcomes Alfred and his mother. It turns out that Alfred Tchérikof's cousin Foedora is supposed to marry. Alfred still suspects that Tchérikof kidnapped Yelva, but accepts his fate and offers the rival a second time to be best man. When Mme de Césanne is alone, Yelva knocks on the door, who has found the country estate disguised as a Russian peasant woman. Mme de Césanne takes Yelva under her care. Yelva learns from Foedora about her upcoming wedding to Alfred. Alone with Tchérikof, Yelva discovers that the house is not unknown to her. She tries to explain to him that she played here as a child. Alfred catches the two and is now convinced that Tchérikof has betrayed him. A duel seems inevitable. In the meantime, Yelva has been able to use her medallion to prove that the woman depicted on it is identical to a painting showing the deceased landlady. She is Tchérikof's sister. By shouting “Alfred” with the last of her strength, she finds her voice again and can prevent the dueling from the fatal shot.
Melodrama and Vaudeville
Known melodies are inserted into the piece as vaudeville , to which new texts are sung. Yelva cannot sing and only pantomime to the music . The familiar melody indicates what Yelva is trying to say. The melody for “Je t'aimerai toute la vie” (I will love you all my life) sounds (played by the orchestral instruments without singing), while she assures Alfred of her loyalty (I / 6), or the melodies “Balançons- nous ”(we rock) and“ Un bandeau couvre les yeux ”(a bandage covers the eyes) to their attempts to explain to Tchérikof that they once played here as children (II / 13). Anyone who recognizes the melodies that came from the theater's repertoire pieces, i.e. were not unknown to the regular audience, understands Yelva's gestures better than her brother.
The mute main role and the meaning of text and visual media within the plot correspond to the genre melodrama : letters, Yelva's medallion and the painting showing her mother bring about recognition (and at the same time the overcoming of her muteness).
mime
The words for the instrumental (and non- diegetic ) music roughly correspond to what Yelva tries to express with her gestures. Recognition of the melody (as a supplement to the text - singing along was common in vaudeville) thus occurs parallel to understanding the gestures:
Act II, scene 10:
- MADAME DE CESANNE. But say, since that terrible disaster that separated you from your guide, what has become of you in this deserted area?
- [the romance from Léonide, ou la Vieille de Suresne (1823) by Victor Henri Joseph Brahain Ducange sounds ]
- YELVA. tells her that she was left to herself, with no money and almost no clothes; she suffered; she froze pitifully; and she always went straight ahead without meeting anyone; she went on; always on; thought he was dying of tiredness and cold
- [the refrain of the Petite Mendiante ("Little Beggar Woman", 1828) by Brisset sounds ]
- and when she met someone she held up her hand, fell on her knees and said: Have pity on a poor girl.
- MADAME DE CESANNE. Sky! Forced to beg ...
Performances
Yelva was interpreted by actresses (like Constance Le Gaye ) as well as by dancers (like Fanny Elssler or, later, Lucile Grahn ). The piece had a meaning in the early days of classical ballet .
Important premieres to be mentioned are: Hofoper Dresden 1828 (German by Theodor Hell , music by Carl Gottlieb Reissiger ), Theater in der Josefstadt Vienna 1829 (German by Margarethe Bernbrunn , music by Franz de Paula Roser ), Royal Opera House Covent Garden London 1829 (Music by Henry Bishop ), Burgtheater Vienna 1830, Bad Pyrmont 1832 (music by Albert Lortzing ), Copenhagen 1835, Berlin Court Opera 1849.
The melodramatic setting by Reissiger was able to establish itself in the German-speaking area, and the work remained in the repertoire for a long time. The critic Hugo Wolf was still angry about the "disgusting touching comedy" in 1885 and said that the play allowed the actors to stand out inappropriately: the opera was "not because of the singing and ballet staff, but they are there for the opera" .
As a two-act piece, Yelva was usually combined with another one-act play or similar performances. A performance in Schönberg (Mecklenburg) around 1864, for example, is followed by “4 marble pictures in Bengali lighting ”.
literature
- Eugène Scribe: Œuvres complètes , nouvelle édition, vol. 3, Paris: Delahays 1858, pp. 59–72.
- Hans-Georg Ruprecht: Theater audience and text perception: a text-sociological study on the reception and effect of Eugène Scribe's theater pieces in the German-speaking area , Bern: Lang 1976. ISBN 978-3261014665
Individual evidence
- ↑ Richard Batka, Heinrich Weber (ed.): Hugo Wolfs musical reviews, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel 1911, p. 231
- ↑ Weekly advertisements for the Principality of Ratzeburg , No. 6, February 5, 1864 http://wafr.lbmv.de/wafr_org.php?action=1864-02-05&nr=6&s=4