Esclarmonde
Encyclopedia
Esclarmonde is an opéra
in four acts and eight tableaux
, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet
, to a French libretto
by Alfred Blau
and Louis Ferdinand de Gramont
.
It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique
in Paris on May 15, 1889 with American soprano Sibyl Sanderson
in the title role in her professional debut.
Esclarmonde is perhaps Massenet's most ambitious work for the stage and is his most Wagnerian
in style and scope. In orchestral coloring and structure of melody, however, it is French to the core. The opera has been revived sporadically in the modern era, most notably during the 1970s with acclaimed soprano
Joan Sutherland
, conducted by Massenet champion Richard Bonynge
. The role of Esclarmonde is notoriously difficult to sing,
with stratospheric coloratura
passages that are possible for only the most gifted of performers.
. In the original tale, however, the protagonist sorceress is called "Melior"; Esclarmonde's name was borrowed from another chanson de geste of the 13th century: Huon de Bordeaux. Although the Esclarmonde who appears in Huon is completely different from her operatic counterpart, Huon clearly served as the basis of at least part of the opera's libretto. Alfred Blau discovered Parthénopéus in 1871 in the library of Blois, where he took refuge during the time of the Paris Commune
. The libretto was originally called Pertinax; it was first drafted in prose and later versified by Blau's collaborator, Louis de Gramont. In that form – a romantic melodrama in five acts – it was offered in 1882 to the Belgian composer François-Auguste Gevaert
, who, however, declined to set it. Soon the libretto found its way into Massenet's hands, though the precise circumstances in which this occurred remain a mystery to this day.
On August 1, 1886, Massenet and his publisher Georges Hartmann
attended a performance of Parsifal
at the Bayreuth Festival
, an event which deeply impressed the composer and had a significant influence on his music. He had already seen the entire Ring cycle
when it was produced in Brussels
in 1883.
In his Memoirs, which were compiled in 1911 near the end of his life, Massenet ascribes the creation of the role of Esclarmonde to a chance meeting with Sybil Sanderson sometime in the spring of 1887. He recounts how he was astonished by the range and capacity of her voice, realizing at once that she was the perfect choice for the heroine of his new opera, which he had begun to compose at end of 1886. It is almost certain, however, that he had received the libretto to Esclarmonde much earlier than that, and the meeting with Sybil Sanderson served rather as an additional catalyst – a stimulus to complete the opera. The work was commissioned as a spectacular event to open the Paris Exposition
of 1889. During the most intensive period of creation in the summer of 1887, Massenet moved into the Grand Hotel in Vevey
, where Miss Sanderson was also staying; there he rehearsed with her each evening the various sections of his new opera as he composed them. The opera was completed by the end of 1888, and stage rehearsals started at Opéra-comique. Massenet dedicated the work to Sybil Sanderson in gratitude, allowing her signature to stand alongside his own in the manuscript of the score.
After a very successful initial run, however, the opera disappeared from the repertoire and fell into almost complete oblivion. Soon afterwards Sybil Sanderson fell ill. When she died at the turn of the century, it seems that Massenet himself lost interest in the opera he had written for her and he discouraged any further productions. The work was not revived until 1923, long after the composer's death. Some short-lived revivals then followed, either staged or in concert performance. It was only in 1970s that the efforts of Richard Bonynge and Joan Sutherland brought Esclarmonde back to life. Since then the work has been performed more frequently, but it has failed to recapture its former glory.
Within next few years performances in France are staged also at Bordeaux
(with Mme. Georgette Bréjean-Silver aka Bréjean-Graviére), and Lyon
s (with Mme. Verheyden aka Alice Verlet
, and Mlle. Marie Vuillaume);
. Sequestered by her emperor father, Phorcas, who has recently abdicated the throne to her, she bemoans her love for Roland, a knight and Count of Blois
, believing she will never be allowed to be with him. Following a suggestion from her sister, Parséis, Esclarmonde uses her magic powers to transfer Roland to the magic island where she joins him and continues to do so on a nightly basis and, hiding behind a veil, never reveals her identity. She reveals to him also that his country is in danger, attacked and besieged by the Saracens, and grants him the magic sword with help of which he will be capable to defeat the enemy, and will serve him well as long as he will remain faithful to her.
Roland then goes to help the besieged Blois and wins the battle with the leader of the Saracens, and in reward is granted by the king of France the hand of his royal daughter. But Roland refuses to accept that offer not disclosing the reason of doing so. When he finally confesses his nightly tryst to the Bishop of Blois, the bishop and a group of monks intervene on her arrival, performing an exorcism
and in crucial moment manages to tear off her veil and thus reveals her identity. Feeling betrayed, Esclarmonde, in her bravura aria Ah Roland, tu m'as trahie, et me voilà... Regarde-les ces yeux, rebukes Roland for his faithlessness. The confrontation scene proceeds with Roland trying at the last moment to use his sword to defend her from monks. Suddenly the magic sword shatters to pieces, and Esclarmonde, surrounding herself with a ring of fire demons, curses Roland and disappears.
The ex-emperor, upon hearing of Esclarmonde's disobedience, summons her to himself and insists she renounce Roland on threat of losing her magic powers and his execution. Reluctantly, she submits and when Roland is brought before her she implores him to forget her. There is then a tournament to award a victorious knight Esclarmonde's hand in marriage. When the winner, clad all in black, is asked his name, he replies "despair", and refuses the hand of Esclarmonde. Esclarmonde recognizes that voice immediately, however, as the one belonging to Roland, and when her veil is lifted he recognizes her as well and all hail the new empress and her valiant consort.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in four acts and eight tableaux
Tableau vivant
Tableau vivant is French for "living picture." The term describes a striking group of suitably costumed actors or artist's models, carefully posed and often theatrically lit. Throughout the duration of the display, the people shown do not speak or move...
, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...
, to a French libretto
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 Alfred Blau
Alfred Blau
Alfred Blau was a French dramatist and opera librettist. He was a cousin of Édouard Blau, another French librettist of the same period.In late 1887 he was in negotiations with Emmanuel Chabrier for a libretto on the subject of The Tempest by Shakespeare, but the project came to nothing.-Operas to...
and Louis Ferdinand de Gramont
Louis de Gramont
Louis Ferdinand de Gramont was a French journalist, dramatist, and librettist. He was a son of Ferdinand de Gramont.Gramont was born in Sèvres and finished his studies at the college there, then entered the School of Law...
.
It was first performed at 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 on May 15, 1889 with American soprano Sibyl Sanderson
Sibyl Sanderson
Sibyl Sanderson was a famous American operatic soprano during the Parisian Belle Époque.She was born in Sacramento, California, in the United States...
in the title role in her professional debut.
Esclarmonde is perhaps Massenet's most ambitious work for the stage and is his most Wagnerian
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
in style and scope. In orchestral coloring and structure of melody, however, it is French to the core. The opera has been revived sporadically in the modern era, most notably during the 1970s with acclaimed 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...
Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
, conducted by Massenet champion Richard Bonynge
Richard Bonynge
Richard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
. The role of Esclarmonde is notoriously difficult to sing,
with stratospheric coloratura
Coloratura
Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
passages that are possible for only the most gifted of performers.
Composition history
The story of the opera is based on the medieval chivalric tale Parthénopéus de Blois, which was written in the middle of 12th century by Denis PyramusDenis Pyramus
Denis Pyramus was a Benedictine monk of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey and an Anglo-Norman poet who was active in the second part of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century....
. In the original tale, however, the protagonist sorceress is called "Melior"; Esclarmonde's name was borrowed from another chanson de geste of the 13th century: Huon de Bordeaux. Although the Esclarmonde who appears in Huon is completely different from her operatic counterpart, Huon clearly served as the basis of at least part of the opera's libretto. Alfred Blau discovered Parthénopéus in 1871 in the library of Blois, where he took refuge during the time of the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
. The libretto was originally called Pertinax; it was first drafted in prose and later versified by Blau's collaborator, Louis de Gramont. In that form – a romantic melodrama in five acts – it was offered in 1882 to the Belgian composer François-Auguste Gevaert
François-Auguste Gevaert
François-Auguste Gevaert was a Belgian composer.His father was a baker, and he was intended for the same profession, but better counsels prevailed and he was permitted to study music. He was sent in 1841 to the Ghent Conservatory, where he studied under Edouard de Sommere and Martin-Joseph Mengal...
, who, however, declined to set it. Soon the libretto found its way into Massenet's hands, though the precise circumstances in which this occurred remain a mystery to this day.
On August 1, 1886, Massenet and his publisher Georges Hartmann
Georges Hartmann
Georges Hartmann was a French dramatist and opera librettist who wrote under the pen name Henri Grémont.Since 1870 he was also a music publisher, publishing compositions of Jules Massenet...
attended a performance of Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
at the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
, an event which deeply impressed the composer and had a significant influence on his music. He had already seen the entire Ring cycle
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
when it was produced in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in 1883.
In his Memoirs, which were compiled in 1911 near the end of his life, Massenet ascribes the creation of the role of Esclarmonde to a chance meeting with Sybil Sanderson sometime in the spring of 1887. He recounts how he was astonished by the range and capacity of her voice, realizing at once that she was the perfect choice for the heroine of his new opera, which he had begun to compose at end of 1886. It is almost certain, however, that he had received the libretto to Esclarmonde much earlier than that, and the meeting with Sybil Sanderson served rather as an additional catalyst – a stimulus to complete the opera. The work was commissioned as a spectacular event to open the Paris Exposition
Exposition Universelle (1889)
The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from 6 May to 31 October 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...
of 1889. During the most intensive period of creation in the summer of 1887, Massenet moved into the Grand Hotel in Vevey
Vevey
Vevey is a town in Switzerland in the canton Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne.It was the seat of the district of the same name until 2006, and is now part of the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut District...
, where Miss Sanderson was also staying; there he rehearsed with her each evening the various sections of his new opera as he composed them. The opera was completed by the end of 1888, and stage rehearsals started at Opéra-comique. Massenet dedicated the work to Sybil Sanderson in gratitude, allowing her signature to stand alongside his own in the manuscript of the score.
After a very successful initial run, however, the opera disappeared from the repertoire and fell into almost complete oblivion. Soon afterwards Sybil Sanderson fell ill. When she died at the turn of the century, it seems that Massenet himself lost interest in the opera he had written for her and he discouraged any further productions. The work was not revived until 1923, long after the composer's death. Some short-lived revivals then followed, either staged or in concert performance. It was only in 1970s that the efforts of Richard Bonynge and Joan Sutherland brought Esclarmonde back to life. Since then the work has been performed more frequently, but it has failed to recapture its former glory.
Performance history
Listing below are partially based on (extracted from) Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia- December 17, 1888 - the first (stage) rehearsal of Esclarmonde at Opéra-Comique (Salle du Châtelet, Ancien Théâtre-Lyrique des Nations de la Comédie-Italienne) in Paris.
- May 13, 1889 - the final (dress) rehearsal of Esclarmonde.
- May 15, 1889 - the world premiere (9th day after inauguration of l'Exposition Universelle) at Opéra-Comique, Théâtre des Nations, place du Châtelet (Salle du Châtelet de l'Ancien Théâtre-Lyrique de la Comédie-Italienne), under direction of Charles-Auguste-Marie Ponchard, choreography by Louise Marquet, scenography and design by Antoine Lavastre, Eugène-Louis Carpezat, Amable Petit e Eugène-Benoît Gardy.
- September 10, 1889 - 50th performance of Esclarmonde in Théâtre National de Opéra-Comique in Paris (the cast the same as of premiere).
- November 27, 1889 - premiere of Esclarmonde in Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
- conductor Joseph Dupont, Marguerite Zinah "Emma De Nuovina" (Esclarmonde), Émilie Durand-Ulbach (Parséis), Guillaume Ibos (Roland), Paul Isouard (Énéas), Maximilien-Nicolas "Max" Bouvet (Bishop of Blois), Mr. Challet (Cléomer), Mr. Sentein (Phorcas). 20 more performances followed that premiere.
- February 6, 1890 - 100th performance of Esclarmonde at Opéra-Comique in Paris (the cast as from premiere there). Before end of that season number of performances reached 110 (on average almost three per week), Sybil Sanderson singing the title role in all of them.
Within next few years performances in France are staged also at Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
(with Mme. Georgette Bréjean-Silver aka Bréjean-Graviére), and Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
s (with Mme. Verheyden aka Alice Verlet
Alice Verlet
Alice Verlet was a Belgian-born operatic coloratura soprano active primarily in France. She sang principal roles at the operas in Lyon, Nice, and Monte Carlo; at His Majesty's Theater in London; at La Monnaie in Brussels; and at the Paris Opéra and Opéra-Comique...
, and Mlle. Marie Vuillaume);
- January 16, 1892 - premiere of Esclarmonde in Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(in Hermitage Theater at the Winter PalaceWinter PalaceThe Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...
), the main cast (thus including Sybil Sanderson in title role) exactly the same as from Paris premiere, thus it was sang in original French. The next few years, however, in Saint Petersburg, Esclarmonde was presented also at Mariinsky Theater, sang in Russian, where natable stars were Eduard KrushevskyEduard Andreevitch KrushevskyEduard Andreevitch Krushevsky - was a Russian conductor and composer. Born in Warsaw in 1857, finished study in Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1890.He was frequently conducting concerts of Imperial Russian musical society...
(who debuted at conducting with great success that opera without prior preparation), and tenors Ivan YershovIvan YershovIvan Vasiliyevitch Yershov or Ershov , born November 8, 1867 - died November 21, 1943, was a Russian opera singer. He earned renown for his brilliant performances at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, performing some of the most demanding roles written for the dramatic tenor...
and Mikhail MikhaylovMikhail Ivanovich MikhaylovMikhail Ivanovich Mikhaylov was a well known Russian opera singer . He finished study at the Moscow Conservatory. In the beginning he sang in Kiev and Tiflis, and, between 1884 and 1896, on the Imperial operatic stage in Saint Petersburg.He possessed beautiful, sonorous and tender voice, which...
who shared the role of Roland).
- February 10, 1893 - The U.S. premiere at the French Opera HouseFrench Opera HouseThe French Opera House was an opera house in New Orleans. It was one of the city's landmarks from its opening in 1859 until it was destroyed by fire in 1919...
, in New Orleans. Sybil Sanderson sang the title role there also.
- December 13, 1893 - premiere of Esclarmonde in Théâtre des Arts in Rouen, France. Mme. Priollaud sang the title role.
- January 30, 1897 - premiere of Esclarmonde in Grand Théâtre de GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland.
- December 24, 1923 - premiere of Esclarmonde at Théâtre de l'Opéra (Palais GarnierPalais GarnierThe Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
) in Paris. Philippe Gaubert (conductor); Pierre Chéreau (direction); C. Brooke (choreography); Paul Paquereau, Simas and Alexandre Bailly (scenography and design); Fanny HeldyFanny HeldyFanny Heldy was a lyric soprano opera singer.Born Marguerite Virginie Emma Clémentine Deceuninck in Ath , Hainaut, Belgium. she graduated from the Liége Conservatoire. Heldy made her professional debut as a substitute in the premiere of Ivan the Terrible, by Raoul Gunsbourg...
(Esclarmonde), Yvonne Courso (Parséis), Paul Franz (Roland), Gaston Dubois (Énéas), Jean-François DelmasJean-François Delmas (singer)Jean-François Delmas was a French bass-baritone who created roles in many French operas including Athanaël in Thaïs....
(Phorcas), Édouard Roux "Rouard" (Bishop of Blois), Albert Huberty (Cléomer).
- February 6, 1924 - premiere of Esclarmonde at Théâtre Municipal (place Broglie) in StrasbourgStrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, France.
- November 11, 1931 - revival of Esclarmonde at Palais Garnier in Paris. François RuhlmannFrançois Ruhlmann-Life and career:Ruhlmann was a pupil of Joseph Dupont in Brussels. As a child he sang in the chorus at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, and at 7 played the oboe in the orchestra.Ruhlmann's first conducting engagement was at the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen in 1892...
(conductor), Pierre Chéreau (direction), Albert Aveline (choreography), Gabrielle Ritter-CiampiGabrielle Ritter-CiampiGabrielle Ritter-Ciampi Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi (born in Paris November 2, 1886 - died July 18, 1974, was a French operatic soprano.Initially trained to be a pianist by her uncle Theodore Ritter, at age 16 she started to receive singing lessons from her parents; her Italian...
(Esclarmonde), Jeanne Manceau (Parséis), Georges Thill (Roland), Henri Le Clezio (Énéas), John Brownlee (Bishop of Blois), Albert Huberty (Phorcas), Grommen (Cléomer).
- June 2, 1934 - 27th performance of Esclarmonde at Théâtre de l'Opéra (Palais Garnier) in Paris. François Ruhlmann (conducting), Pierre Chéreau (direction), Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi (Esclarmonde), Odette Ricquier (Parséis), Georges Thill (Roland), Henri Le Clezio (Énéas), Martial Singher (Bishop of Blois), Albert Huberty (Phorcas), Armand-Émile Narçon (Cléomer).
- June 4, 1942 - partial revival of Esclarmonde at 'Académie Nationale de Musique (Théâtre de l'Opéra, Palais Garnier) in Paris during "Massenet Gala", when after part of his oratorio La ViergeLa ViergeLa Vierge is an oratorio in four scenes by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Charles Grandmougin. It was first performed at the Opéra in Paris on May 22, 1880....
, there was also concert performance of the 3rd tableau of Esclarmonde (first part of act 2), François Ruhlmann was conducting, Elen DosiaElen DosiaElen Dosia , born Hélène Odette Zygomala, sometimes known as Ellen Dosia, was a French opera singer of Greek origin....
sang part of Esclarmonde together with Charles Fronval who sang the part of Roland.
- January 1, 1944 - revival of Esclarmonde at the Théâtre La Monnaie, Brussels, with total 6 performances given: Clara Clairbert (Esclarmonde), Livine Mertens (Parséis), José Lens (Roland), Francis Barthel (Énéas), Emile Colonne (Bishop of Blois), Maurice De Groote (Cléomer), Albert Mancel (Phorcas).
- November 19, 1963 - first performance of Esclarmonde after World War II, it was radio concert performance of full opera in Paris for RTF (Radiodiffusion-Télévision FrançaiseRadiodiffusion-Télévision FrançaiseRadiodiffusion-Télévision Française was the French national public broadcasting organization established on 9 February 1949 to replace the post-war "Radiodiffusion Française" , which had been founded in 1945...
) (broadcast??). Gustave Cloez (conducting), Jacqueline BrumaireJacqueline BrumaireJacqueline Brumaire was a French operatic soprano and later teacher.-Life and career:...
(Esclarmonde), Janine Capderou (Parséis), Henri Legay (Roland).
- October 23, 1974 - the War Memorial Opera House (San Francisco)War Memorial Opera House (San Francisco)The War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California is located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the rear facade of City Hall. It is part of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center...
premiere, with additional performances in October (26th and 29th) and November (2nd and 8th, the latter being broadcast live). Production by Lotfi MansouriLotfi MansouriLotfollah “Lotfi” Mansouri is an Iranian-born opera director and manager. He was an opera director from about 1960 onwards, and is most well known for being the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company and of the San Francisco Opera from 1988 through 2001...
, scenery and design by Beni MontresorBeni MontresorBeni Montresor was a versatile Italian artist, opera and film director, set designer, author and children's book illustrator. He won the Caldecott Medal in 1965 for May I Bring a Friend?...
, choreography by Norbert Vasek. All cast in debut role: Richard BonyngeRichard BonyngeRichard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
conducting, Joan SutherlandJoan SutherlandDame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
(Esclarmonde), Giacomo AragallGiacomo AragallJaume Aragall i Garriga better known as Giacomo Aragall is a Catalan Spanish tenor, born in Barcelona, Spain on 6 June 1939.After his initial studies in Barcelona under Jaime Francisco Puig, Giacomo Aragall travelled to Milan on a scholarship from the Liceu to study with Maestro Vladimir Badiali...
(Roland), Huguette TourangeauHuguette TourangeauHuguette Tourangeau, is a French-Canadian operatic mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories.- Life and career :...
(Parséis), William Harness (Énéas), Clifford GrantClifford GrantClifford Scantlebury Grant is a retired Australian operatic bass singer.Clifford Grant was born in Sydney. In 1966 he joined Sadler's Wells Opera company and on 20 December 1974 he had his debut at the Royal Opera House in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, in the role of Doctor Bartolo...
(Phorcas), Robert Kerns (Bishop of Blois), Philip Booth (Cléomer).
- November 19, 1976 - the 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...
premiere, production borrowed from that in San Francisco 1974, with 9 other performances in November (24th, 27th) and December (1st, 4th, 7th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 20th), live broadcast on December 11. Richard BonyngeRichard BonyngeRichard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
(conducting), Joan SutherlandJoan SutherlandDame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
(Esclarmonde), Huguette Tourangeau (Parséis), Giacomo Aragall (Roland), John Carpenter (Énéas), Louis QuilicoLouis QuilicoLouis Quilico, CC was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often referred to as "Mr Rigoletto" in reference to the Verdi opera...
(Bishop of Blois), Clifford Grant (Phorcas), John Macurdy (Cléomer).
- November 28, 1983 - the Royal Opera HouseRoyal Opera HouseThe Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
premiere at Covent Garden, London, followed with other four performances in December of that year (on 6th, 10th, 13th and 16th). Production by Lotfi Mansouri, Beni Montresor (set design, costumes and lighting), Terry Gilbert (choreography), Richard BonyngeRichard BonyngeRichard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
(conducting), Joan SutherlandJoan SutherlandDame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
(Esclarmonde), Ernesto Veronelli (Roland), Diana MontagueDiana MontagueDiana Montague is a British mezzo-soprano known for her performances in opera and as a concert singer.-Biography:She was born in Winchester and educated at the Testwood School, the Winchester School of Art and the Royal Northern College of Music...
(Parséïs), Ryland Davies (Énéas), Gwynne Howell (Phorcas), Jonathan Summers (Bishop of Blois).
- October and November 1992 - performances during the 1992 Massenet FestivalMassenet FestivalMassenet Festival is a biennale festival of music by French composer, Jules Massenet held at Saint-Étienne, France, close to the area where the composer was born....
in Saint-ÉtienneSaint-ÉtienneSaint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
(see the recordings section below).
- November 17, 1992 - the Italian premiere at Nuovo Teatro Regio di Torino (5 other performances followed; in November: 19, 24, 26, 29, and December 2). Lorenzo Mariani (direction), Pasquale Grossi (scenery and design), Tiziana Tosco (choreography), Alain Guingal (conducting); Alexandrina PendatchanskaAlexandrina PendatchanskaAlexandrina Pendatchanska is a Bulgarian soprano.-Career:Pendatchanska was born in Sofia, Bulgaria into a family of renowned Bulgarian musicians. Her grandfather Sasha Popov was a violinist and conductor and the founder of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra...
(Esclarmonde), Claudia Nicole Bandera (Parséïs), Alberto Cupido (Roland), Ivan Kiurkciev (Enéas), Michele Pertusi (Phorcas), Manrico Biscotti (Bishop of Blois), Boris Martinovich (Cléomer).
- January 7, 1993 - premiere at Teatro MassimoTeatro MassimoThe Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
di PalermoPalermoPalermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
) (7 other performances followed that same month: on 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th, 22nd, 24th, and 26th), the cast from the premiere: Denia Mazzola GavazzeniDenia MazzolaDenia Mazzola - Gavazzeni, is an operatic soprano, born February 4, 1953 in Bergamo, Italy.- Life :She studied at the Conservatory of Verona under Rina Malatrasi, Rodolfo Celletti and Leyla Gencer...
(Esclarmonde) (Rosella Redoglia sang the title role too, but only on January 24), Elena Zilio (Parséïs), Pietro BalloPietro BalloPietro Ballo - Italian operatic singer , born October 2, 1952 in Palermo. He came from a family of laborers, working then himself in a quarry in Sicily before changing his professional orientation toward music...
(Roland), Jean-Philippe Courtis (Phorcas), Tom Fox (Bishop of Blois), Salvatore Ragonese (Enéas), (Bonaldo GiaiottiBonaldo GiaiottiBonaldo Giaiotti is an Italian operatic bass, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.Born in Udine, he studied in his native city and later in Milan with Alfredo Starno, where he made his debut at the Teatro Nuovo in 1957...
(Cléomer), directed by Jean-Louis PichonJean-Louis PichonJean-Louis Pichon is a French stage director, opera manager and author.After studying Classics, Jean-Louis Pichon carried out research into theatre. In 1969, he attended a master's thesis devoted to Racine's work...
, conducted by Gianandrea GavazzeniGianandrea GavazzeniGianandrea Gavazzeni was an Italian pianist, conductor , composer and musicologist.Gavazzeni was born in Bergamo. For almost 50 years, starting from 1948, he was principal conductor at La Scala, Milan, in 1966-68 being its music and artistic director.He had his Metropolitan Opera debut on 11...
.
- June 6, 1998 - the concert performance by Chelsea Opera Group (COG), (United Kingdom), at the Queen Elizabeth HallQueen Elizabeth HallThe Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
. Raphaëlle FarmanRaphaëlle FarmanRaphaëlle Farman is a French operatic soprano.Farman completed a master's degree in law, and later studied singing at the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris and at the Lyric School of the Opéra Bastille. She graduated in 1992...
(Esclarmonde), Harriet Williams (Parséïs), Justin Lavender (Roland), Jeremy White (Phorcas), Roberto Salvatori (Bishop of Blois), Richard Robson (Cléomer), Stephen Rooke (Enéas); Diana Cummings (ConcertmasterConcertmasterThe concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
), Christopher Fifield (Chorus Master), conducted by Howard Williams.
- April 8, 2005 - the Washington Concert Opera performance. Celena ShaferCelena ShaferCelena Shafer is an American soprano, born ca. 1975 in Centerville, Utah.At age 17, Shafer won a vocal competition at the Utah State Fair, and was selected to sing with the Utah Symphony orchestra in their Salute to Youth concert. After graduating from Viewmont High School, she enrolled in the...
(Esclarmonde), Gigi Mitchell-Velasco (Parséis), Robert Breault (Roland), Dean Peterson (Phorcas), Robert Gardner (Bishop of Blois), François Loup (Cléomer), Antony Walker conducting; in Lisner Auditorium of the George Washington University.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, May 15, 1889 (Conductor: Jules Danbé Jules Danbé Jules Danbé was a French conductor, mainly of opera, born in Caen on 16 November 1840, and died 30 October 1905. Trained as a violinist, he was a pupil of Girard and Savard, in 1859 winning a first prize for violin... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Esclarmonde, daughter of the Emperor | 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... |
Sibyl Sanderson Sibyl Sanderson Sibyl Sanderson was a famous American operatic soprano during the Parisian Belle Époque.She was born in Sacramento, California, in the United States... |
| Parséїs, her sister | 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... |
Orea Nardi |
| Roland, Count of Blois | 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... |
Frédéric-Étienne Gibert |
| Énéas, Knight-Errant to Parséis | 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... |
Gustave Prosper Herbert |
| The Bishop of Blois | 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... |
Max Bouvet Max Bouvet Maximilien-Nicolas Bouvet was a French operatic baritone.Bouvet was born at La Rochelle. In 1875 he appeared at the Eldorado café-concert in Paris with the song Les myrtes son flétries by Gustave Nadaud and de Faure.... |
| Phorcas, Emperor of Byzantium | bass | Émile-Alexandre Taskin Émile-Alexandre Taskin Émile-Alexandre Taskin, born in Paris on 18 March 1853, and died there on 5 October 1897, was a French operatic baritone mainly active at the Paris Opéra-Comique. He was a descendant of the harpsichord maker Pascal Taskin .... |
| Cléomer, King of France | baritone | Auguste-Acanthe Boudouresque, fils |
Synopsis
The story is based on a medieval legend and revolves around Esclarmonde, an empress and sorceress of ByzantiumByzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
. Sequestered by her emperor father, Phorcas, who has recently abdicated the throne to her, she bemoans her love for Roland, a knight and Count of Blois
Blois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...
, believing she will never be allowed to be with him. Following a suggestion from her sister, Parséis, Esclarmonde uses her magic powers to transfer Roland to the magic island where she joins him and continues to do so on a nightly basis and, hiding behind a veil, never reveals her identity. She reveals to him also that his country is in danger, attacked and besieged by the Saracens, and grants him the magic sword with help of which he will be capable to defeat the enemy, and will serve him well as long as he will remain faithful to her.
Roland then goes to help the besieged Blois and wins the battle with the leader of the Saracens, and in reward is granted by the king of France the hand of his royal daughter. But Roland refuses to accept that offer not disclosing the reason of doing so. When he finally confesses his nightly tryst to the Bishop of Blois, the bishop and a group of monks intervene on her arrival, performing an exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
and in crucial moment manages to tear off her veil and thus reveals her identity. Feeling betrayed, Esclarmonde, in her bravura aria Ah Roland, tu m'as trahie, et me voilà... Regarde-les ces yeux, rebukes Roland for his faithlessness. The confrontation scene proceeds with Roland trying at the last moment to use his sword to defend her from monks. Suddenly the magic sword shatters to pieces, and Esclarmonde, surrounding herself with a ring of fire demons, curses Roland and disappears.
The ex-emperor, upon hearing of Esclarmonde's disobedience, summons her to himself and insists she renounce Roland on threat of losing her magic powers and his execution. Reluctantly, she submits and when Roland is brought before her she implores him to forget her. There is then a tournament to award a victorious knight Esclarmonde's hand in marriage. When the winner, clad all in black, is asked his name, he replies "despair", and refuses the hand of Esclarmonde. Esclarmonde recognizes that voice immediately, however, as the one belonging to Roland, and when her veil is lifted he recognizes her as well and all hail the new empress and her valiant consort.
Recordings
- Esclarmonde (November 8, 1974, live broadcast). Clifford Grant (The Emperor Phorcas), Joan SutherlandJoan SutherlandDame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
(Esclarmonde), Huguette TourangeauHuguette TourangeauHuguette Tourangeau, is a French-Canadian operatic mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories.- Life and career :...
(Parséis), Giacomo AragallGiacomo AragallJaume Aragall i Garriga better known as Giacomo Aragall is a Catalan Spanish tenor, born in Barcelona, Spain on 6 June 1939.After his initial studies in Barcelona under Jaime Francisco Puig, Giacomo Aragall travelled to Milan on a scholarship from the Liceu to study with Maestro Vladimir Badiali...
(The Chevalier Roland), William Harness (Enéas), Philip Booth (Cléomen, King of France), Robert Kerns (The Bishop of Blois), Gary Burgess (A Saracen Envoy, A Byzantine Herald), War Memorial Opera House Orchestra and Chorus, cond. Richard Bonynge. Living Stage. 1110 (2CDs), MONO (quasi-stereo). - Esclarmonde (recorded July 1975, Kingsway HallKingsway HallThe Kingsway Hall, Holborn, London, built in 1912, was the home of the West London Mission of the Methodist Church, and eventually became one of the most important recording venues for classical music and film music...
, London). Joan Sutherland (Esclarmonde), Huguette Tourangeau (Parséis), Clifford Grant (L'Empereur Phorcas), Giacomo Aragall (Le Chevalier Roland), Louis QuilicoLouis QuilicoLouis Quilico, CC was a Canadian opera singer. One of the leading dramatic baritones of his day, he was an ideal interpreter of the great Italian and French composers, especially Giuseppe Verdi. He was often referred to as "Mr Rigoletto" in reference to the Verdi opera...
(L'Evêque de Blois), Ryland Davies (Enéas), Robert Lloyd (Cléomer, Roi de France), John Alldis Choir, National Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Richard Bonynge. DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. 475-7914 (3CDs). ADDSPARS CodeSPARS is an acronym for the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services. The SPARS code is a three-letter code that appears on some Compact Disc recordings telling the consumer whether analog or digital equipment was used in producing the recording...
STEREO STUDIO. - Esclarmonde (December 11, 1976): Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast. Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau, Clifford Grant, Giacomo (Jaime) Aragall, Louis Quilico, cond. Richard Bonynge, available from the MetOpera radio during periodical re-broadcasts on Sirius Radio, or "music on demand" at Rhapsody, or by subscription within the Met-player (TT: 147'22").
- Esclarmonde (November 28, 1983): The Royal Opera, live in-house recording. Joan Sutherland, Diana Montagne, Gwynne Howell, Ernesto Veronelli, Jonathan Summers, Geofrey Moses, cond. Richard Bonynge. Available as the Web stream at Opera Today archives (TT: 142'55")
- Esclarmonde (November/December 1992): Alexandrina PendatchanskaAlexandrina PendatchanskaAlexandrina Pendatchanska is a Bulgarian soprano.-Career:Pendatchanska was born in Sofia, Bulgaria into a family of renowned Bulgarian musicians. Her grandfather Sasha Popov was a violinist and conductor and the founder of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra...
(Esclarmonde), Teatro Regio di Torino, LIVE; Charles Handelman VHS Video Cassette - Live Opera 09122, NTSC, 2002, or PremiereOpera DVD 6065; low quality, MONO. (TT: 158'00") - Esclarmonde, complete. The live recording done in October/November 1992 at the Massenet FestivalMassenet FestivalMassenet Festival is a biennale festival of music by French composer, Jules Massenet held at Saint-Étienne, France, close to the area where the composer was born....
in Saint ÉtienneSaint EtienneSaint Étienne is French for Saint Stephen."Saint Etienne" may further refer to:- France :*Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, a church in Paris, FranceCommunes*Saint-Étienne, in the Loire department*Saint-Étienne-à-Arnes, in the Ardennes department...
, Grand Théâtre de la Maison de la Culture et de la Communication). Denia Mazzola-GavazzeniDenia MazzolaDenia Mazzola - Gavazzeni, is an operatic soprano, born February 4, 1953 in Bergamo, Italy.- Life :She studied at the Conservatory of Verona under Rina Malatrasi, Rodolfo Celletti and Leyla Gencer...
; José Sempere; Hélène Perraguin; Jean-Philippe Courtis (double role of Phorcas and Cléomer); Christian Tréguier; Guy Gabelle. Choeurs du Festival Massenet, Orchestre Symphonique Franz Liszt, Budapest, cond. Patrick FournillierPatrick FournillierPatrick Fournillier - the French conductor, was born December 26, 1954, in Neuilly-sur-Seine.He studied in Paris with Louis Fourestier and Pierre Dervaux, then in Strasbourg Conservatoire and Salzburg Mozarteum. Between 1983 and 1986 he was assistant conductor in l'Orchestre National de Lille, then...
. Koch-Swann, released 1994, DDDSPARS CodeSPARS is an acronym for the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services. The SPARS code is a three-letter code that appears on some Compact Disc recordings telling the consumer whether analog or digital equipment was used in producing the recording...
, 3-1269-2 H1 (TT: 156'31", 3CDs).
Instrumentation
- WoodwindsWoodwind instrumentA woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
: 3 fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (incl. also piccoloPiccoloThe piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
), 3 oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s (incl. also English hornCor anglaisThe cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
), 3 clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s (incl. also bass clarinetBass clarinetThe bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
), 3 bassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s (incl. also double bassoon) - BrassBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
: 4 French horns, 3 trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, 3 tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, tubaTubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
, saxtubaSaxtubaThe saxtuba is an obsolete valved brasswind instrument conceived by the Belgian instrument-maker Adolphe Sax around 1845. The design of the instrument was inspired by the ancient Roman cornu and tuba... - TimpaniTimpaniTimpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, percussion (incl. snare drumSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, triangleTriangle (instrument)The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, tamtamGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
, glockenspielGlockenspielA glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, crash cymbalCrash cymbalA crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to in ostinato. The term "crash" may have been first used by Zildjian in 1928....
s, orchestral bass drumBass drumBass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
) - OrganOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
- StringsString orchestraA string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family. These instruments are the violin, the viola, the cello, the double bass , the piano, the harp, and sometimes percussion...
, 2 harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s - Mixed ChoirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, children's choir