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Eighteenth-Century Opera and the Construction of National Identity in France, 1875–1918

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Eighteenth-Century Opera and the Construction of National Identity in France, 1875–1918 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY OPERA AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN FRANCE, 1875–1918 William Gibbons A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music. Chapel Hill 2010 Approved by: Annegret Fauser, Chair Mark Evan Bonds Tim Carter Jon Finson Lloyd Kramer © 2010 William Gibbons ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT WILLIAM GIBBONS: Eighteenth-Century Opera and the Construction of National Identity in France, 1875–1918 (Under the direction of Annegret Fauser) In the wake of the disastrous Franco-Prussian war, French musicians and audiences sought ways to reaffirm the greatness of their nation. One strategy was to look to the glories of the past as evidence of continued French superiority. In this dissertation, I will examine the role of eighteenth-century opera in constructing a compelling musical past. In particular, I will focus on three composers with vastly differing reception histories in France: Mozart, Gluck, and Rameau, all of whose works received attention both on and off the operatic stages of Paris during the time period of this study. The Austrian Mozart was a favorite throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century, serving to present Paris as the cosmopolitan capital of civilization. By 1900, however, performances of his operas ground almost to a halt in favor of revivals of Gluck’s works, a composer who could be adopted by the French and made into a source of national pride. Rameau, finally, represented the apex of the purely French tragédie lyrique—an important dramatic genre for establishing a nationalist rhetoric of music history, but one that also encountered difficulty in gaining popular success at the fin-de-siècle given its musical style. By tracing the critical and compositional reception surrounding these composers and the revivals of their works, I will offer a new look at how music of the past can be used to support narratives of national identity, as well as provide new insight iii into the French reception histories of three of the most influential composers of the eighteenth century. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is the product of a number of people besides myself. I owe a great scholarly debt to Annegret Fauser for her continued support of this project from its inception to its completion. I am also grateful to the other members of my committee— Mark Evan Bonds, Tim Carter, Jon Finson, and Lloyd Kramer—for their helpful suggestions and careful attention to this work. My research has benefited greatly from my discussions with Ralph Locke, Jann Pasler, and Katharine Ellis, all of whom have been generous with their time and advice. The staff the Music Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have accommodated my frequent requests with skill and good cheer. I have received financial assistance from the Music Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including an assistantship and additional funds to offset travel costs. My final year of writing was made possible by a Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Research in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the French National Archives was financed in large part by an Elizabeth Bartlet Travel Award from the American Musicological Society. Finally, and most importantly, completing this dissertation would have been impossible without the constant support of my family, friends, and colleagues. I am thankful beyond words for all of them. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................................ix LIST OF MUSIC EXAMPLES.......................................................................................... xi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION: CREATING THE OPERATIC MUSEUM................1 Classical Opera in Paris Before 1875 ........................................................16 Mozart ........................................................................................................19 Gluck..........................................................................................................32 Rameau...................................................................................................... 40 II. MOZART...................................................................................................45 Don Juan after 1870.................................................................................. 48 Cosmopolitanism vs. Nationalism: Mozart and Politics....................................................................................................... 73 Mozart as Raphael, or, A Feminine Mozart............................................... 79 Case Study: The Magic Flute, 1909...........................................................99 The Magic Flute and Morality................................................................. 102 Issues of Authenticity........................................................................... 111 The Magic Flute and the “German Style”................................................120 vi III. GLUCK....................................................................................................128 Gluck in the Concert Hall........................................................................ 129 Gluck in the Library: The Pelletan Edition..............................................135 Gluck at the Opera House........................................................................139 Critical Reception.................................................................................... 144 Gluck’s French Identity: “Notre Corneille Lyrique”............................... 148 Gluck and Wagner................................................................................... 157 Gluck, The Greek Revival, and Politics...................................................170 Case Study: Orphée et Eurydice, 1896.................................................... 185 IV. RAMEAU................................................................................................212 Rameau in the Concert Hall..................................................................... 218 The Rameau Œuvres complètes and its Editors.......................................224 Rameau and “Frenchness,” or, the “Querelle” Revisited.................................................................................................. 240 Rameau at the Opéra................................................................................ 254 CONCLUSIONS.............................................................................................................271 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 276 vii LIST OF TABLES 2.1 Major revivals of Mozart’s operas at the Opéra and Opéra-Comique, 1875–1918…………………………..........................................................47 3.1 Gluck at the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, 1875–1918....................... 133 3.2 Major revivals of Gluck’s Operas in Paris, 1875–1918.......................................142 3.3 Wagner Opera Productions in Paris, 1891–1914................................................. 164 3.4 Prima Donnas in selected Parisian Productions of Gluck Operas, 1875–1918................................................................................................169 4.1 Rameau at the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, 1875–1918.................... 219 4.2 Rameau’s Operas at the Scola Cantorum............................................................. 221 4.3 Operas published in the Rameau Œuvres Complètes.......................................... 232 viii LIST OF FIGURES Table 1.1 Paris: Inauguration of the Opéra, 1875 (ca. 1900). Library of Congress................................................................................................................. 11 1.2 Eugène Lacoste, Maquette de Costume pour “Don Giovanni,” 1: Don Juan (Faure) (1876). Bibliothèque-Musée de l’Opéra de Paris........................................................................................................................30 1.3 D. Philippe, Madame Viardot dans Orphée de Gluck (1860). Bibliothèque Nationale de France............................................................................................... 38 2.1 Portrait of Gounod Holding a Don Giovanni score (1879). Bibliothèque-Musée de l’Opéra de Paris................................................................................................. 56 2.2 Victor Maurel as Don Juan at the Opéra-Comique (1896). Musica, April 1904................................................................................................ 62 2.3 Jean-Antoine Watteau, The French Comedians (1721–22). Metropolitan Museum of Art....................................................................................................... 66 2.4 Depiction of the child Mozart. Musica, April 1907............................................... 91 2.5 Papageno and Papgena in the 1909 Opéra-Comique production of La Flûte enchantée. Le Théâtre, August (I) 1909.............................................................. 100 2.6 Juste Nivette as Sarastro in the 1909 Magic Flute. Le
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