Béatrice (opera)
Encyclopedia
Béatrice is a légende lyrique (opera) in four acts of 1914, with music by André Messager
and a French
libretto by Caillavet
and Flers
, after the short story La légende de Soeur Béatrix by Nodier
.
on 21 March 1914, and was subsequently produced in Buenos Aires
on 15 July 1916 and Rio de Janeiro
on 20 September 1916. The Opéra-Comique
in Paris mounted the work on 23 November 1917, with Yvonne Chazel in the title role, Charles Fontaine, Félix Vieuille
and André Baugé
among the cast conducted the composer, with a revival there in 1927 conducted by Albert Wolff with Yvonne Gall
in the title role, Félix Vieuille and Roger Bourdin
. The opera was broadcast by French radio in 1957, with Jacqueline Brumaire
in the title role, Solange Michel, Raphael Romagnonli and Robert Massard
, conducted by Gustave Cloez. The complete work lasts around two and a half hours.
As the curtain rises Béatrice relates to the other nuns the story of how the monastery came to be built. A gardener brings in flowers. Béatrice, 18 years old, claims for herself the charge of looking after the altar to the virgin; her excessive ardour earns her a rebuke.
Alone with Odile and Blandine, the devout Béatrice offers food to a gypsy woman who passes by, and who tells Béatrice’s fortune, predicting for her an existence of all the human passions; she is dismissed by Béatrice. The bishop enters, to whom Béatrice tells of her entry to the sisterhood as a result of her prayers for the recovery of Lorenzo, a young man who had returned injured from battle with the Turks.
Béatrice is stunned to hear the voice of Lorenzo approaching; he enters and pleads with for her to leave with him. She refuses but two companions of Lorenzo appear and they abduct Béatrice. When they have gone, the statue of the virgin comes to life, closes the monastery gate, takes up the cloak of Béatrice and enters the monastery.
Lorenzo joins Béatrice, who expresses her happiness living with him. Lorenzo tells Béatrice that he has invited the poet Fabrice and savant Tibério, along with Lélia, Musidora, Florise and friends, but Béatrice longs for a simple loving life with Lorenzo rather than jewels he gives her and lively convivial company. Lorenzo's friends enter, and after Béatrice repeats her simple love of Lorenzo, they all toast Venus, and all but Musidora and Lorenzo go down to the shore.
Lorenzo asks Musidora if she still loves Fabrice; they begin to sing about love, and eventually they join in a passionate embrace. Béatrice has entered unseen and witnessed this. When Lorenzo notices her she denounces his betrayal. He tries to make light of it, and then says he must go to Palermo. Béatrice pleads with him to stay. After he has left she calls for the others to return from the shore. Béatrice wildly offers herself to Tibério, and all again toast Venus.
Lorenzo appears, with Tibério; they have been travelling for four years. The gypsy asks them what they have brought back from their voyages: exotic and wonderful treasures? They reply: no, emptiness. They both complain about the wine, and Tibério goes off.
Béatrice enters, veiled and wearing miserable attire. She calls herself Ginévra, and says that she does not recognise Lorenzo; she dances at the cabaret and is a great attraction for the men who come there. Lorenzo finally agrees that she cannot be Béatrice, at which she replies: Béatrice is dead, killed by Lorenzo! Lorenzo begs forgiveness for having reduced her to this state by his unfaithfulness, saying he had never forgotten her, but when he sees her lascivious behaviour towards the locals, he flees.
Sailors and fishermen have returned, demanding that Ginévra dance for them. She does so – slowly at first, then faster and faster. The men argue over her, then a fight breaks out and Beppo falls dead. Béatrice believes that by her actions she has killed him; she leans fainting against a wall. Gradually, as if in a vision, appears the virgin of Épines fleuries and a holy choir sings.
After a prelude, Béatrice enters through the gate, penitent, broken with exhaustion and her clothes in tatters. She staggers to the altar, devoid of the statue of the virgin, as the nuns sing off-stage. The mother superior asks the virgin – dressed as Béatrice – to lead the prayers for the return of the statue.
The virgin tells Béatrice to rise, and reject the weakness of man and frailty of woman. The virgin explains who she is and tells how she took Béatrice’s place and undertook her duties in her absence; she forgives her sins while she was away. Removing her cloak she reveals a white robe and a crown of flowers. She then places the cloak across Béatrice’s shoulders, and ascends the alcove of her altar. The nuns run on and find Béatrice collapsed on the ground and the statue back in its place. As the statue of the virgin pronounces Béatrice’s name, the opera ends with a chorus of praise of nuns and angels.
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
and a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
libretto by Caillavet
Gaston Arman de Caillavet
Gaston Arman de Caillavet was a French playwright. He was the son of Albert Arman de Caillavet and Léontine Lippmann, the muse of Anatole France. In April 1893 he married Jeanne Pouquet...
and Flers
Robert de Flers
Robert de Flers was a French playwright, opera librettist, and journalist....
, after the short story La légende de Soeur Béatrix by Nodier
Charles Nodier
Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier , was a French author who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the conte fantastique, gothic literature, vampire tales, and the importance of dreams as part of literary creation, and whose career as a librarian is often underestimated by literary...
.
Background
Nodier’s work was first published in La Revue de Paris in October 1837. The story was chosen by the composer for its variety of dramatic situations; the opera is a serious lyric drama, unprecedented in Messager’s output, generally weighted towards operetta. The music critic Pierre Lalo, commenting on the Paris premiere, noted the impact of the second act love duet and considered the fourth act to be most well-written.Performance history
Béatrice was first performed at Opéra de Monte-CarloOpéra de Monte-Carlo
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house located in the principality of Monaco.With the lack of cultural diversions available in Monaco in the 1870s, Prince Charles III, along with the Société des Bains de Mer, decided on the construction of an opera house. Initially, it was Charles III's...
on 21 March 1914, and was subsequently produced in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
on 15 July 1916 and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
on 20 September 1916. The Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
in Paris mounted the work on 23 November 1917, with Yvonne Chazel in the title role, Charles Fontaine, Félix Vieuille
Félix Vieuille
Félix Vieuille was a French operatic bass who sang for more than four decades with the Opéra-Comique in Paris during the first half of the twentieth century...
and André Baugé
André Baugé
André Gaston Baugé was a French baritone, active in opera and operetta, who also appeared in films in the 1930s.-Life and career:...
among the cast conducted the composer, with a revival there in 1927 conducted by Albert Wolff with Yvonne Gall
Yvonne Gall
Yvonne Gall was a famous French operatic soprano.Gall was born and died in Paris. She trained at the Conservatoire de Paris and made her debut in 1908 at the Paris Opéra under André Messager as Woglinde in the Paris premiere of Götterdämmerung...
in the title role, Félix Vieuille and Roger Bourdin
Roger Bourdin
Roger Bourdin was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory. His career was largely based in France.- Life and career :...
. The opera was broadcast by French radio in 1957, with Jacqueline Brumaire
Jacqueline Brumaire
Jacqueline Brumaire was a French operatic soprano and later teacher.-Life and career:...
in the title role, Solange Michel, Raphael Romagnonli and Robert Massard
Robert Massard
Robert Massard is a French baritone, primarily associated with the French repertory, one of the few outstanding French opera singers of the postwar era.- Career :Massard was born in Pau, France, and was mainly self-taught...
, conducted by Gustave Cloez. The complete work lasts around two and a half hours.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... |
Premiere cast, 21 March 1914 (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... :) |
|---|---|---|
| Béatrice | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... dramatique |
Andrée Vally |
| La Vierge | soprano | |
| Musidora | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
|
| The gypsy woman | mezzo-soprano or contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
|
| The mother superior | mezzo-soprano | |
| Frosine | soprano | |
| Lélia | soprano | |
| Soeur Odile | soprano | |
| Soeur Blondine | soprano | |
| Soeur Monique | soprano | |
| Lorenzo | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Charles Rousselière |
| Tibério | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Joseph Royer |
| The bishop of Palerme | bass | Robert Marvini |
| Fabrice | tenor | André Gilly |
| Fabio | tenor | |
| Beppo | baritone | |
| The gardener | tenor | |
| Chorus: Nuns, fishermen; angels. | ||
Act 1
A courtyard of the Abbaye d’Épines fleuries. On the right a grill looking out over the countryside, on the left the entrance to a chapel.As the curtain rises Béatrice relates to the other nuns the story of how the monastery came to be built. A gardener brings in flowers. Béatrice, 18 years old, claims for herself the charge of looking after the altar to the virgin; her excessive ardour earns her a rebuke.
Alone with Odile and Blandine, the devout Béatrice offers food to a gypsy woman who passes by, and who tells Béatrice’s fortune, predicting for her an existence of all the human passions; she is dismissed by Béatrice. The bishop enters, to whom Béatrice tells of her entry to the sisterhood as a result of her prayers for the recovery of Lorenzo, a young man who had returned injured from battle with the Turks.
Béatrice is stunned to hear the voice of Lorenzo approaching; he enters and pleads with for her to leave with him. She refuses but two companions of Lorenzo appear and they abduct Béatrice. When they have gone, the statue of the virgin comes to life, closes the monastery gate, takes up the cloak of Béatrice and enters the monastery.
Act 2
A terrace by the sea; on the left a couch, beyond the terrace can be seen a canopy of trees in a garden leading down to the shore. The voice of a fisherman is heard in the distance.Lorenzo joins Béatrice, who expresses her happiness living with him. Lorenzo tells Béatrice that he has invited the poet Fabrice and savant Tibério, along with Lélia, Musidora, Florise and friends, but Béatrice longs for a simple loving life with Lorenzo rather than jewels he gives her and lively convivial company. Lorenzo's friends enter, and after Béatrice repeats her simple love of Lorenzo, they all toast Venus, and all but Musidora and Lorenzo go down to the shore.
Lorenzo asks Musidora if she still loves Fabrice; they begin to sing about love, and eventually they join in a passionate embrace. Béatrice has entered unseen and witnessed this. When Lorenzo notices her she denounces his betrayal. He tries to make light of it, and then says he must go to Palermo. Béatrice pleads with him to stay. After he has left she calls for the others to return from the shore. Béatrice wildly offers herself to Tibério, and all again toast Venus.
Act 3
A poor fishermen’s tavern on the Calabrian coast. The gypsy, Beppo, Fabio and others carouse.Lorenzo appears, with Tibério; they have been travelling for four years. The gypsy asks them what they have brought back from their voyages: exotic and wonderful treasures? They reply: no, emptiness. They both complain about the wine, and Tibério goes off.
Béatrice enters, veiled and wearing miserable attire. She calls herself Ginévra, and says that she does not recognise Lorenzo; she dances at the cabaret and is a great attraction for the men who come there. Lorenzo finally agrees that she cannot be Béatrice, at which she replies: Béatrice is dead, killed by Lorenzo! Lorenzo begs forgiveness for having reduced her to this state by his unfaithfulness, saying he had never forgotten her, but when he sees her lascivious behaviour towards the locals, he flees.
Sailors and fishermen have returned, demanding that Ginévra dance for them. She does so – slowly at first, then faster and faster. The men argue over her, then a fight breaks out and Beppo falls dead. Béatrice believes that by her actions she has killed him; she leans fainting against a wall. Gradually, as if in a vision, appears the virgin of Épines fleuries and a holy choir sings.
Act 4
Scene : the same as the first actAfter a prelude, Béatrice enters through the gate, penitent, broken with exhaustion and her clothes in tatters. She staggers to the altar, devoid of the statue of the virgin, as the nuns sing off-stage. The mother superior asks the virgin – dressed as Béatrice – to lead the prayers for the return of the statue.
The virgin tells Béatrice to rise, and reject the weakness of man and frailty of woman. The virgin explains who she is and tells how she took Béatrice’s place and undertook her duties in her absence; she forgives her sins while she was away. Removing her cloak she reveals a white robe and a crown of flowers. She then places the cloak across Béatrice’s shoulders, and ascends the alcove of her altar. The nuns run on and find Béatrice collapsed on the ground and the statue back in its place. As the statue of the virgin pronounces Béatrice’s name, the opera ends with a chorus of praise of nuns and angels.