Guido et Ginevra
Encyclopedia
Guido et Ginevra, ou La Peste de Florence (French
: Guido and Ginevra, or the Plague at Florence
) is a grand opera
in five acts by Fromental Halévy
to a libretto
by Eugène Scribe
. It was premiered at the Paris Opera
on 5 March 1838.
(1835) or as La reine de Chypre
which followed it (1841). However, after its premiere it was soon played in all the major European centres. When the opera was revived in Paris in 1840 it was cut to four acts. In this format it was revived in 1870. No recent productions are known.
The opera contains touches of the composer's innovative orchestration
, with a melophone in Act II, and with Ginevra's tomb scene set to dark woodwind and brass instrument
s using diminished
harmonies.
Ginevra is reunited with her father, who agrees to her marriage with Guido. A procession of thanksgiving ends the opera.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Guido and Ginevra, or the Plague at Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
) is a grand opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
in five acts by Fromental Halévy
Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy , was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.-Early career:...
to a 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 Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
. It was premiered at the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
on 5 March 1838.
Performance history
Guido et Ginevra was only a moderate success for Halévy, not nearly as applauded as his previous grand opera La JuiveLa Juive
La Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on February 23, 1835.-Composition history:...
(1835) or as La reine de Chypre
La reine de Chypre
La reine de Chypre is an 1841 grand opera composed by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges.-Background:...
which followed it (1841). However, after its premiere it was soon played in all the major European centres. When the opera was revived in Paris in 1840 it was cut to four acts. In this format it was revived in 1870. No recent productions are known.
The opera contains touches of the composer's innovative orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
, with a melophone in Act II, and with Ginevra's tomb scene set to dark woodwind and brass instrument
Brass instrument
A 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...
s using diminished
Diminished seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a diminished seventh is an interval produced by narrowing a minor seventh by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from A to G is a minor seventh, ten semitones wide, and both the intervals from A to G, and from A to G are diminished sevenths,...
harmonies.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 5 March 1838 (Conductor: ) |
|---|---|---|
| Cosimo de Medici | bass | Nicolas Levasseur Nicolas Levasseur Nicolas Levasseur was a French bass, particularly associated with Rossini roles.Born Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur at Bresle, Somme, he studied at the Paris Music Conservatory from 1807 to 1811, with Pierre-Jean Garat. He made his professional debut at the Paris Opéra in 1813, as Osman Pacha, in La... |
| Ginevra, his daughter | 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... |
Julie Aimée Dorus-Gras |
| Ricciarda | 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... |
Rosine Stoltz Rosine Stoltz Rosine Stoltz was a French mezzo-soprano. A prominent member of the Paris Opéra, she created many leading roles there including Ascanio in Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, Marguerite in Auber's Le lac des fées, the title role in Marie Stuart, and two Donizetti heroines, Leonor in La favorite and... |
| Guido, a sculptor | 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... |
Gilbert Duprez Gilbert Duprez Gilbert Duprez was a French tenor, singing teacher and minor composer who famously pioneered the delivery of the operatic high C from the chest. He also created the role of Edgardo in the popular bel canto-era opera Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835.-Biography:Gilbert-Louis Duprez, to give his full... |
| Duke of Ferrara | bass | Nicolas-Prosper Dérivis |
| Fortebraccio | tenor | Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol was a French operatic tenor and later baritone who sang in the world premieres of many French operas.... |
| Lorenzo | bass | |
| Teobaldo | bass | |
| Léonore | soprano | |
| Antonietta | soprano | |
Synopsis
Scribe drew the elements of his plot from the history of Florence by Louis-Charles DelécluzeAct 2
During the ceremony, a poisoned veil she has been given causes her to faint away in a death-like trance; the sculptor Guido mourns her. It is assumed that she has the plague.Act 5
The village of CamaldoliCamaldoli
Camaldoli is a frazione of the comune of Poppi, in Tuscany, Italy. It is mostly known as the ancestral seat of the Camaldolese monastic order, originated in the eponymous hermitage, which can still be visited....
Ginevra is reunited with her father, who agrees to her marriage with Guido. A procession of thanksgiving ends the opera.
Sources
- Diana Hallman, The grand operas of Fromental Halévy, in The Cambridge Companion to Grand Opera, ed. David Charlton.
- Hugh Macdonald, Guido et Ginevra, article in Grove Music Online.