Hérodiade
Encyclopedia
Hérodiade is an opera
in four acts by Jules Massenet
to a French libretto
by Paul Milliet
and Henri Grémont
, based on the novella Hérodias (1877) by Gustave Flaubert
. It was first performed at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels
on December 19, 1881.
The libretto
is a retelling of the story of John the Baptist
, Salome
, Herod Antipas
and Herodias
, but is strikingly less psychological and bloody than Richard Strauss
's Salome
, based on a text by Oscar Wilde
. The opera premiered in Brussels because Auguste-Edouard Vaucorbeil, Manager of the Paris Opera house refused to stage the work; "I do like your music," he had said to Massenet, "but as for the libretto, you badly need an author who knows how to build the skeleton of a play."
on 1 February 1884, and the final performance of the run on 13 March featured the three De Reszkes; Jean
(Jean), Edouard
(Phanuel), and Josephine
(Salomé). It was produced at the Théâtre-Italien in 1903 for 43 performances, then at the Gaîté-Lyrique in 1904, 1911 and 1912. The Italian premiere was at La Scala
on 23 February 1882.
Salomé enters, desperately seeking her mother Hérodiade, who sent her away when she married King Hérode. Salomé is also looking for the prophet Jean with whom she had found comfort in her absence from the city.
Hérode has a passion for Salomé and comes from the palace. He is joined by his wife Hérodiade who asks him to act against Jean, who has insulted her; when Hérode, aware of Jean’s following, refuses, she vows to be avenged by herself. As she curses the prophet, Jean himself enters and the royal pair withdraw in fear. Salomé vows her love to Jean but he only speaks of a greater love, and new faith.
Slaves dance in order to divert the sleepless Hérode. Hérode next takes a philtre which gives him visions of his Salomé. Phanuel tells the king that the people are calling for the Messiah and acclaim Jean. Hérode however is sure he will defeat the Romans and win his subjects over again.
Second tableau: The palace in Jerusalem
Hérode calls the people to arms against Jerusalem's Roman masters. The Roman consul Vitellius appears and promises to respect the faith of the Israelites and open the temple. Jean, preceded by a joyful crowd and followed by Salomé passes by. Hérodiade notices the reaction of her husband at the sight of the young woman and accuses Jean of wanting to seize power.
Phanuel asks heaven to say whether Jean is mortal or divine. Hérodiade visits the priest and consults Phanuel who foresees great suffering, while the queen refuses to recognize her daughter in the young woman.
Second tableau: The Holy Temple
Jean has been arrested. Salomé arrives, exhausted, at the prison. Hérode wishes to release Jean in exchange for help in getting the Galileans to help him fight the Romans. Seeing Salomé, he declares his love but she rejects him, saying that she loves one who is greater and stronger than he. Not knowing who she means, Hérode threatens Jean and Salomé with death.
The priests intercede with Vitellius and ask him to condemn Jean, but the consul gives responsibility for the execution to Hérode. Jean refuses to assist the king. Salomé asks to share her fate with that of the prophet – at this Hérode realises whom she loves and condemns them both to death.
Jean, awaiting death in prison questions his soul. Salomé joins him. Jean is led away to execution while Salomé is taken to the king, who has decided to pardon her.
Second tableau: The great hall in the palace
Dances celebrate the Roman victory. Salomé begs Hérodiade to allow her to die alongside Jean, as it was he who looked after her when her mother abandoned her. Hérodiade remains silent. The executioner announces the death of Jean. Salomé draws a dagger and tries to kill the queen, who admits that she is her mother. In despair, Salomé stabs herself and curses Hérodiade.
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 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 Paul Milliet
Paul Milliet
Paul Milliet was a French dramatist and librettist of the Parisian Belle Époque. His opera librettos include Jules Massenet's Hérodiade and Werther , Alfred Bruneau's Kérim , Spyridon Samaras's La biondinetta , Mademoiselle de Belle Isle and Rhea and Camille...
and Henri Grémont
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...
, based on the novella Hérodias (1877) by Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary , and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.-Early life and education:Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen,...
. It was first performed at the Théâtre de la Monnaie 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...
on December 19, 1881.
The 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...
is a retelling of the story of John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
, Salome
Salome
Salome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
, Herod Antipas
Herod Antipas
Herod Antipater , known by the nickname Antipas, was a 1st-century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch...
and Herodias
Herodias
Herodias was a Jewish princess of the Herodian Dynasty. Asteroid 546 Herodias is named after her.-Family relationships:*Daughter of Aristobulus IV...
, but is strikingly less psychological and bloody than Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
, based on a text by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
. The opera premiered in Brussels because Auguste-Edouard Vaucorbeil, Manager of the Paris Opera house refused to stage the work; "I do like your music," he had said to Massenet, "but as for the libretto, you badly need an author who knows how to build the skeleton of a play."
Performance history
The opera reached Paris at the Théâtre des NationsThéâtre de la Ville
The Théâtre de la Ville is one of the two theatres built in the 19th century by Baron Haussmann at Place du Châtelet, Paris; the other being the Théâtre du Châtelet...
on 1 February 1884, and the final performance of the run on 13 March featured the three De Reszkes; Jean
Jean de Reszke
Jean de Reszke, born Jan Mieczyslaw, , was a Polish tenor. Renowned internationally for the high quality of his singing and the elegance of his bearing, he became the biggest male opera star of the late 19th century....
(Jean), Edouard
Edouard de Reszke
Édouard de Reszke, originally Edward, was a Polish bass from Warsaw. Born with an impressive natural voice and equipped with compelling histrionic skills, he became one of the most illustrious opera singers active in Europe and America during the late-Victorian Era.-Career:Édouard de Reszke was...
(Phanuel), and Josephine
Josephine de Reszke
Joséphine de Reszke, in Polish Józefina Reszke, was a Polish soprano. Born in Warsaw, she was the sister of the bass Edouard and the tenor Jean de Reszke, famous singers in their own rights. She began her studies with her mother and with a Mme...
(Salomé). It was produced at the Théâtre-Italien in 1903 for 43 performances, then at the Gaîté-Lyrique in 1904, 1911 and 1912. The Italian premiere was at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
on 23 February 1882.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, December 19, 1881 (Conductor: Joseph Dupont Joseph Dupont (violinist) Henri-Joseph Dupont was a Belgian violinist, leader, theatre director and conductor.-Life:Dupont was born in Ensival, Verviers. He studied the violin at the Liège and Brussels conservatoires and won a Belgian Prix de Rome for composition in 1863... ) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Salomé | 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... |
Marthe Duvivier | |
| Hérodiade | 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... |
Blanche Deschamps-Jéhin Blanche Deschamps-Jéhin Blanche Deschamps-Jéhin was a French operatic contralto who had a prolific career in France from 1879-1905. She possessed a rich-toned and flexible voice that had a wide vocal range... |
|
| Jean | 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... |
Edmond Vergnet Edmond Vergnet Edmond-Alphonse Vergnet was a French operatic tenor.-Biography:Vergnet studied singing in Paris before making his professional opera début at the Paris Opéra in 1874 as Raimbaut in Gaetano Donizetti's Robert le diable... |
|
| Hérode | 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... |
Théophile-Adolphe Manoury | |
| Phanuel | bass | Léon Gresse | |
| Vitellius | baritone | Henri Fontaine | |
| A high priest | baritone | Boutens | |
| A voice | tenor | Mansuède | |
| A young Babylonian | soprano | Hervay | |
| La Sulamite | Lonati | ||
| Chorus: Merchants, slaves, Israelites, Roman soldiers | |||
Act 1
In a courtyard outside Hérode's palace in Jerusalem. After a short introduction merchants are seen arguing; they are calmed by Phanuel who urges co-operation with the Romans.Salomé enters, desperately seeking her mother Hérodiade, who sent her away when she married King Hérode. Salomé is also looking for the prophet Jean with whom she had found comfort in her absence from the city.
Hérode has a passion for Salomé and comes from the palace. He is joined by his wife Hérodiade who asks him to act against Jean, who has insulted her; when Hérode, aware of Jean’s following, refuses, she vows to be avenged by herself. As she curses the prophet, Jean himself enters and the royal pair withdraw in fear. Salomé vows her love to Jean but he only speaks of a greater love, and new faith.
Act 2
First tableau: Hérode's chambersSlaves dance in order to divert the sleepless Hérode. Hérode next takes a philtre which gives him visions of his Salomé. Phanuel tells the king that the people are calling for the Messiah and acclaim Jean. Hérode however is sure he will defeat the Romans and win his subjects over again.
Second tableau: The palace in Jerusalem
Hérode calls the people to arms against Jerusalem's Roman masters. The Roman consul Vitellius appears and promises to respect the faith of the Israelites and open the temple. Jean, preceded by a joyful crowd and followed by Salomé passes by. Hérodiade notices the reaction of her husband at the sight of the young woman and accuses Jean of wanting to seize power.
Act 3
First tableau: The house of PhanuelPhanuel asks heaven to say whether Jean is mortal or divine. Hérodiade visits the priest and consults Phanuel who foresees great suffering, while the queen refuses to recognize her daughter in the young woman.
Second tableau: The Holy Temple
Jean has been arrested. Salomé arrives, exhausted, at the prison. Hérode wishes to release Jean in exchange for help in getting the Galileans to help him fight the Romans. Seeing Salomé, he declares his love but she rejects him, saying that she loves one who is greater and stronger than he. Not knowing who she means, Hérode threatens Jean and Salomé with death.
The priests intercede with Vitellius and ask him to condemn Jean, but the consul gives responsibility for the execution to Hérode. Jean refuses to assist the king. Salomé asks to share her fate with that of the prophet – at this Hérode realises whom she loves and condemns them both to death.
Act 4
First tableau: A subterranean vaultJean, awaiting death in prison questions his soul. Salomé joins him. Jean is led away to execution while Salomé is taken to the king, who has decided to pardon her.
Second tableau: The great hall in the palace
Dances celebrate the Roman victory. Salomé begs Hérodiade to allow her to die alongside Jean, as it was he who looked after her when her mother abandoned her. Hérodiade remains silent. The executioner announces the death of Jean. Salomé draws a dagger and tries to kill the queen, who admits that she is her mother. In despair, Salomé stabs herself and curses Hérodiade.
Noted arias
- Act I - Salomé: "Il est doux, il est bon"
- Act I - Hérodiade: "Ne me refuse pas"
- Act II - Hérode: "Vision fugitive"
Recordings
- 1963: Georges PrêtreGeorges Prêtre- Biography :He was born in Waziers , and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting under André Cluytens among others at the Conservatoire de Paris. Amongst his early musical interests were jazz and trumpet. After graduating, he conducted in a...
conducting the Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris with Régine CrespinRégine CrespinRégine Crespin was a French singer who had a major international career in opera and on the concert stage between 1950 and 1989. She started her career singing roles in the dramatic soprano and spinto soprano repertoire, drawing particular acclaim singing Wagner and Strauss heroines...
(Salomé), Rita GorrRita GorrRita Gorr , is a Belgian operatic mezzo-soprano. She possessed a large, rich-toned voice and was an intense singing-actress, especially in dramatic roles such as Ortrud and Amneris , two of her greatest roles....
(Hérodiade), Albert LanceAlbert LanceAlbert Lance is a French tenor of Australian origin, based in France from the mid 1950s onwards, where he enjoyed a highly successful career....
(Jean), Michel DensMichel DensMichel Dens was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory, both opera and operetta....
(Hérode), and Jacques Mars (Phanuel).(La Voix de son Maître) (excerpts) - 1995: Michel PlassonMichel PlassonMichel Plasson is a French conductor.Plasson was a student of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he was a prize-winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. He studied briefly in the United States, including time with Charles Münch...
conducting the Choeur et Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse with Cheryl StuderCheryl StuderCheryl Studer is a Grammy Award winning American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's major opera houses. A singer with unusual versatility, Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated with lyric sopranos and...
(Salomé), Nadine Denize (Hérodiade), Ben HeppnerBen HeppnerBen Heppner, CC is a Canadian tenor, specializing in opera and other classical works for voice.Heppner was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek...
(Jean), Thomas Hampson (Hérode), and José van DamJosé van DamJoseph, Baron van Damme , known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone.At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplomas and first prizes in voice and opera performance...
(Phanuel).(EMI) - 1995: Valery GergievValery GergievValery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...
conducting the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and ChorusSan Francisco OperaSan Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
with Renée FlemingRenée FlemingRenée Fleming is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice.Fleming has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano repertoires. She has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She also...
(Salomé), Dolora ZajickDolora ZajickDolora Zajick is an American mezzo-soprano who specializes in the Verdian repertoire. Zajick is arguably the leading exponent in the dramatic Verdian mezzo-soprano repertoire....
(Hérodiade), Plácido DomingoPlácido DomingoPlácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
(Jean), Juan PonsJuan PonsJoan Pons Álvarez , is a Spanish dramatic baritone, known internationally as Juan Pons.-Career:With his outstandingly successful international début in 1980 at the Teatro alla Scala of Milan with Falstaff, staged by Giorgio Strehler and conducted by Lorin Maazel, Juan Pons has revealed himself as...
(Hérode), Kenneth Cox (Phanuel). (Sony Classical)