Cyrano (Damrosch)
Encyclopedia
Cyrano is an opera in four acts composed by Walter Damrosch to an English language libretto
by William James Henderson
based on Edmond Rostand
's play, Cyrano de Bergerac
. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York City on February 27, 1913 with Pasquale Amato
in the title role and Frances Alda
as Roxane.
's play, Cyrano de Bergerac
, on which the opera is based, was already well known in the United States. Its first US performance in English had taken place in New York City with Richard Mansfield
in the title role in 1898, less than year after its Paris premiere. From 1900 to 1901, Constant Coquelin
, who created the title role, had also toured North America performing the play in the original French with Sarah Bernhardt
as Roxanne. When Damrosch decided to to turn the play into an opera, he commissioned the Anglo-American critic and musicologist, William Henderson
to write an English libretto. The libretto closely followed the actions and events of the play, apart from the final confrontation between Roxanne and Cyrano which takes place shortly after the battle at Arras
instead of fifteen years later as in the play.
Damrosch had finished composing the opera by 1903, but its first performance opportunity did not come until ten years later. Giulio Gatti-Casazza
, the Metropolitan Opera
's General Manager from 1908 to 1935, had started a policy of producing at least one new English language opera each season. In 1911 Damrosch invited Gatti-Casazza and Arturo Toscanini
to his house to hear excerpts from Cyrano, and it was chosen for the 1912/1913 season. He had revised his original score somewhat and further cuts were made to its original five hour and half hour running time during the rehearsal period. Shortly before the opera's opening, Edmund Rostand pronounced himself "indignant" at the liberties which Damrosch and Henderson had taken in adapting his play, particularly the ending. Rostand had never obtained copyright for the play in the United States and could not prevent adaptations there but vowed that he would never allow Damrosch's Cyrano to be performed in any country where the play had been copyrighted.
Cyrano premiered on February 27, 1913 with Pasquale Amato
in the title role and Frances Alda
(Gatti-Casazza's wife) as Roxanne in a performance conducted by Alfred Hertz
. The sets were designed by Antonio Rovescalli while the costumes were designed by the famed Paris company, Maison Muelle. The work was warmly received by the audience at the opening night, but less so by the critics. The critic for the Boston Evening Transcript
had praise for the libretto but found the music "lack[ing] individuality, imagination, and communicative force." Robert Aldrich in his opening night review for the New York Times likewise praised the libretto as a literary work and noted how well Henderson's verse was suited to the needs of the singers, but went on to say:
Similar views were expressed by the critic for Theatre Magazine. Cyrano ran for four more performances at the Met that season and was performed by the company once in Atlanta Georgia in April 1913 but was never performed by the Met again. Damrosch revised his opera over the years and revived it in its new version in concert performances Carnegie Hall
which opened on 21 February 1941. Damrosch himself conducted the Carnegie Hall revival. Ezio Pinza
was originally scheduled to sing the title role, but in the end it was taken Thomas L. Thomas
after Pinza withdrew from the project less than a month before the opening night. The revival had not essentially changed the critics assessment of the work. Edward O'Gorman of the New York Post
wrote that its score was one that:
The 1941 Carnegie Hall run marked the last time the opera was publicly performed.
.
in Paris the audience arrives for a performance. Cavaliers, marquises, a musketeer, a flower-girl, and pages enter and take their places as spectators. Christian and Le Bret enter. Christian asks him the name of the woman that usually sits in a certain box, and confesses that he has fallen in love with her. Le Bret replies that she is Roxane, a cousin of Cyrano de Bergerac. Ragueneau enters and tells of Cyrano's skill with both the pen and the sword. Roxane appears with her duenna and is immediately surrounded by suitors. De Guiche escorts to her box. The play begins.
Montfleury, an actor whom Cyrano had banished from the stage for a month because of his lack of acting skills and attentions to Roxanne begins his performance. Cyrano enters and commands him to stop. De Guiche protests the interruption of the play and insults Cyrano by referring to his large nose. Cyrano and Le Guiche engage in sword fight. De Guiche is wounded and leaves followed by the rest of the audience, including Roxane who greets Cyrano as she departs with her duenna. After they leave Cyrano reveals to Le Bret his love for Roxanne and the shame he feels at having such a large nose. A message from Roxane is brought in asking for an interview with her cousin the next day at Ragueneau's cook-shop. Le Bret goes out but returns immediately, saying that De Guiche with a hundred men is seeking Cyrano with intent to fight him again. In the meantime actors and actresses enter for a rehearsal, and Cyrano invites them all out to see the contest.
Several Gascony cadets enter, Le Bret and Christian among them, and congratulate Cyrano on his victory over De Guiche and his hundred men. De Guiche arrives with his attendants and announces that as they will shortly be in battle side by side, he will forget the past. Once De Guiche has left, the cadets demand that Cyrano tell them about his fight with De Guiche and his men. Christian asks a fellow cadet about Cyrano and the cadet tells him that no one ever dares to mention his nose because they would soon have a fight on their hands. As Cyrano is recounting the fight, Christian is overcome with bravado and interrupts him with a reference to his large nose. When Cyrano discovers who he is, he ignores the insult, but Christian repeats it two more times. Cyrano orders the room to be cleared. Once the cadets have left, Cyrano tells Christian that Roxane is in love with him and is expecting a letter. When Christian confesses that he is a fool, unskilled in speech, and cannot write, Cyrano offers to write the letter and to help him win Roxane's hand. Christian accepts the offer. The cadets re-enter and are amazed to see Christian and Cyrano unwounded and friendly towards each other.
Meanwhile Cyrano and Christian enter the square, with Cyrano coaching Christian on the speech he is to make to Roxane. Cyrano sees Roxane approaching and goes away. Roxane, expecting to meet De Guiche, is surprised and delighted to find Christian instead. However, when he starts talking to her, he appears so stupid that Roxane impatiently leaves him and goes into her house. When Cyrano returns, Christian desperately pleads for his help. Cyrano relents and promises to prompt him in a serenade to Roxane. They stand under her balcony with Cyrano feeding his words to Christian. They are so successful that Roxanne says that she will come back into the square. Afraid of being caught out, Christian urges her to stay inside. She then invites Christian to climb up to the balcony. Cyrano tells Christian to go take his kiss, while he remains outside, vigilant and sorrowful. Cyrano hears someone approaching and calls out to Roxane.
As she and Christian come out into the square, a monk approaches with a letter for her. The letter is from De Guiche, saying that he will meet her there alone within an hour. Realising that monk does not know the contents of the letter, Roxane tells him that it is a command from De Guiche for her to be married to Christian immediately. Roxane, Christian, and the monk enter her house while Cyrano stays outside to delay De Guiche. As De Guiche approaches, Cyrano falls in front of him as from a great height, and starts giving him a lengthy and fantastic explanation of how he fell. Roxane and Christian, followed by the monk and the duenna, appear at the door of the house, and Cyrano tells De Guiche that they are man and wife. De Guiche angrily commands Christian to say farewell to his bride and hands him the order to go to war. Roxane entrusts Christian to Cyrano's care, and he promises that Christian will send her a letter every day.
all are asleep except Le Bret, who is on guard and Cyrano who is sneaking back into the camp. Le Bret rebukes him for risking his life to send off a letter for another man, but Cyrano tells Le Bret of his promise, and goes into his tent to write another letter. Christian comes into Cyrano's tent telling him that he wished he had time to write a last letter before they go into battle. Cyrano hands him the one he has just written and asks him if that will do. Christian discovers a tear stain on the paper. Cyrano explains this by saying that he had made himself believe he was Christian. He also tells Christian that because Roxane was so eager for letters, he had sent off more than Christian knew about, two a day sometimes. Christian realizes the risk Cyrano must have taken and looks at him in astonishment. Just then Roxane, attended by Ragueneau, arrives at the camp to see Christian. Cyrano protests that she must not stay, and De Guiche announces that within an hour there will be a battle where they now stand.
Roxane dismisses De Guiche, and Cyrano goes into his tent. She then tells Christian that his wonderful letters have revealed his spirit to her and that she loves him even more now. He protests, but can only break away by asking her to go speak with his comrades, who are about to go into battle. As she leaves Cyrano enters, and Christian tells him that it is he whom Roxane loves and not himself. Cyrano replies that Christian must then tell her of their compact and let her choose between them, but Christian rushes off. Roxane enters searching for him, and as she is speaking to Cyrano a shot is heard. Christian's body is brought in. Grief-stricken, Roxane throws herself on his body and draws from his pocket his last passionate letter to her. Cyrano realizes that now more than ever she will love the man she supposes her husband to have been, and that because of his death it is impossible for the real writer of the letters to be declared. Roxane is borne off and Cyrano rides into the battle, where he falls seriously wounded.
Scene 2 In the garden of a convent several miles from the battlefield, nuns are gathered praying. Roxane, pale and disheveled, enters with Ragueneau seeking shelter. The Mother Superior welcomes her and tells her that there are already two fugitives inside. As they all go into the convent, Cyrano, mortally wounded, wanders into the garden and sits on a stone bench. Roxane comes out, and recognizing him, expresses her pity and talks of their childhood days. He then speaks of Christian, and she takes out his last letter. Cyrano takes the letter and at her request begins to read it aloud. Night falls, but he keeps on reading. Roxane knows that he cannot see the pages. She tells him that she knows he is repeating not reading the letter, and that it must be his. Then she realizes what he has done, and that the man she had loved was really Cyrano. Cyrano denies everything, even that he loves her. He becomes delirious with pain and babbles of past battles before briefly regaining his senses. He speaks of his coming death, and rejoices that he will die with his soldier's honor unstained. He then collapses into the arms of Le Bret and Ragueneau and dies as Roxanne kisses him.
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by William James Henderson
William James Henderson
William James Henderson was an American musical critic and scholar, born at Newark, New Jersey.-Biography:...
based on Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
's play, Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in New York City on February 27, 1913 with Pasquale Amato
Pasquale Amato
Pasquale Amato was an outstanding Italian operatic baritone. Amato enjoyed an international reputation but attained the peak of his fame in New York City, where he sang with the Metropolitan Opera from 1908 until 1921....
in the title role and Frances Alda
Frances Alda
Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the...
as Roxane.
Background and performance history
By the time Damrosch began his Cyrano project, RostandEdmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
's play, Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play bears very scant resemblance to his life....
, on which the opera is based, was already well known in the United States. Its first US performance in English had taken place in New York City with Richard Mansfield
Richard Mansfield
Richard Mansfield was an English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas and for his portrayal of the dual title roles in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
in the title role in 1898, less than year after its Paris premiere. From 1900 to 1901, Constant Coquelin
Benoît-Constant Coquelin
Benoît-Constant Coquelin , known as Coquelin aîné, was a French actor, "one of the greatest theatrical figures of the age."-Biography:Coquelin was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais...
, who created the title role, had also toured North America performing the play in the original French with Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...
as Roxanne. When Damrosch decided to to turn the play into an opera, he commissioned the Anglo-American critic and musicologist, William Henderson
William James Henderson
William James Henderson was an American musical critic and scholar, born at Newark, New Jersey.-Biography:...
to write an English libretto. The libretto closely followed the actions and events of the play, apart from the final confrontation between Roxanne and Cyrano which takes place shortly after the battle at Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
instead of fifteen years later as in the play.
Damrosch had finished composing the opera by 1903, but its first performance opportunity did not come until ten years later. Giulio Gatti-Casazza
Giulio Gatti-Casazza
Giulio Gatti-Casazza was an Italian opera manager. He was general manager of La Scala in Milan, Italy and later the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.-Life and career:...
, the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
's General Manager from 1908 to 1935, had started a policy of producing at least one new English language opera each season. In 1911 Damrosch invited Gatti-Casazza and Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
to his house to hear excerpts from Cyrano, and it was chosen for the 1912/1913 season. He had revised his original score somewhat and further cuts were made to its original five hour and half hour running time during the rehearsal period. Shortly before the opera's opening, Edmund Rostand pronounced himself "indignant" at the liberties which Damrosch and Henderson had taken in adapting his play, particularly the ending. Rostand had never obtained copyright for the play in the United States and could not prevent adaptations there but vowed that he would never allow Damrosch's Cyrano to be performed in any country where the play had been copyrighted.
Cyrano premiered on February 27, 1913 with Pasquale Amato
Pasquale Amato
Pasquale Amato was an outstanding Italian operatic baritone. Amato enjoyed an international reputation but attained the peak of his fame in New York City, where he sang with the Metropolitan Opera from 1908 until 1921....
in the title role and Frances Alda
Frances Alda
Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the...
(Gatti-Casazza's wife) as Roxanne in a performance conducted by Alfred Hertz
Alfred Hertz
Alfred Hertz , a German conductor born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. As a child, he contracted infantile paralysis and walked with a cane after that....
. The sets were designed by Antonio Rovescalli while the costumes were designed by the famed Paris company, Maison Muelle. The work was warmly received by the audience at the opening night, but less so by the critics. The critic for the Boston Evening Transcript
Boston Evening Transcript
The Boston Evening Transcript was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941.-Beginnings:...
had praise for the libretto but found the music "lack[ing] individuality, imagination, and communicative force." Robert Aldrich in his opening night review for the New York Times likewise praised the libretto as a literary work and noted how well Henderson's verse was suited to the needs of the singers, but went on to say:
The music of Cyrano is undoubtedly composed with skill, with verve, and in many parts with spontaneity. It cannot be called music of inspiration, of originality, or, in the highest sense, of power.
Similar views were expressed by the critic for Theatre Magazine. Cyrano ran for four more performances at the Met that season and was performed by the company once in Atlanta Georgia in April 1913 but was never performed by the Met again. Damrosch revised his opera over the years and revived it in its new version in concert performances Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
which opened on 21 February 1941. Damrosch himself conducted the Carnegie Hall revival. Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
was originally scheduled to sing the title role, but in the end it was taken Thomas L. Thomas
Thomas L. Thomas
Thomas Llyfnwy Thomas was a Welsh American baritone concert singer who achieved fame for his performances both in concert halls and on television and radio, most notably on The Voice of Firestone, where he was the most frequently featured singer...
after Pinza withdrew from the project less than a month before the opening night. The revival had not essentially changed the critics assessment of the work. Edward O'Gorman of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
wrote that its score was one that:
...the average listener might not journey far to hear, but one that he would probably like once he got there, and remember with pleasure if he didn't stay too long.
The 1941 Carnegie Hall run marked the last time the opera was publicly performed.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 27 February 1913 (Conductor: Alfred Hertz) |
|---|---|---|
| Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand... , a poet and soldier in the Gascony Gascony Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a... cadets |
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... |
Pasquale Amato Pasquale Amato Pasquale Amato was an outstanding Italian operatic baritone. Amato enjoyed an international reputation but attained the peak of his fame in New York City, where he sang with the Metropolitan Opera from 1908 until 1921.... |
| Roxane, Cyrano's cousin, in love with Christian | 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... |
Frances Alda Frances Alda Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the... |
| Christian, a Gascony cadet in love with Roxanne | 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... |
Riccardo Martin Riccardo Martin Riccardo Martin was an American tenor.Born Hugh Whitfield Martin in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Martin was granted an endowment which allowed him, in 1901, to go to Paris to study with Giovanni Sbriglia and Jean de Reszke; he later completed his studies with Vincenzo Lombardi in Florence and Beniamino... |
| Ragueneau, owner of a pastry shop in Paris | tenor | Albert Reiss Albert Reiss Albert Reiss was a German operatic tenor who had a prolific career in Europe and the United States during the first third of the twentieth century. He spent much of his career performing at the Metropolitan Opera where he sang in more than 1,000 performances, including several premieres, between... |
| Lise, Ragueneau's wife | soprano | Vera Curtis |
| Duenna, Roxane's chaperone | 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... |
Marie Mattfeld |
| De Guiche, commander of the Gascony regiment | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Putnam Griswold |
| Le Bret, Cyrano's close friend and fellow soldier | bass | William Hinshaw |
| Flower Girl | soprano | Louise Cox |
| Mother Superior Abbess An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey.... |
contralto | Florence Mulford |
| Montfleury, an actor | tenor | Lambert Murphy |
| Cadet | tenor | Lambert Murphy |
| Monk | bass | Antonio Pini-Corsi Antonio Pini-Corsi Antonio Pini-Corsi was an Italian operatic baritone of international renown. He possessed a ripe-toned voice of great flexibility and displayed tremendous skill at patter singing... |
| Musketeer Musketeer A musketeer was an early modern type of infantry soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern armies, particularly in Europe. They sometimes could fight on horseback, like a dragoon or a cavalryman... |
bass | Basil Ruysdael |
| Musketeer | bass | Marcel Reiner |
| Cavalier Cavalry Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms... |
tenor | Austin Hughes |
| Cavalier | bass | Paolo Ananian |
| Cavalier | baritone | Louis Kreidler |
| Cavalier | bass | Maurice Sapio |
| Chorus of précieuses Précieuses The French literary style called préciosité arose in the 17th century from the lively conversations and playful word games of les précieuses , the witty and educated intellectual ladies who frequented the salon of Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet; her Chambre bleue offered a... , page Page (servant) A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire... s, nuns, cavaliers, Gascony cadets, marquise Marquise A marquise is a French noblewoman ranking above a countess and below a duchess, and is usually the wife of a marquis. The British equivalent is a marchioness and the Spanish equivalent is a marquesa.... s |
||
Synopsis
The opera, like Rostand's play, is set in France in 1640 against the background of the Siege of Arras during the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
.
Act 1
In the theatre of the Hôtel de BourgogneHôtel de Bourgogne
Until the 16th century, the Hôtel de Bourgogne was the name of the Paris residence of the Dukes of Burgundy. Today, the last vestige is the Tour Jean sans Peur, 20 rue Étienne Marcel, in the 2nd arrondissement.-Theatre:...
in Paris the audience arrives for a performance. Cavaliers, marquises, a musketeer, a flower-girl, and pages enter and take their places as spectators. Christian and Le Bret enter. Christian asks him the name of the woman that usually sits in a certain box, and confesses that he has fallen in love with her. Le Bret replies that she is Roxane, a cousin of Cyrano de Bergerac. Ragueneau enters and tells of Cyrano's skill with both the pen and the sword. Roxane appears with her duenna and is immediately surrounded by suitors. De Guiche escorts to her box. The play begins.
Montfleury, an actor whom Cyrano had banished from the stage for a month because of his lack of acting skills and attentions to Roxanne begins his performance. Cyrano enters and commands him to stop. De Guiche protests the interruption of the play and insults Cyrano by referring to his large nose. Cyrano and Le Guiche engage in sword fight. De Guiche is wounded and leaves followed by the rest of the audience, including Roxane who greets Cyrano as she departs with her duenna. After they leave Cyrano reveals to Le Bret his love for Roxanne and the shame he feels at having such a large nose. A message from Roxane is brought in asking for an interview with her cousin the next day at Ragueneau's cook-shop. Le Bret goes out but returns immediately, saying that De Guiche with a hundred men is seeking Cyrano with intent to fight him again. In the meantime actors and actresses enter for a rehearsal, and Cyrano invites them all out to see the contest.
Act 2
The next day at Ragueneau's pastry shop, a gathering place for poets, Cyrano awaits his appointment with Roxane and writes her a letter, telling of his love for her. When he sees her duenna approaching, he sends the rest of the people out of the shop and orders food for the duenna, telling her to eat it outside while he speaks with Roxane. Roxane thanks him for punishing De Guiche the night before and asks him if he is still the same friendly, "elder brother" to her that he used to be when they played together as children. She then tells him that she loves a man named Christian who has not yet declared his love for her, that he too is a Gascony cadet, and asks Cyrano he keep him safe. Cyrano promises her that he will and after Roxanne leaves, sorrowfully destroys his letter.Several Gascony cadets enter, Le Bret and Christian among them, and congratulate Cyrano on his victory over De Guiche and his hundred men. De Guiche arrives with his attendants and announces that as they will shortly be in battle side by side, he will forget the past. Once De Guiche has left, the cadets demand that Cyrano tell them about his fight with De Guiche and his men. Christian asks a fellow cadet about Cyrano and the cadet tells him that no one ever dares to mention his nose because they would soon have a fight on their hands. As Cyrano is recounting the fight, Christian is overcome with bravado and interrupts him with a reference to his large nose. When Cyrano discovers who he is, he ignores the insult, but Christian repeats it two more times. Cyrano orders the room to be cleared. Once the cadets have left, Cyrano tells Christian that Roxane is in love with him and is expecting a letter. When Christian confesses that he is a fool, unskilled in speech, and cannot write, Cyrano offers to write the letter and to help him win Roxane's hand. Christian accepts the offer. The cadets re-enter and are amazed to see Christian and Cyrano unwounded and friendly towards each other.
Act 3
In the square outside Roxane's house music is heard and soon she and her duenna come from the house opposite. Roxane lingers alone at the fountain. De Guiche comes to say farewell before going to war, and tells her that the Gascony cadets, including her cousin Cyrano, are in his command. She speaks kindly to him fearing for Christian, and he tries to embrace her. To keep Christian from going to war, she tells De Guiche that Cyrano loves the battlefield and if he really wants revenge on him, he will leave the Gascony cadets behind. De Guiche is delighted and tells Roxanne that he will meet her later.Meanwhile Cyrano and Christian enter the square, with Cyrano coaching Christian on the speech he is to make to Roxane. Cyrano sees Roxane approaching and goes away. Roxane, expecting to meet De Guiche, is surprised and delighted to find Christian instead. However, when he starts talking to her, he appears so stupid that Roxane impatiently leaves him and goes into her house. When Cyrano returns, Christian desperately pleads for his help. Cyrano relents and promises to prompt him in a serenade to Roxane. They stand under her balcony with Cyrano feeding his words to Christian. They are so successful that Roxanne says that she will come back into the square. Afraid of being caught out, Christian urges her to stay inside. She then invites Christian to climb up to the balcony. Cyrano tells Christian to go take his kiss, while he remains outside, vigilant and sorrowful. Cyrano hears someone approaching and calls out to Roxane.
As she and Christian come out into the square, a monk approaches with a letter for her. The letter is from De Guiche, saying that he will meet her there alone within an hour. Realising that monk does not know the contents of the letter, Roxane tells him that it is a command from De Guiche for her to be married to Christian immediately. Roxane, Christian, and the monk enter her house while Cyrano stays outside to delay De Guiche. As De Guiche approaches, Cyrano falls in front of him as from a great height, and starts giving him a lengthy and fantastic explanation of how he fell. Roxane and Christian, followed by the monk and the duenna, appear at the door of the house, and Cyrano tells De Guiche that they are man and wife. De Guiche angrily commands Christian to say farewell to his bride and hands him the order to go to war. Roxane entrusts Christian to Cyrano's care, and he promises that Christian will send her a letter every day.
Act 4
Scene 1 At dawn in the camp of the Gascony cadets outside ArrasArras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
all are asleep except Le Bret, who is on guard and Cyrano who is sneaking back into the camp. Le Bret rebukes him for risking his life to send off a letter for another man, but Cyrano tells Le Bret of his promise, and goes into his tent to write another letter. Christian comes into Cyrano's tent telling him that he wished he had time to write a last letter before they go into battle. Cyrano hands him the one he has just written and asks him if that will do. Christian discovers a tear stain on the paper. Cyrano explains this by saying that he had made himself believe he was Christian. He also tells Christian that because Roxane was so eager for letters, he had sent off more than Christian knew about, two a day sometimes. Christian realizes the risk Cyrano must have taken and looks at him in astonishment. Just then Roxane, attended by Ragueneau, arrives at the camp to see Christian. Cyrano protests that she must not stay, and De Guiche announces that within an hour there will be a battle where they now stand.
Roxane dismisses De Guiche, and Cyrano goes into his tent. She then tells Christian that his wonderful letters have revealed his spirit to her and that she loves him even more now. He protests, but can only break away by asking her to go speak with his comrades, who are about to go into battle. As she leaves Cyrano enters, and Christian tells him that it is he whom Roxane loves and not himself. Cyrano replies that Christian must then tell her of their compact and let her choose between them, but Christian rushes off. Roxane enters searching for him, and as she is speaking to Cyrano a shot is heard. Christian's body is brought in. Grief-stricken, Roxane throws herself on his body and draws from his pocket his last passionate letter to her. Cyrano realizes that now more than ever she will love the man she supposes her husband to have been, and that because of his death it is impossible for the real writer of the letters to be declared. Roxane is borne off and Cyrano rides into the battle, where he falls seriously wounded.
Scene 2 In the garden of a convent several miles from the battlefield, nuns are gathered praying. Roxane, pale and disheveled, enters with Ragueneau seeking shelter. The Mother Superior welcomes her and tells her that there are already two fugitives inside. As they all go into the convent, Cyrano, mortally wounded, wanders into the garden and sits on a stone bench. Roxane comes out, and recognizing him, expresses her pity and talks of their childhood days. He then speaks of Christian, and she takes out his last letter. Cyrano takes the letter and at her request begins to read it aloud. Night falls, but he keeps on reading. Roxane knows that he cannot see the pages. She tells him that she knows he is repeating not reading the letter, and that it must be his. Then she realizes what he has done, and that the man she had loved was really Cyrano. Cyrano denies everything, even that he loves her. He becomes delirious with pain and babbles of past battles before briefly regaining his senses. He speaks of his coming death, and rejoices that he will die with his soldier's honor unstained. He then collapses into the arms of Le Bret and Ragueneau and dies as Roxanne kisses him.
Sources
- Alda, Frances. Women and Tenors. Read Books, 2007 (originally published in 1937 by Houghton MifflinHoughton MifflinHoughton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
). ISBN 1406736546 - Aldrich, Richard. "'Cyrano' Applauded at its Premiere". New York Times. February 28, 1913
- Boston Evening Transcript. "Mr. Damrosch's New Opera". February 28, 1913, p. 12
- Damrosch, Walter, and Henderson, W. J..Cyrano. Fred Rullman Inc., 1913 (copy of the libretto printed for the premiere performance)
- Howard, Marjorie. Muelle—Known to Every Singer", New York Times (Sunday Magazine), April 25, 1915, p. SM18
- Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
Archives. Cyrano. MetOpera Database - New York Times. "Rostand Indignant at 'Cyrano' Here". February 21, 1913
- New York Times. "Damrosch's 'Cyrano' This Week's Opera Novelty". February 23, 1913
- New York Times "Pinza and Novotna Quit 'Cyrano' Roles". 29 January 1941, p. 19
- Ordway, Edith Bertha. The Opera Book. Sully and Kleinteich, 1917, pp. 71-76
- Time Magazine, "Old Dr. Damrosch". 3 March 1941
- Theatre Magazine. "Cyrano Heard at the Metropolitan Opera House". Vol. XVII, No. 146, April 1913, pp. 106-107
External links
- Metropolitan Opera Archives: Original costume designs for Cyrano