Carlo Rizzi the hallÉ JOYCE EL-KHOURY ÉCHO JOYCE EL-KHOURY ÉCHO Carlo Rizzi ‒ conductor The Hallé

ORR252

Cover image: Joyce El-Khoury (photographer: Julien Benhamou) Cover design: Carroll & Co

1 Producer Editing Jeremy Hayes Jeremy Hayes and Steve Portnoi

Opera Rara production management Liner notes and translations Kim Panter Rosie Ward

Recording production management The scores and parts for this recording were Henry Little hired from G. Ricordi & Co (London) Ltd, Faber Music (Bärenreiter), Edition Peters Assistant conductor and RAI Milan George Jackson The orchestral scores and parts forLe Pré Répétiteur aux clercs were created for by David Jones Ian Schofield

Italian coach Recorded in The Stoller Hall, Chetham’s Valentina di Taranto School of Music, Manchester. February 2017

French coach Hallé Sonja Nerdrum Paul Barritt, leader

Session photography Hallé management: Russell Duncan John Summers Geoffrey Owen Recording engineer Stuart Kempster Steve Portnoi Sue Voysey Assistant engineer Louise Brimicombe Niall Gault Louise Hamilton

2 Joyce El-Khoury – Écho Carlo Rizzi, The Hallé

Page Duration [1] Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor (Scena e Cavatina) ‘Regnava nel silenzio’ 10 8’30 [2] Meyerbeer, (Cavatine) ‘Robert, toi que j’aime’ 12 5’39 [3] Weber/Berlioz, Le Freyschütz (Scène et Air) ‘Hélas! sans le revoir’ 13 8’00 [4] Rossini, Guillaume Tell (Récitatif et Romance) ‘Ils s’éloignent enfin’ 16 8’30 [5] Meyerbeer, Robert le diable (Romance) ‘Va, dit-elle, va, mon enfant’ 19 6’37 [6] Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor (Scena e Duetto Finale) ‘Lucia, perdona...’ (with Michael Spyres) 20 13’23 [7] Hérold, Le Pré aux clercs (Entr’acte et Air) ‘Jours de mon enfance’ (Paul Barritt, Violin) 26 5’20 [8] Meyerbeer, Robert le diable (Couplets) ‘Quand je quittai la Normandie’ 27 5’31 [9] Halévy, (Air) ‘Assez longtemps la crainte et la tristesse’ 28 8’54 [10] Berlioz, Benvenuto Cellini (Récitatif et Air) ‘Les belles fleurs’ 30 7’43

3 JOYCE EL-KHOURY – AN ÉCHO THROUGH TIME

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to know with any accuracy what Julie Dorus-Gras’s voice sounded like, though in her day she acquired a reputation for rare vocal greatness. What is clear from the historical facts available is that she had a prodigious work ethic and was constantly refining and shaping her vocal technique to meet the requirements of the roles she sang. This iron discipline allowed her to perform a wider variety of roles than normal and placed her among the front rank of artists of the time. When composers of considerable prominence were looking for appropriate talent to debut their works, she was often the first choice. I feel a strong kinship with Mme. Dorus-Gras. Like her, I consider myself a perennial student of this wonderful art form. Like her, I am always looking to grow, to expand my vocal palette in an effort to convey more truthfully the trials, tribulations and intricacies of the human condition. There is no way to know whether my voice is similar to hers in tonal quality. What I do know, is that the repertoire she sang, some of which is featured on this disc, resonates deeply with me. Moreover, the vocal demands feel a natural fit for my voice and I simply love singing this music. This recital recording is both a tribute and a gesture of gratitude to this wonderful artist, who pioneered so much repertoire that still has so much to say to modern-day audiences. I decided to call this disc Écho after noticing that this word is present in a few of the pieces, whether in French or Italian (as ‘eco’). This is especially spine-tingling for me: Mme. Julie Dorus-Gras’s work is still echoing today in the 21st century and inspiring artists such as myself. I very much hope you enjoy listening to this marvellous music.

4 JULIE DORUS-GRAS (1805–96)

JULIE DORUS-GRAS belonged to a constellation of leading singers in 1830s and 1840s Paris that included Adolphe Nourrit, and Cornélie Falcon. Her career spanned a crucial period of ever more spectacular operas and changes in singing style, as well as the beginning of a shift towards a kind of operatic museum culture centred on a canon of beloved works. Because of the increasing sway of this then-nascent canon, many of the operas in which these singers excelled are little known or completely unknown today. Dorus-Gras came from a musical family in Valenciennes in northern France. Her father taught music and conducted the town’s theatre orchestra; her younger brother Louis became a highly influential flautist. (The family had adopted the French-sounding name Dorus some time earlier, to replace their original Flemish name, Vansteenkiste.) The municipality of Valenciennes supported Julie through vocal studies at the Paris Conservatoire, where she won several prizes. Her early career was as a concert singer; then, after further studies in , in 1826 she made her debut in that city (at the Monnaie) in a popular opéra comique, Boieldieu’s Jean de Paris. Her most important Brussels performances were as Elvire in Auber’s : she sang in the notorious performance on 25 August 1830 that sparked – or, more likely, was the prearranged signal for – the Belgian revolution. In the wake of the political unrest in Belgium, Dorus moved to Paris, making her Opéra debut in Rossini’s in late 1830: she was immediately hailed as an acquisition précieuse for the theatre. The premiere of Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable in November 1831 was an important early milestone; Dorus quickly became renowned for her ability to play either of the work’s two soprano

5 roles, Alice and Isabelle, with equal facility. Other notable premieres in the next half-decade included Auber’s Le Philtre (1831, Térézine), Halévy’s La Juive (1835, Eudoxie) and Meyerbeer’s (1836, Marguerite); this period also saw her marriage to a first violinist from the Opéra, Simon Victor Gras. One of Dorus-Gras’s most important collaborators was the extraordinary Gilbert Duprez (1806–96), who arrived at the Opéra in 1837, replacing Adolphe Nourrit (who had been the starring tenor in most of Dorus-Gras’s earlier premieres). Dorus-Gras was Mathilde to Duprez’s famously high-C-studded Arnold in Guillaume Tell; their joint premieres then included Halévy’s Guido et Ginévra (1838), Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini (1838) and Donizetti’s (1840). Duprez also joined Dorus-Gras, to great acclaim, in works such as La Juive and Robert le diable. Soon after Duprez’s arrival, Berlioz remarked that singing with the new tenor seemed to inspire Dorus-Gras to even greater performances; critics also praised her sensitivity in adapting to his unusual, powerful style. Dorus-Gras’s roles spanned the gamut of the soprano repertoire of the time, from ‘Italianate’ virtuosity to more humble, or more declamation-focused, ‘French’ characters. Perhaps partly because of this adaptability across a variety of roles, she largely escaped being characterised as a capricious diva, as so many sopranos were. Her impeccable French credentials may have helped here, her Parisian (as against Italian) training and continued enthusiasm for concert tours of provincial France insuring her against any patriotic suspicion. She was also regarded as hugely conscientious, working on her technique to adapt to new roles; in 1832 she is said to have comforted the ailing composer Ferdinand Hérold by rescuing his Le Pré aux clercs from – yes – an allegedly indisposed soprano. Before, during and after her career on the operatic stage, Dorus-Gras was a renowned concert performer: in the early 1830s, for example, there are reports

6 that she held her own even during shared concerts with instrumental wizards such as Niccolò Paganini. She perfected a wide-ranging repertoire of signature arias, including numbers from Weber’s Freischütz, Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable and Louis-Sébastien Lebrun’s Le Rossignol (1816; this last work included a soprano aria with obbligato flute that Dorus-Gras and her brother performed together on many occasions). Like many leading singers and dancers of her generation, she was also active in London, where, alongside her established concert repertoire, she further endeared herself to British audiences by taking on Handel and Haydn solos on the oratorio circuit. Her later London visits included staged operas – most notably her 1847–8 performances of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, with Berlioz conducting. Dorus-Gras retired around 1850, and the latter part of her life was quiet; in 1891, aged 86, she attended celebrations at the Opéra for the centenary of Meyerbeer’s birth. The selected highlights of her repertoire in this recital offer a glimpse of the vibrancy and variety of mid-19th-century operatic music, and of the significance to that repertory of Dorus-Gras’s remarkable voice.

© Rosie Ward, 2017

7 Julie Dorus-Gras (1805–1896)

[1] , Lucia di Lammermoor, Act I, Scena e Cavatina: ‘Regnava nel silenzio… Quando rapito’ (Lucia)

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR premiered in Naples on 26 September 1835, with Fanny Tacchinardi Persiani in the title role, and Dorus-Gras’s future collaborator Gilbert Duprez as Edgardo – a role that would remain central throughout his career. Dorus-Gras’s most prominent appearance as Lucia was in a successful run of performances in London in 1847–8, conducted by none other than and with the English tenor Sims Reeves as Edgardo. According to the music critic of the Athenaeum, Dorus-Gras’s ‘brilliancy of execution [was] in utmost force’ in these performances. At the start of the two-movement entrance aria, Lucia tells her maid Alisa about seeing the ghost of one of her ancestors. The Larghetto, ‘Regnava nel silenzio’, is ballad-like in melody and harmony, with broken chords from an accompanying clarinet; Lucia’s decoration of her melody gradually becomes more and more elaborate. In the declamatory passage and cabaletta that follow (‘Egli è luce… Quando rapito in estasi’), Lucia sings exuberantly of her passionate love for Edgardo, the sworn enemy of her family, expressing her joy through wide-ranging, virtuosic passagework.

Regnava nel silenzio All was silent, Alta la notte e bruna... The night deep and dark… Colpìa la fonte un pallido A pale, bleak moonbeam Raggio di tetra luna... Fell on the fountain… Quando un sommesso gemito When a low moan Fra l’aure udir si fè, Made itself heard on the breeze, Ed ecco su quel margine, And there, in the shadows, L’ombra mostrarsi a me... The ghost appeared before me…

10 Qual di chi parla muoversi I could see her lips moving Il labbro suo vedea, As if she were speaking, E con la mano esanime And with her lifeless hand Chiamarmi a sé parea; She seemed to beckon to me; Stette un momento immobile, She stood still for a moment, Poi ratta dileguò... Then suddenly vanished… E l’onda prìa sì limpida And the fountain, so clear before, Di sangue rosseggiò. Reddened with blood.

Egli è luce ai giorni miei, He is the light to my days, È conforto al mio penar. A comfort to my suffering.

Quando rapito in estasi When, rapt in the ecstasy Del più cocente ardore, Of ardent passion, Col favellar del core Speaking with his heart, Mi giura eterna fè, He swears eternal love to me, Gli affanni miei dimentico, I forget my troubles, Gioia diviene il pianto, My tears become joy, Parmi che a lui d’accanto When I am by his side, Si schiuda il ciel per me. Heaven opens before me.

11 [2] , Robert le diable, Act IV, Cavatine: ‘Robert, toi que j’aime’ (Isabelle)

ROBERT LE DIABLE was hugely important to international operatic culture, and to Dorus-Gras personally. When the opera premiered on 21 November 1831, Dorus-Gras played Robert’s foster-sister Alice, but she sang Isabelle for the first time the following year, and continued to appear in both roles throughout her career. The two soprano roles are contrasting in ways typical of Parisian grand operas, revealing the genre’s international influences: the lower-class Alice sings (mostly, but not exclusively) in simple, strophic forms, often bringing in elements of ‘local colour’; Isabelle, on the other hand, is aristocratic, virtuosic and more Italianate. Dorus-Gras’s ability to excel as either was considered a mark of her extraordinary skill; her farewell performance at the Opéra in 1845 included two acts of Robert, with the famed soprano switching between her two roles. In this cavatina from Act IV, Isabelle’s marriage to Robert’s rival, the Prince of Granada, is fast approaching. Robert visits her; envoys from the Prince have arrived with gifts, but Robert uses a magic branch to freeze everyone except himself and Isabelle. Isabelle professes her love for Robert but begs him to relinquish such dark forces. The piece’s subdued, minor- mode opening, with its melancholy cor anglais and harp accompaniment, is followed by a celestial outburst into F major at Isabelle’s words ‘grâce pour toi-même!’ With excursions into contrasting moods, this ‘grâce’ refrain returns twice more – the final time, proclaimed triumphantly by the full orchestra – before the aria concludes with elaborate cadenzas.

Robert, toi que j’aime Robert, you whom I love, Et qui reçus ma foi, And in whom I placed my trust, Tu vois mon effroi: You see my fear: Grâce pour toi-même, May God take pity on you, Et grâce pour moi! And God take pity on me!

Quoi! ton cœur se dégage What? Your heart disowns

12 Des serments les plus doux? These, the gentlest of vows? Tu me rendis hommage, You paid me homage, Je suis à tes genoux. I submit to your will. Grâce etc.

Ô mon bien suprême, Oh my dearest one, my all, Toi que j’aime, You whom I love, Tu vois mon effroi. You see my fear. Grâce etc.

[3] Carl Maria von Weber/Hector Berlioz, Le Freyschütz, Act II, Scène et Air: ‘Hélas! sans le revoir… Ma prière, solitaire’ (Agathe)

IN THE YEARS following its 1821 Berlin premiere, Der Freischütz enjoyed enormous popularity across Europe, appearing in many different versions. In 1824 the French musicologist and critic Castil-Blaze made an adaptation called Robin des bois which aroused great enthusiasm. However, in 1841 a French translation of Weber’s work (as opposed to Castil-Blaze’s substantially altered version) was mounted at the Opéra, and it is this version which is preferred here. The conventions of that theatre dictated the need for sung recitatives rather than spoken dialogue: in spite of protests that it would distort Weber’s work, Hector Berlioz supplied these recitatives. The scene recorded here was central to Dorus-Gras’s concert repertoire throughout her career. It was also a favourite of Berlioz’s, who admired its huge variety and inventiveness. Indeed, Dorus-Gras may have influenced his admiration: in an 1838 concert, he reported that she sang the piece ‘with the most constant surety of intonation, with soul, with intelligence, and with a very vivid sense of the author’s inspiration’. Der Freischütz is set in Bohemia at the end of the Thirty Years’ War. Max, a young forester, must triumph in a shooting contest in order to become head forester – and to win the hand of Agathe, the woman he loves. In this scene, Agathe awaits Max, singing about her anxiety

13 and about the forest around her. Her shifting emotions are delineated by passages of recitative and by tempo and style changes. The opening recitative is followed by a serene two-verse prayer accompanied by hushed strings; then comes an Andante with busier accompaniment as Agathe listens out for Max among the forest murmurs; finally, as her optimism grows, energetic arpeggio patterns from the strings herald a joyous Vivace.

Hélas! sans le revoir, faut-il fermer les yeux? Alas! Must I close my eyes without seeing him? Ah! quel tourment se mêle à mon amour Ah! Such torment clouds my pure love! pieux! La lune enfin rayonne aux cieux. At last, the moon shines in the heavens.

Ma prière, solitaire, My solitary prayer De la terre vole vers Dieu! Flies from the earth to God! Ta servante est tremblante, Your servant trembles, Seigneur, entend son vœu. Lord, hear her plea.

Quel beau ciel et que d’étoiles What a beautiful sky, and what stars, Resplendissent dans l’azur; Resplendent in the blue surround. Pourtant, sous de sombres voiles, Yet these dark veils L’horizon devient obscur! Obscure the horizon! Quels nuages pleins d’éclairs, What lightning bolts in the clouds, Que d’orages dans les airs. What storms in the air.

Reine sainte, vois ma crainte, Blessed queen, see my fear, Que ma plainte monte vers toi. May my plea rise up to you. Aux louanges des archanges, To the archangels’ praises, En tremblant répond ma voix. Trembling, my voice responds.

14 Tout s’endort dans le silence, Everyone sleeps in the silence, Ne peut-il venir enfin! If only he would come! Mais, hélas! j’écoute en vain. But alas! I listen in vain. Mon oreille entend au loin I hear in the distance Le bruit seul du noir sapin Only the sound of the silver fir Que le vent des nuits balance. Stirred by the winds of the night.

Le rossignol qui s’éveille Only the waking nightingale Trouble seul l’écho lointain. Troubles the distant echo. Ô Ciel! Qu’ai-je vu dans l’ombre? Oh heaven! What did I see in the shadows? Quelqu’un s’avance!... Someone is coming… Accourt dans le bois sombre, Hurrying through the dark wood, On vient vers moi? Is he coming towards me?

C’est lui! C’est lui! It is he! It is he! Mon cœur en a tressailli! My heart quivers at his presence! Signal fidèle, conduis ses pas; Faithful signal, guide his steps; J’appelle; il ne me voit pas. I call; he does not see me. Dieu! N’est-ce pas un doux mirage? My God! Is this a sweet mirage? De joie il semble transporté! He seems transported with joy! Le prix d’adresse il l’a gagné? Did he win the contest? Pour nous, demain, heureux présage. This bodes well for us tomorrow! Espoir divin! Espoir, renais enfin! Divine hope! Hope, be reborn at last!

Ah! quel bonheur suprême! Ah! What supreme happiness! Dans mon âme plus d’effroi; My soul fears no more; C’est le ciel, délire extrême, It’s heaven, extreme joy, C’est le ciel ouvert pour moi! Heaven opens before me!

15 Le voilà, celui que j’aime, Here he is, the one I love, Sa victoire et son retour His victory and his return Tout couronne mon amour. Crown my love for him. Que la crainte enfin s’efface, May my fear at last disappear, Douce ivresse, jour heureux... Sweet exhilaration, happy day… Ah! ciel! je te rends grâce, Ah! heavens! I give thanks to you, Ta bonté combla mes vœux. Your goodness fulfilled my desires.

C’est le ciel, délire extrême! It’s heaven, extreme joy! Tout mon être vole à toi. My whole being flies to you. Près de celui que j’aime, Close to the one I love, Pour mon cœur, quel doux émoi. What sweet emotion in my heart.

[4] , Guillaume Tell, Act II, Récitatif et Romance: ‘Ils s’éloignent enfin… Sombre forêt’ (Mathilde)

GUILLAUME TELL, Rossini’s last opera, was an extraordinary success when it premiered in 1829, with Laure Cinti-Damoreau as Mathilde and Adolphe Nourrit as Arnold. The work’s enduring popularity was further cemented in 1837, when Gilbert Duprez sang Arnold as his Opéra debut, stunning audiences with his unusually powerful vocal technique. Guillaume Tell then became one of Duprez and Dorus-Gras’s frequent collaborations; Berlioz remarked at the time that singing with Duprez seemed to inspire Dorus-Gras to even better performances. The opera’s plot, based on Friedrich Schiller’s 1805 play, is set in 13th-century Switzerland, then occupied by a brutal Austrian regime. Mathilde, an Austrian princess, and Arnold, son of a Swiss village elder, have fallen in love. Early in Act II, Mathilde lingers behind her companions on a hunting trip, thinking she has glimpsed Arnold. She reflects on her feelings for him in this recitative and two-verse Romance, with Rossini’s delicate orchestration contributing to the sense of Mathilde’s contentment in her mountain surroundings.

16 Ils s’éloignent enfin; j’ai cru le reconnaître: They are leaving at last; I thought I saw him: Mon cœur n’a point trompé mes yeux; My heart did not deceive my eyes. Il a suivi mes pas, il est près de ces lieux. He followed me, he is nearby. Je tremble!... s’il allait paraître! I tremble… if he should appear! Quel est ce sentiment profond, mystérieux What is this deep, mysterious feeling Dont je nourris l’ardeur, que je chéris Whose strength I nurture and perhaps peut-être? cherish? Arnold! Arnold! est-ce bien toi, Arnold! Arnold! Is it really you, Simple habitant de ces campagnes, Simple man of the country, L’espoir, l’orgueil de ces montagnes, The hope and pride of these mountains, Qui charme ma pensée et cause mon effroi? Who charms my thoughts but makes me fearful? Ah! que je puisse au moins l’avouer à Ah! If only I could confess it to myself! moi-même! Melcthal, c’est toi que j’aime; Melcthal, it’s you I love; Tu m’as sauvé le jour; You saved my life; Et ma reconnaissance excuse mon amour. And my gratitude excuses my love.

Sombre forêt, désert triste et sauvage, Dark forest, sad, wild desert, Je vous préfère aux splendeurs des palais: I prefer you to the splendours of palaces: C’est sur les monts, au séjour de l’orage, It is on the mountains, in the storm, Que mon cœur peut renaître à la paix; That my heart can again be in peace; Et l’écho seulement apprendra mes And only the echo will learn my secrets. secrets.

Toi, du berger astre doux et timide, You, gentle shepherd’s star, Qui, sur mes pas, viens semant tes reflets, Spread your light on my footsteps, Ah! sois aussi mon étoile et mon guide! Ah! Be my star and my guide! Comme lui tes rayons sont discrets, Like him, your rays are subtle, Et l’écho seulement redira mes secrets. And only the echo will repeat my secrets. 17

[5] Giacomo Meyerbeer, Robert le diable, Act I, Romance: ‘Va, dit-elle, va, mon enfant’ (Alice)

THE OPENING of Robert le diable depicts a group of knights preparing to compete for the hand of Princess Isabelle. Among them are Robert and his companion Bertram; we learn that Robert and Isabelle are already in love. In the Romance ‘Va, dit-elle’, Robert’s foster-sister Alice tells him that his mother has died, her last wish being to warn him that a strange, threatening force lies ahead. The orchestration evokes two realms that remain important to Alice’s character: the peaceful pastoral world, symbolised by the horns that open the Romance; and a heavenly, innocent realm associated with the high woodwind that accompany Alice – by stark contrast with the much lower, darker that have already been linked to the mysterious Bertram. Dorus-Gras had been at the Paris Opéra for less than a year when she created the role of Alice, which was a critical milestone in her career. There was a widespread sense among critics that she had risen to an unprecedented challenge by becoming such a successful Alice. Robert spread with astonishing speed to opera houses across Europe and beyond. Dorus-Gras appeared frequently in staged productions, and this Romance also remained an important part of her concert repertoire all over provincial France and in London.

Va, dit-elle, va, mon enfant, Go, she said, go, my child, Dire au fils qui m’a délaissée Tell the son who has left me Qu’il eut la dernière pensée That a heart which dies loving him D’un cœur qui s’éteint en l’aimant. Thought of him at the last. Adoucis sa douleur amère, Soften his bitter pain, Il ne reste pas sans appui; He is not without support; Car dans les cieux comme sur la terre, In heaven as on earth, Sa mère va prier pour lui. His mother will pray for him.

19 Dis-lui qu’un pouvoir ténébreux Tell him that a shadowy power Veut le pousser au précipice; Pushes him to the precipice; Sois son bon ange, pauvre Alice, Be his guiding angel, poor Alice, Il doit choisir entre vous deux. He must choose between you two. Puisse-t-il fléchir la colère May he calm the wrath Du Dieu qui m’appelle aujourd’hui, Of the God who calls me today, Et dans les cieux suivre sa mère, And follow his mother to heaven, Sa mère qui priera pour lui! His mother who will pray for him!

[6] Gaetano Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, Act I, Scena e Duetto Finale ‘Lucia, perdona... Verranno a te sull’aure’ (Edgardo and Lucia) with Michael Spyres

LUCIA AND EDGARDO’s duet follows almost immediately after Lucia’s entrance aria (track 1), and concludes Act I of the opera. In the duet’s opening recitative, Edgardo arrives to tell Lucia that he is leaving for France. He wants to be reconciled with her family so that the pair can marry openly, but she tells him this is impossible and that their relationship must remain secret. During the multi-movement duet, they swear eternal love to each other. The orchestra plays a crucial role in building emotional intensity in the declamatory passages. The duet’s final movement, the cabaletta ‘Verrano a te sull’aure’, then builds from a pianissimo start. Edgardo, and then he and Lucia together, repeat the same melody, unusually singing mostly in octave unison rather than in conventional thirds or sixths. This melody will be the most prominent of the thematic reminiscences in Lucia’s famous mad scene in Act III. In the duet, the hypnotic tune draws to a final close and is overtaken by a strongly contrasting, energetic coda as the lovers’ emotions peak with the realisation that they must part.

20 EDGARDO EDGARDO Lucia, perdona Lucia, forgive me Se ad ora inusitata For asking to meet Io vederti chiedea: ragion possente At such an unusual hour: a powerful A ciò mi trasse. Prìa che in ciel biancheggi Force brings me here. Before the next dawn L’alba novella, dalle patrie sponde Lights the sky, I will be far Lungi sarò. From my homeland. LUCIA LUCIA Che dici? What are you saying? EDGARDO EDGARDO Pe’ Franchi lidi amici For the friendly shores of France Sciolgo le vele; ivi trattar m’è dato I’m setting sail; my work there concerns Le sorti della Scozia. The fate of Scotland. LUCIA LUCIA E me nel pianto And you leave me Abbandoni così? Here to weep? EDGARDO EDGARDO Prìa di lasciarti Before I leave you Ashton mi vegga... io stenderò placato I need to see Ashton… I will offer him A lui la destra e la tua destra, pegno The hand of peace, and ask for your hand Fra noi di pace, chiederò. To seal our pact. LUCIA LUCIA Che ascolto! What is this? Ah, no... rimanga nel silenzio sepolto Ah, no… Let our secret love per or l’arcano affetto. Stay buried in silence. EDGARDO EDGARDO Intendo! Di mia stirpe I understand! The villain who persecutes Il reo persecutor dei mali miei My family is not yet satisfied Ancor pago non è! Mi tolse il padre, With my misfortune! He took my father

21 Il mio retaggio avito. Né basta? from me, My ancestral heritage. Is that not enough? Che brama ancor quel cor feroce e rio? What more does he want, merciless villain? La mia perdita intera? My utter ruin? Il sangue mio? Egli m’odia... My life? He hates me… LUCIA LUCIA Ah, no... Ah, no… EDGARDO EDGARDO M’aborre. He detests me. LUCIA LUCIA Calma, oh ciel, quell’ira estrema. Oh heaven, calm his extreme rage. EDGARDO EDGARDO Fiamma ardente in sen mi corre! A searing flame courses through me! M’o d i . Listen. LUCIA LUCIA Edgardo! Edgardo! EDGARDO EDGARDO M’odi e trema! Listen and tremble! Sulla tomba che rinserra Over the tomb that holds Il tradito genitore, My betrayed father, Al tuo sangue eterna guerra In my rage I swore Io giurai nel mio furore. Eternal war on your family. Ma ti vidi, e in cor mi nacque But I saw you, and another feeling Altro affetto, e l’ira tacque. Arose in my heart, and my rage abated. Pur quel voto non è infranto, But that vow is not broken, Io potrei, sì potrei compirlo ancor! And I could, yes I could still fulfil it! LUCIA LUCIA Deh! Ti placa. Deh, ti frena. Calm yourself. God, show restraint. Può tradirne un solo accento! One word could betray us!

22 Michael Spyres and Joyce El-Khoury Non ti basta la mia pena? Is my suffering not enough for you? Vuoi ch’io mora di spavento? Do you want me to die of fear? Ceda, ceda ogn’altro affetto, Let go, let go of all other feelings, Solo amor t’infiammi il petto; Let love alone set your heart alight; Un più nobile, più santo A pure love is nobler, holier D’ogni voto è un puro amor. Than any other vow. EDGARDO EDGARDO (con subita risoluzione) (suddenly resolute) Qui di sposa eterna fede, Here, swear before heaven Qui mi giura al cielo innante. To be my bride forever. Dio ci ascolta, Dio ci vede; God is listening to us, God sees us; Tempio ed ara è un core amante; A loving heart is a temple and altar; (ponendo un anello in dito a Lucia) (placing a ring on Lucia’s finger) Al tuo fato unisco il mio, I tie my fate to yours, Son tuo sposo. I am betrothed to you. LUCIA LUCIA (porgendo a sua volta il proprio anello (in turn giving her ring ad Edgardo) to Edgardo) E tua son io. And I to you. LUCIA ED EDGARDO LUCIA AND EDGARDO Ah, soltanto il nostro foco Ah, only the ice of death Spegnerà di morte il gel. Can put out the fire of our love. LUCIA LUCIA Ai miei voti amore invoco, As witness to my vows, I call on love, Ai miei voti invoco il ciel, As witness to my vows, I call on heaven, EDGARDO EDGARDO Ai miei voti invoco il cielo. As witness to my vows, I call on heaven. Separarci omai conviene. Now we must part.

24 LUCIA LUCIA Oh, parola a me funesta! Oh, tragic word! Il mio cor con te ne viene. My heart goes with you. Ah, talor del tuo pensiero Ah, if sometimes you think of me Venga un foglio messaggero, And send a letter, E la vita fuggitiva It will nourish my fleeting life Di speranze nudrirò. With hope. EDGARDO EDGARDO Io di te memoria viva I will keep alive my memories Sempre, o cara, serberò. Of you always, my dearest. LUCIA ED EDGARDO LUCIA AND EDGARDO Verranno a te sull’aure On the breeze will come to you I miei sospiri ardenti, My passionate sighs, Udrai nel mar che mormora You will hear in the murmuring of the sea L’eco dei miei lamenti. The echo of my laments. Pensando ch’io di gemiti When you think of me Mi pasco e di dolor, In my tears and torment, Spargi un’amara lagrima Then shed a bitter tear Su questo pegno allor. On this ring. LUCIA LUCIA Il tuo scritto sempre viva Your letters will always keep La memoria in me terrà. Your memory alive in me. LUCIA ED EDGARDO LUCIA AND EDGARDO Verranno a me sull’aure On the breeze will come to me I tuoi sospiri ardenti, ecc. Your passionate sighs, etc. EDGARDO EDGARDO Io parto... I am leaving... Rammentati, ne stringe il ciel! Remember, heaven has joined us! LUCIA ED EDGARDO LUCIA AND EDGARDO Addio! Farewell! 25 [7] Ferdinand Hérold, Le Pré aux clercs, Act II, Entr’acte et Air: ‘Jours de mon enfance’ (Isabelle) Paul Barritt, violin solo

LE PRÉ AUX CLERCS was Hérold’s final opera, and would be by far his most successful: by 1871 it had been performed more than a thousand times at Paris’s Opéra-Comique, where it premiered in December 1832. The work’s beginnings were beset by troubles: the soprano who played Isabelle de Montal in the very first performance, Alphonsine-Virginie-Marie Dubois (known as Madame Casimir), announced she was too ill to continue (there were suggestions in the press that her illness was not genuine); Dorus-Gras was called in to replace her, and was widely praised for learning the role in a few days and then performing it with such success. ‘Jours de mon enfance’ takes place at the opening of Act II. At this point Isabelle does not know whether she can marry her lover, the Baron de Mergy: the King wants her to marry another man, the Comte de Comminge. In keeping with the expectation that opéras comiques should have a happy ending (at least for their protagonists), Mergy and Isabelle marry in secret before Mergy kills Comminge in a duel. This elegant aria opens with a florid, fantasy-like passage for solo violin. Punctuated by fanfares from the rest of the orchestra, the violin solo then intertwines with Isabelle’s vocal line as she sings of her love for Mergy.

Jours de mon enfance, Days of my childhood, Ô jours d’innocence! Oh innocent days! Votre souvenance Remembering that time Est pour moi le bonheur. Is happiness for me.

Malgré la cour et malgré le roi, Despite the court and despite the king, Mergy, je veux n’être qu’à toi. Mergy, I want only to be yours.

26 [8] Giacomo Meyerbeer, Robert le diable, Act III, Couplets: ‘Quand je quittai la Normandie’ (Alice)

ALICE EXPRESSES her love for her fiancé Raimbaut in this carefree, two-verse aria; her prayers to the ‘protector of young women’, with their hymn-like accompaniment textures, reinforce her association throughout the opera with religion and celestial innocence. The aria is a good example of the character pieces that were an important part of many grand operas. Rather than advancing the plot, it provides decoration and ‘local colour’, as well as a musical contrast to the dark, supernatural sound-world that intrudes briefly between the two verses. During this stormy interlude, Alice overhears an infernal waltz as Bertram (who, it has transpired, is both a devil and Robert’s father) communes with evil spirits in a nearby cave. This dark magic leads to the Act III finale ofRobert , which quickly became notorious for its ballet of nuns who have risen from the dead.

Quand je quittai la Normandie, When I left Normandy, Un vieil ermite de cent ans A hermit, a hundred years old, Dit: Tu seras un jour unie Said: One day you will be united Au plus fidèle des amants. With the most faithful of lovers. Hélas! j’attends! Alas! I am waiting! Ô patronne des demoiselles, Oh, protector of young women, Patronne des amants fidèles, Protector of faithful lovers, Notre-Dame de bon secours, Our Lady of good help, Daignez, protéger mes amours! Watch over me in love!

Mais le soleil soudain s’est obscurci, But the sun has suddenly disappeared, D’où vient ce bruit dont mon âme est glacée? What is this noise that freezes my soul? De quelque orage, hélas! serais-je menacée? A storm, alas! Am I in danger? Non, non; ce n’est rien, Dieu merci! No, no; it’s nothing, thank God!

27 Rimbaut disait: Gentille amie, Rimbaut said: Kind friend, Crois à mes feux, ils sont constants! Believe in the flame of my love, it is constant! En ce jour peut-être il oublie Perhaps today he is with someone else Près d’une autre ses doux serments; And forgets his sweet promise. Et moi, j’attends! But I am waiting! Ô patronne des demoiselles, Oh, protector of young women, Patronne des amants fidèles, Protector of faithful lovers, Notre-Dame de bon secours, Our Lady of good help, Daignez protéger mes amours! Watch over me in love!

[9] Fromental Halévy, La Juive, Act III, Air: ‘Assez longtemps la crainte et la tristesse… Tandis qu’il sommeille’

PREMIERED ON 23 February 1835, La Juive was an instant hit. Even by the standards of it stood out for the spectacular extravagance of its crowd scenes; these, and the performances of a star cast – Dorus-Gras created the role of Princess Eudoxie, alongside Adolphe Nourrit as Eléazar and Cornélie Falcon as Rachel – drew full houses night after night. This huge success was replicated internationally, and continued into the early 20th century. This aria opens Act III: Eudoxie sings of her joy at the prospect of her husband, Prince Léopold, returning from war. (She is unaware that – as the audience has witnessed in Acts I and II – Léopold has already returned to the city, and has fallen in love with Rachel, daughter of the Jewish goldsmith Eléazar.) After the energetic gestures of the full-orchestral introduction and a short recitative, the start of the aria proper (‘Tandis qu’il sommeille’) is lullaby-like; its gentle woodwind countermelodies include oboe duet passages similar to Halévy’s better-known cor anglais duet writing in the aria for Eléazar that ends Act IV. In the

28 final, faster section of Eudoxie’s aria, she expresses her elation through outbursts of chromatic virtuosity. The piece was singled out by one critic at the premiere as a welcome opportunity for Dorus-Gras to ‘display her voice in all its luxury, and her technique in all its purity’.

Assez longtemps la crainte et la tristesse For so long have fear and sadness Ont habité les murs de ce palais; Dwelled within the walls of this palace; Que tout partage mon ivresse, May my exhilaration spread everywhere, Que le plaisir y règne désormais! May pleasure reign here always!

Tandis qu’il sommeille, While he sleeps, Et sans qu’il s’éveille, And without his waking, Puisse son oreille entendre mes chants! May he receive my song! À lui plus craintive que ma voix arrive May my voice reach him, fearful as he is, Et qu’elle captive son cœur et ses sens! And enthral his heart and his senses! Qu’un songe heureux m’offre à ses yeux Let a happy dream offer me to his eyes Et lui rappelle les traits de celle And remind him of the virtues of one Qui veille ici, pensant a lui! Who keeps watch here, thinking of him!

Je l’ai revu! j’ai pu lui dire I saw him again! I told him Et mes tourments et mon amour! Of my torments and my love! Ô douce joie, heureux délire! Oh sweet joy, happy delirium! Avec toi tout est de retour! With you, everything has come back!

Qu’importent les chagrins passés? Past sorrows, what do they matter? Un jour les a tous effacés... One day has made them disappear…

29 [10] Hector Berlioz, Benvenuto Cellini, Act I, Récitatif et Air: ‘Les belles fleurs!... Entre l’amour et le devoir’ (Teresa)

BENVENUTO CELLINI was Berlioz’s first opera. It premiered at the Paris Opéra on 10 September 1838, with Dorus-Gras as the soprano lead, Teresa, and Gilbert Duprez as Cellini (the work was loosely based on the memoirs of the famous 16th-century artist). The premiere was not well received. Some critics found the vulgar, and although Berlioz thought Duprez ‘superb’ during early rehearsals, the tenor apparently felt ambivalent about the work, appearing in only three performances. championed Cellini, staging it in Weimar in 1852, in the process making some modifications to the score. There have been increasingly frequent 20th- and 21st-century productions. This aria comes early in the opera, as Cellini throws a bouquet through Teresa’s window. Teresa is in love with Cellini, but her father wants her to marry another artist, Fieramosca; in this aria she considers her options. The piece follows the standard Italian-opera format of two contrasting movements (cantabile and cabaletta); as in Cellini generally, the orchestral writing is hugely inventive and energetic. The cantabile’s contemplative opening gains extra layers of complexity from the oboe countermelody and shifting metrical emphasis; the cabaletta is a virtuosic tour-de-force for both Teresa and the orchestra, building to an exuberant climax. Berlioz himself was grateful for Dorus-Gras’s commitment to Cellini (even if he had originally envisaged a less conventional aria, which this one replaced). Within the context of the difficult premiere, this aria and Dorus-Gras were well received: one critic praised her ‘spiritual’ manner of singing and her beautiful sound in florid passages.

30 Les belles fleurs!... Un billet... Cellini! What lovely flowers!... A note… Cellini! Quelle imprudence... Such imprudence! (Elle lit.) (She reads.) Eh quoi! venir ici? What? Come here? Ce soir même... Ah! grand Dieu! mais mon This very evening… Ah! My God! But my père father Est bien loin, et l’instant est propice... Que Is far away, it’s a good moment…What faire? to do?

Entre l’amour et le devoir Between love and duty Un jeune cœur est bien à plaindre; Life is hard for a young heart; Ce qu’il désire il doit le craindre, What we desire, we must fear, Et redouter même l’espoir. And we must shun even hope. Se condamner à toujours feindre, To be condemned to pretend forever, Avoir des yeux et ne point voir, To have eyes and not to see, Comment, comment le pouvoir? How, how is it possible?

Quand j’aurai votre âge, When I’m your age, Mes chers parents, My dear parents, Il sera bien temps That’ll be the time D’être plus sage; To act more sensibly; Mais à dix-sept ans But at seventeen Ce serait dommage, It would be a shame, Vraiment bien dommage! Really a great shame! Oh! dès qu’à mon tour Oh! When my turn comes Je serai grand-mère To be a grandmother, Alors, laissez faire! Then, fair enough! Malheur à l’amour! No hope for love!

31 Carlo Rizzi With thanks to the Consultants 134-146 Curtain Road, following: Chaz Jenkins (marketing) London, EC2A 3AR C&CO (Design) Roger Parker (repertoire) Tel: +44 (0)20 7613 2858 James Hadley Fax: +44 (0)20 7613 2261 Jesús Inglesias Noriega (casting) Email: [email protected] Opéra National de Macbeth Media Relations (Press & PR) www.opera-rara.com Bordeaux Bowman Media Opera Rara Board of Directors © in the publication, Anthony Bunker Opera Rara 2017 OPERA RARA Glenn Hurstfield Printed and manufactured Simon Mortimore QC by Software Logistics. Artistic Director Opera Rara is a company John Nickson limited by guarantee and Sir Mark Elder CBE Alison Nicol registered as a charity Chairman Islée Oliva Salinas no. 261403 Charles Alexander Chief Executive Henry Little Production Manager Kim Panter Development Director Kirstin Peltonen Finance Director Irene Cook

Opera Rara is very grateful to the staff and management of The Stoller Hall at Chetham’s School of Music for making the hall available for our recording.