Sigurd (opera)

Last updated
Sigurd
Opera by Ernest Reyer
Ernest Reyer.jpeg
The composer in 1893
Librettist
LanguageFrench
Based on Nibelungenlied
Premiere
7 January 1884 (1884-01-07)

Sigurd is an opera in four acts and nine scenes by the French composer Ernest Reyer on a libretto by Camille du Locle and Alfred Blau. Like Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung , the story is based on the Nibelungenlied and the Eddas, with some crucial differences from the better known Wagnerian version (the role of the supernatural is limited and replaced in large part by fate; the initial version of the libretto with a prologue set in heaven was later cut out). The whole opera can best be described as an epic with techniques of the grand opera.

Contents

Initially sketched out in 1862 (and virtually completed in draft by 1867), the work waited many years before it was performed in full. Orchestration of various fragments progressed much more slowly, and as they were completed, they were sometimes performed at various concerts. Initial attempts at staging the work at the Paris Opéra failed, therefore the opera had its world premiere in the Théatre de la Monnaie in Brussels on 7 January 1884 (directed by Alexandre Lapissida). Within a year it was also performed with great success at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Lyon, Monte Carlo and, finally, at the Paris Opéra on 12 June 1885, (directed there by Raoul Lapissida).

In America, the opera was first performed on 24 December 1891 at the French Opera House in New Orleans, and the Teatro alla Scala in Milan performed it in 1894. Since then it has had periodic revivals (but only in France or Monaco); then, after World War II, it was staged in 1963 and 1995 at the Opéra de Marseille (the last one with Alberto Cupido in the title role). [1] The opera was also performed in 1973 in concert at studio 104 of the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF) in Paris (Manuel Rosenthal was conducting; [2] (the performance was recorded) and in 1993 at Festival de Radio France et Montpellier.

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 7 January 1884 [3]
Conductor: Joseph Dupont
Sigurd, Frankish hero tenor Julien Jourdain
Gunther, king of the Burgundians baritone Maurice Devriès
Hagen, warrior, companion of Gunther bass Léon-Pierre Gresse
Brunehild, Queen of Iceland soprano Rose Caron
Hilda, Gunther's sister mezzo-soprano Rosa Bosman  [ ca ]
Uta, Hilda's nurse contralto Blanche Deschamps-Jéhin
The high priest of Odin baritone Maurice Renaud
Rudiger baritoneM. Boussa
IrnfridtenorJean Goffoël
HawartbaritoneMansuède
RamuncbassStalport
The bardbass
Burgundian warriors, Burgundian people, Icelandic people, Priests,
Wives of Burgundian warriors, Maids to Hilda and the Queen, Valets, envoys of Attila
, etc.

In the ballets:

Instrumentation

Synopsis

Place: Worms and Iceland
Time: 5th century, time of Attila

Hilda, the younger sister of Gunther, king of the Burgundians, loves the hero Sigurd, despite the fact that she was expected to be given to Attila himself as a bride. At the instigation of her nurse (Uta) she gives Sigurd a magic potion which brings him to her feet. Sigurd, Gunther and Hagen then swear fealty to each other and set off to Iceland, where Brunehild lies asleep upon a lofty rock, surrounded by a circle of fire and some supernatural beings. There, Sigurd, to earn the hand of Hilda, must overcome those monsters. He achieves this and passes through the flames to win Brunehild for Gunther. His face is closely hidden by his visor, and Brunehild in all innocence accepts Gunther as her saviour, and gives herself to him. The secret is afterwards disclosed by Hilda in a fit of jealous rage, whereupon Brunehild releases Sigurd from the enchantment of the potion. He recognises her as the bride ordained for him by the gods, and they sing a passionate love duet, but before he can taste his new-found happiness he is treacherously slain by Gunther while hunting. His body is brought back to the palace and Brunehild mounts the funeral pyre. A powerful apotheosis ends the opera when spirits of Sigurd and Brunehild ascend to paradise, and soldiers of Attila are seen walking over corpses of Burgundians. [4]

Recordings

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Mignon</i> Opera by Ambroise Thomas

Mignon is an 1866 opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's 1795-96 novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's "The Dead" and Willa Cather's The Professor's House. Thomas's goddaughter Mignon Nevada was named after the main character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Reyer</span> French opera composer and music critic

Louis Étienne Ernest Reyer was a French opera composer and music critic.

<i>Salammbô</i> (Reyer) Opera by Ernest Reyer

Salammbô is an opera in five acts composed by Ernest Reyer to a French libretto by Camille du Locle. It is based on the homonymous novel by Gustave Flaubert (1862). Initially refused by Paris, Reyer's opera enjoyed its first performance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, on 10 February 1890, with sets designed by Pierre Devis and Armand Lynen. The Parisian premiere at the Palais Garnier took place on 16 May 1892 with costumes by Eugène Lacoste and sets by Eugène Carpezat, Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon, and Amable and Eugène Gardy.

La belle au bois dormant is an opera in three acts by Michele Carafa to a French libretto by Eugène de Planard after the tale by Charles Perrault.

<i>Fervaal</i>

Fervaal, Op. 40, is an opera in three acts with a prologue by the French composer Vincent d'Indy. The composer wrote his own libretto, based in part on the lyric poem Axel by the Swedish author Esaias Tegnér. D'Indy worked on the opera during the years 1889 to 1895, and the score was published in 1895.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Renaud</span> French opera singer

Maurice Arnold Renaud was a cultured French operatic baritone. He enjoyed an international reputation for the superlative quality of his singing and the brilliance of his acting.

Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse is a "comic ballet" by the French baroque composer Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. Although it is described as a ballet, it is sung throughout with a libretto by Charles Simon Favart.

<i>Hésione</i>

Hésione is an opera by the French composer André Campra. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. The libretto, by Antoine Danchet, is based on the Greek myth of Hesione and Laomedon.

<i>Antigone</i> (Honegger) Opera by Arthur Honegger

Antigone is an opera in three acts by Arthur Honegger to a French libretto by Jean Cocteau based on the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles. Honegger composed the opera between 1924 and 1927. It premiered on 28 December 1927 at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie with sets designed by Pablo Picasso and costumes by Coco Chanel.

<i>Le maître de chapelle</i>

Le maître de chapelle, ou Le souper imprévu is an opéra comique in two acts by the Italian composer Ferdinando Paer. The French libretto, by Sophie Gay, is based on Le souper imprévu, ou Le chanoine de Milan by Alexandre Duval (1796).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ada Adini</span> American opera singer (1855–1924)

Ada Adini was an American operatic soprano who had an active international career from 1876 up into the first decade of the 20th century. She possessed a large, expressive voice which enabled her to sing a broad range of roles that extended from the coloratura soprano repertoire to dramatic soprano parts. She made five recordings with Fonotipia Records in Paris in 1905.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agustarello Affre</span> French operatic tenor

Agustarello Affre was a French operatic tenor. He possessed a powerful, firm and exceptionally beautiful voice which garnered him the nickname the "French Tamagno" in comparison to the great Italian tenor. He was one of the leading operatic tenors in Paris from 1890 to 1911. He spent the last years of his career singing and directing operas in the United States. After World War I, he lived in retirement in France.

Éros vainqueur is an opera or conte lyrique in 3 acts and 4 scenes by composer Pierre de Bréville. The work uses a French language libretto by the poet and novelist Jean Lorrain and was dedicated by Bréville to composer Vincent d'Indy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constance Jawureck</span> French opera singer

Constance Jawureck (1803–1858) was a French mezzo-soprano opera singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol</span> French opera singer

Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol was a French operatic tenor and later baritone who sang in the world premieres of many French operas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Morère</span> French operatic tenor (1836–1887)

Jean Morère was a French operatic tenor, active from 1861 to 1871. He created the title role in Verdi's Don Carlos and sang primarily at the Paris Opera and at La Monnaie in Brussels. He was born in Couladère and died in Toulouse at the age of 50.

Joseph Royer was a Canadian operatic baritone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri Albers</span> French opera singer

Henri Albers, born Johan Hendrik Albers, was a Dutch-born opera singer who later became a French citizen. He sang leading baritone roles in an international career that spanned 37 years and was a prominent singer at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels and the Opéra-Comique in Paris, which was his base from 1900 until his death. He also sang in 36 performances with the Metropolitan Opera company from 1898 to 1899. He made many recordings for Pathé Records and specialised in the heavier baritone and basso cantante repertoire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andréa Guiot</span> French operatic soprano (1928–2021)

Andréa Guiot was a French operatic soprano. A long-term member of the Paris opera houses, she was known internationally for leading roles especially in the French repertoire, such as Gounod's Mireille and Marguerite, Massenet's Manon and Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen. She appeared as Micaëla when Carmen was first performed at the Opéra de Paris in 1959, and as Mireille in the 1000th performance of the opera at the Opéra-Comique. She performed in the world premiere of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 1965. Among her many recordings, the 1964 Carmen conducted by Georges Prêtre, with Maria Callas in the title role and Nicolai Gedda as her lover, brought her lasting fame. She appeared at major opera house in France, Europe, and the Americas. After retiring from the stage, she was a voice teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris, succeeding Janine Micheau, her own former instructor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Méloni</span> French baritone of the Paris Opera (born 1940)

Claude Méloni is a French baritone of the Paris Opera.

References

Notes

  1. In Review from around the world: Marseille, Opera News, 9 December 1995.
  2. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Sigurd, 7 July 1973" . L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  3. La Monnaie Archives
  4. Streatfield R A. The Opera. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1925.
  5. Note that both those above mentioned recordings, historical and the one of Rosenthal (1973) were the only commercially released recordings of that opera, but they are both out of print and circulation, and cannot be found easily.

Further reading