Robert le diable (opera)
Encyclopedia
Robert le diable is an opera
by Giacomo Meyerbeer
, often regarded as the first grand opera
. The libretto
was written by Eugène Scribe
and Casimir Delavigne
and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil
. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique
, "Meyerbeer persuaded Scribe to change (the opera)...to a five-act grand opera". The dramatic music, harmony and orchestration of Robert, its melodramatic plot, and its sensational stage effects (especially the ballet of the nuns) made it an overnight success and instantly confirmed Meyerbeer as the leading opera composer of his age, compelling Frédéric Chopin
, who was in the audience to say "If ever magnificence was seen in the theatre, I doubt that it reached the level of splendour shown in Robert.....It is a masterpiece...Meyerbeer has made himself immortal"
The opera was the first new production by the new manager of the Opéra, Louis Véron, and its success underwrote his policy of commissioning similar works, which were to include Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots
, Fromental Halévy
's La Juive
, and Daniel Auber
's Gustave III.
The opera premiered on 21 November 1831 at the Paris Opéra, and was the work that brought Meyerbeer international fame. The success owed much to the opera's star singers - Nicolas Levasseur
as Bertram, Adolphe Nourrit
as Robert—and to the provocative "ballet of the nuns" in the third act, featuring the great ballerina, Marie Taglioni
.
The opera - under the title of The Fiend-Father in a version by Rophino Lacy - was first presented in London at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
on 20 February 1832 and in its original version at the Haymarket Theatre on 11 June of that year. Lacy's version was given in New York on 7 April 1834.
At the invitation of Nourrit Cornélie Falcon made her debut at the age of 18 at the Opéra in the role of Alice on 20 July 1832. The cast included Nourrit. Although suffering from stage fright, Falcon managed to sing her first aria without error, and finished her role with "ease and competence." Her tragic demeanor and dark looks were highly appropriate to the part, and she made a vivid impression on the public, which included on that night Auber
, Berlioz
, Halévy
, Maria Malibran
, Giulia Grisi
, Honoré Daumier
, Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo
. On hearing her in the role, Meyerbeer himself declared his opera at last 'complete'.
As noted by critic Tom Kaufman,
By the late Nineteen Century, Meyerbeer's operas gradually disappeared. There were revivals in the twentieth century, including those in "New Orleans and Nice in 1901, Paris (at the Gaite Lyrique) in 1911, Barcelona in 1917, Vienna (at the Volksoper) in 1921 and Bordeaux in 1928. Its first postwar revival took place in Florence in 1968, but in an incomplete Italian version. The 1984 revival by the Paris opera (with Rockwell Blake
(Robert), Samuel Ramey
(Bertram), Walter Donati (Raimbaut), Michèle Lagrange (Alice) and June Anderson
(Isabelle))was the first in that city since 1911, and the first at the Opéra since 1893".
A performance of a new critical edition of Robert le Diable by musicologist Dr. Wolfgang Kuhnhold was presented at the Staatsoper
in Berlin
in March 2000 with Jianyi Zhang (Robert),
Stephan Rügamer (Raimbaut), Kwangchul Youn (Bertram), Marina Mescheriakova (Alice), and Nelly Miricioiu
(Isabelle), conducted by Marc Minkowski
.
(father of William the Conqueror) was the devil
.
. The minstrel
Raimbaud, not recognising Robert, sings a ballad referring to him as 'Robert the Devil'. Raimbaud begs for pardon and tells Robert that he is engaged to marry Robert's half-sister Alice. Alice enters and tells Robert she bears a message from their dying mother. Robert tells her to keep it till later and asks her to take a letter to his own fiancée, the Princess Isabelle. Bertram challenges Robert to a game of dice, at which Robert loses his entire possessions.
was so popular that it became his calling card: on more than one occasion he was forced to interrupt his programmed concerts to play it because of the demands of the audience.
Frédéric Chopin
, who attended the premiere, and Auguste Franchomme
jointly composed a Grand Duo concertant
on themes from the opera, for cello and piano, in 1832.
Italian pianist and composer Adolfo Fumagalli
composed an elaborate fantasy on the opera for left hand alone as his Op. 106.
The work's popularity spawned many parodies and pastiches including one by W. S. Gilbert
, Robert the Devil
, which opened the Gaiety Theatre, London
in 1868.
Given the year of the opera's premiere, not long after the July Revolution
, it was widely and passionately interpreted by critics and literati, such as Honoré de Balzac
and Heinrich Heine
, as a comment on the revolutionary history of France and on its political and social present and future.
: "Lot 664 - a wooden pistol and three human skulls, from this house's 1831 production of Robert le diable by Meyerbeer".
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...
by Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, often regarded as the first 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...
. 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...
was written 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:...
and Casimir Delavigne
Casimir Delavigne
Jean-François Casimir Delavigne was a French poet and dramatist.-Biography:Delavigne was born at Le Havre, but was sent to Paris to be educated at the Lycée Napoleon. He read extensively...
and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil
Robert the Devil
Robert the Devil is a legend of medieval origin. Robert is the devil's own child, for his mother, despairing of heaven's aid in order to obtain a son, has addressed herself to the devil...
. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique
Opéra comique
Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
, "Meyerbeer persuaded Scribe to change (the opera)...to a five-act grand opera". The dramatic music, harmony and orchestration of Robert, its melodramatic plot, and its sensational stage effects (especially the ballet of the nuns) made it an overnight success and instantly confirmed Meyerbeer as the leading opera composer of his age, compelling Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, who was in the audience to say "If ever magnificence was seen in the theatre, I doubt that it reached the level of splendour shown in Robert.....It is a masterpiece...Meyerbeer has made himself immortal"
The opera was the first new production by the new manager of the Opéra, Louis Véron, and its success underwrote his policy of commissioning similar works, which were to include Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots
Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps....
, 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:...
's La Juive
La 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:...
, and Daniel Auber
Daniel Auber
Daniel François Esprit Auber was a French composer.-Biography:The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments...
's Gustave III.
Performance history
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...
as Bertram, Adolphe Nourrit
Adolphe Nourrit
Adolphe Nourrit was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini....
as Robert—and to the provocative "ballet of the nuns" in the third act, featuring the great ballerina, Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni was a famous Italian/Swedish ballerina of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.-Biography:...
.
The opera - under the title of The Fiend-Father in a version by Rophino Lacy - was first presented in London at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
on 20 February 1832 and in its original version at the Haymarket Theatre on 11 June of that year. Lacy's version was given in New York on 7 April 1834.
At the invitation of Nourrit Cornélie Falcon made her debut at the age of 18 at the Opéra in the role of Alice on 20 July 1832. The cast included Nourrit. Although suffering from stage fright, Falcon managed to sing her first aria without error, and finished her role with "ease and competence." Her tragic demeanor and dark looks were highly appropriate to the part, and she made a vivid impression on the public, which included on that night Auber
Daniel Auber
Daniel François Esprit Auber was a French composer.-Biography:The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments...
, Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
, 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:...
, Maria Malibran
Maria Malibran
The mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran , was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28...
, Giulia Grisi
Giulia Grisi
Giulia Grisi, also known as Madame De Candia was an Italian opera singer...
, Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier was a French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor, whose many works offer commentary on social and political life in France in the 19th century....
, Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
. On hearing her in the role, Meyerbeer himself declared his opera at last 'complete'.
As noted by critic Tom Kaufman,
- "By April, 1834, the opera passed the 100 performance mark, a good five months ahead of William Tell, even though the Rossini opera had had a 27 month head start. In the meantime it had been translated into both English and German (two versions of each) and had started its triumphant tour of the civilized world. In 1832 it was heard in London, Berlin, Strasbourg, Dublin and Liege. In 1833 it reached Brussels, Copenhagen, Vienna and Marseille. Lyons, New York (in English), Budapest, Le Haye, Amsterdam and St. Petersburg were some of the cities to hear it in 1834. Its first American performance in the original French took place in New Orleans on December 24, 1836. It was not translated into Italian until 1838, when it was given in Lisbon; a different Italian version was used for its Italian premiere in Florence in 1840."
By the late Nineteen Century, Meyerbeer's operas gradually disappeared. There were revivals in the twentieth century, including those in "New Orleans and Nice in 1901, Paris (at the Gaite Lyrique) in 1911, Barcelona in 1917, Vienna (at the Volksoper) in 1921 and Bordeaux in 1928. Its first postwar revival took place in Florence in 1968, but in an incomplete Italian version. The 1984 revival by the Paris opera (with Rockwell Blake
Rockwell Blake
Rockwell Blake is an American operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award.-Biography:...
(Robert), Samuel Ramey
Samuel Ramey
Samuel Edward Ramey is an American operatic bass with a long, distinguished career.During his best years, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing the music of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, yet power...
(Bertram), Walter Donati (Raimbaut), Michèle Lagrange (Alice) and June Anderson
June Anderson
June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American coloratura soprano. Originally known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, she was the first non-Italian ever to win the prestigious Bellini d'Oro prize...
(Isabelle))was the first in that city since 1911, and the first at the Opéra since 1893".
A performance of a new critical edition of Robert le Diable by musicologist Dr. Wolfgang Kuhnhold was presented at the Staatsoper
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in March 2000 with Jianyi Zhang (Robert),
Stephan Rügamer (Raimbaut), Kwangchul Youn (Bertram), Marina Mescheriakova (Alice), and Nelly Miricioiu
Nelly Miricioiu
Nelly Miricioiu is a British operatic soprano of Romanian birth, one of the most versatile artists of recent years, singing a large repertoire ranging from bel canto to verismo with equal success.-Biography:...
(Isabelle), conducted by Marc Minkowski
Marc Minkowski
Marc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology...
.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 21 November 1831 (Conductor: François Antoine Habeneck François Antoine Habeneck François Antoine Habeneck was a French violinist and conductor.- Early life :Habeneck was born at Mézières, the son of a musician in a French regimental band. During his early youth, Habeneck was taught by his father, and at the age of ten played concertos in public... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Robert, Duke of Normandy | 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... |
Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini.... |
| Isabelle, Princess of Sicily Palmide | 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... |
Laure Cinti-Damoreau Laure Cinti-Damoreau Laura Cinti-Damoreau was a French soprano particularly associated with Rossini roles.- Life and career :... |
| Bertram, Robert's friend | bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
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... |
| Alice, Robert's half-sister | soprano | Julie Dorus-Gras Julie Dorus-Gras Julie Dorus-Gras was a Belgian operatic soprano.-Early life and training:She was born Julie-Aimée-Josèphe Van Steenkiste, the daughter of an ex-soldier who was the leader of the theatre orchestra in her native city Valenciennes... |
| Raimbaut, a minstrel | tenor | Marcelin Lafont |
| Alberti, a knight | bass | Jean-Pierre Hurteau |
| Herald | 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.... |
| Lady-in-waiting to Isabelle | soprano | Lavry |
| Priest | bass | |
| Prince of Granada | silent | |
| Helena, Abbess | ballerina Ballerina A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino... |
Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni Marie Taglioni was a famous Italian/Swedish ballerina of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance.-Biography:... |
Synopsis
The opera is based loosely on the medieval legend of Robert the Devil, many versions of which allege that the Duke Robert the Magnificent of NormandyNormandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
(father of William the Conqueror) was the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
.
Act 1
Robert and his mysterious friend Bertram are carousing in PalermoPalermo
Palermo 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...
. The minstrel
Minstrel
A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
Raimbaud, not recognising Robert, sings a ballad referring to him as 'Robert the Devil'. Raimbaud begs for pardon and tells Robert that he is engaged to marry Robert's half-sister Alice. Alice enters and tells Robert she bears a message from their dying mother. Robert tells her to keep it till later and asks her to take a letter to his own fiancée, the Princess Isabelle. Bertram challenges Robert to a game of dice, at which Robert loses his entire possessions.
Act 2
The Prince of Granada challenges all comers for the hand of Isabelle, but Robert has been led astray by Bertram and does not respond.Act 3
Bertram reveals that he has undertaken to obtain Robert for the devil by the end of the day, and this is echoed by a chorus of demons. He tells Robert that he can regain his fortunes by the aid of a magic branch, which can make him invisible. He leads Robert to the ruins of a convent, where the branch can be found. A ballet takes place of the ghosts of debauched nuns, rising from their coffins, led by their abbess.Act 4
The invisible Robert enters Isabelle's chamber as she is preparing for her marriage with the Prince of Granada. He is intending to abduct her, but she admits that she loves him. In despair, Robert breaks the branch and the spell it has created, and is taken into custody.Act 5
The Cathedral of Palermo. Against a background of chanting monks, Bertram reveals to Robert that he is Robert's true father and is willing to renege on his obligation to deliver him to the devil. Enter Alice, with news that the Prince refuses to marry Isabelle. She also reads her mother's message, which is to shun the man who betrayed her (Bertram). Midnight now strikes, and the time for Bertram's coup is past. Bertram falls down into hell, and Robert falls into the arms of Isabelle.The influence of Robert le diable
The brilliant transcription of its themes made by the composer and virtuoso Franz LisztFranz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
was so popular that it became his calling card: on more than one occasion he was forced to interrupt his programmed concerts to play it because of the demands of the audience.
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, who attended the premiere, and Auguste Franchomme
Auguste Franchomme
Auguste-Joseph Franchomme was a French cellist and composer.Born in Lille, Franchomme studied at the local conservatoire with M...
jointly composed a Grand Duo concertant
Grand Duo concertant (Chopin and Franchomme)
The Grand Duo concertant in E major, B. 70 is a composition for piano and cello, written jointly by Frédéric Chopin and Auguste Franchomme. It was written in 1832 and published in 1833....
on themes from the opera, for cello and piano, in 1832.
Italian pianist and composer Adolfo Fumagalli
Adolfo Fumagalli
Adolfo Fumagalli was a 19th-century Italian virtuoso pianist and composer, known today primarily for his virtuosic compositions for the left hand alone.Born in Inzago, Italy, he grew up in a very musically-oriented environment...
composed an elaborate fantasy on the opera for left hand alone as his Op. 106.
The work's popularity spawned many parodies and pastiches including one by W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
, Robert the Devil
Robert the Devil (Gilbert)
Robert the Devil, or The Nun, the Dun, and the Son of a Gun is an operatic parody by W. S. Gilbert of Giacomo Meyerbeer's romantic opera Robert le diable, which was named after, but bears little resemblance to, the medieval French legend of the same name. Gilbert set new lyrics to tunes by...
, which opened the Gaiety Theatre, London
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
in 1868.
Given the year of the opera's premiere, not long after the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, it was widely and passionately interpreted by critics and literati, such as Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
and Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
, as a comment on the revolutionary history of France and on its political and social present and future.
Legacy
The opera and Meyerbeer are both referenced in the musical Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
: "Lot 664 - a wooden pistol and three human skulls, from this house's 1831 production of Robert le diable by Meyerbeer".
Recordings
| Year | Cast (Robert, Alice, Isabelle, Bertram, Raimbaut) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Giorgio Merighi, Stefania Malagù, Renata Scotto Renata Scotto Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi... , Boris Christoff Boris Christoff Boris Christoff was a Bulgarian opera singer... , Gianfranco Manganotti |
Nino Sanzogno Nino Sanzogno Nino Sanzogno was an Italian conductor and composer.He studied the violin with Guarneri and composition with Agostini at the Venice Liceo Musicale, and later conducting in Vienna with Hermann Scherchen... , Orchestra and chorus of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early... (Recording of a performance at the Maggio Musicale, 7 May) |
Audio CD: Pantheon Music Cat: XLNC-127 |
| 1985 | Rockwell Blake Rockwell Blake Rockwell Blake is an American operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award.-Biography:... Michèle Lagrange June Anderson June Anderson June Anderson is a Grammy Award-winning American coloratura soprano. Originally known for bel canto performances of Rossini, Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, she was the first non-Italian ever to win the prestigious Bellini d'Oro prize... Samuel Ramey Samuel Ramey Samuel Edward Ramey is an American operatic bass with a long, distinguished career.During his best years, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing the music of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, yet power... , Walter Donati |
Thomas Fulton Thomas Fulton Thomas Fulton , was an American conductor.Noted primarily for his work in opera, Fulton debuted at the Metropolitan Opera of New York City in 1979 and remained with the company until his death. He conducted 192 performances at the Met of over 20 operas in the Italian, French and German repertoires... , Orchestra and Chorus of 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... (Video recording of a performance in the Palais Garnier Palais Garnier The 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... , June) |
DVD: Encore Cat: DVD 2006 |
| 2000 | Jianyi Zhang Jianyi Zhang Jianyi Zhang is an American operatic tenor of Chinese birth. A graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School, he has had an active international career in concerts and operas since the mid 1980s... Marina Mescheriakova Nelly Miricioiu Nelly Miricioiu Nelly Miricioiu is a British operatic soprano of Romanian birth, one of the most versatile artists of recent years, singing a large repertoire ranging from bel canto to verismo with equal success.-Biography:... Kwangchui Youn, Stephan Rügamer |
Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski Marc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology... , Orchestra and Chorus of Berlin State Opera Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:... (Recording of a performance in the Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin, 14 March) |
Audio CD: House of Opera Cat: CD 689 |
External links
- Kaufman, Tom, "A Few Words About Robert le Diable" on the "Meyerbeer Fan Club" website, meyerbeer.com Retrieved 10 January 2011