Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable : The Premier Opéra Romantique By Robert Ignatius Letellier Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable : The Premier Opéra Romantique , by Robert Ignatius Letellier This book first published 2012 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2012 by Robert Ignatius Letellier All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-4191-9, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-4191-7 Fig. 1 Giacomo Meyerbeer. Lithograph by Delpech after a drawing by Maurin (c. 1836) CONTENTS List of Figures............................................................................................. xi Abbreviations .......................................................................................... xvii Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 1. The Origins .............................................................................................. 3 2. The Sources .......................................................................................... 15 The Plot ................................................................................................ 17 3. The Libretto ........................................................................................... 25 Development ........................................................................................ 25 The Dramatic Unities ........................................................................... 26 The Social Element .............................................................................. 26 The Role of Grace ................................................................................ 27 Romantic Love ..................................................................................... 27 The Scenic Symbolism ........................................................................ 28 4. The Symbolic Undertow ........................................................................ 37 The Pastoral World .............................................................................. 38 A Christian Theology ........................................................................... 38 A Psychological Insight ....................................................................... 38 Bertram: A Gothic/Byronic Anti-Hero ................................................ 39 Alice: An Emblematic/Allegorical Heroine of Romance ..................... 39 Robert: A Disturbingly Modern Uncentred Self .................................. 40 The Waverley Hero .............................................................................. 40 The Fairy-Tale Subtext ........................................................................ 41 The Criteria of Fairy Tales ............................................................. 42 Fairy Tales and the ‘Family Romance’ .......................................... 43 The Jungian Search for the Self ..................................................... 44 The Influence of Faust ........................................................................ 46 The Nodal Temptation ......................................................................... 47 viii Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable: The Premier Opéra Romantique A Spiritual Significance ....................................................................... 48 Heaven ........................................................................................... 48 Hell ................................................................................................. 49 The Eternal Feminine ........................................................................... 49 The Path of Purgation and the Mystical Ascent ................................... 50 5. Scribe’s Achievement ............................................................................ 55 Bertram’s Evocation ............................................................................ 55 Isabelle’s Cavatina ............................................................................... 56 The Arias for Alice .............................................................................. 59 The Chorus ........................................................................................... 66 6. The Music .............................................................................................. 69 Orchestral Colour (Leitklang/Klangmotif) .......................................... 69 Formal Innovation ................................................................................ 70 Melodic Pliability ................................................................................ 71 Principles of Coherence ....................................................................... 71 The Romantic Mood ............................................................................ 72 The Role of Nature .............................................................................. 72 Tonality ................................................................................................ 73 The Overture ........................................................................................ 74 The Use of Leitmotif ........................................................................... 75 The Tournament ............................................................................. 75 The Four Strokes of Hell ................................................................ 76 The Ballad of Robert le Diable ....................................................... 76 The Storm Motif ............................................................................. 77 The Scenic Fresco or Tableau .............................................................. 77 The Two Levels of Significance (duets) .............................................. 78 7. The Ballet Sequences............................................................................. 83 1) The Pas de cinq ............................................................................... 83 2) The Ballet of the Nuns ..................................................................... 84 The Dark Pastoral ................................................................................ 85 Grand Scenic Construction and Melodic Adaptation ........................... 86 1) The Valse Infernale ......................................................................... 87 2) The Procession des nonnes .............................................................. 87 3) The Bacchanale ............................................................................... 89 4) The Three Airs de danse and Choeur dansé .................................... 90 The Influence of The Ballet of the Nuns .............................................. 92 Contents ix 8. Critical Reaction .................................................................................. 101 The Impact of the Score ..................................................................... 104 9. The Influence of the Opera .................................................................. 107 Arrangements ..................................................................................... 108 10. The Performance History ................................................................... 111 In Paris ............................................................................................... 111 In Europe ........................................................................................... 112 European Statistics ............................................................................. 114 In the World ....................................................................................... 115 The Twentieth Century ...................................................................... 115 Modern Revivals ................................................................................ 116 11. The Iconography ................................................................................ 129 The Costumes and Scenery ................................................................ 129 The Ballet of the Nuns ....................................................................... 131 12. Contemporaneous Art and Robert le Diable ...................................... 145 The Scene at the Cross ....................................................................... 145 George Sand ....................................................................................... 154 Jenny Lind ......................................................................................... 156 Scenic Kaleidoscopes ......................................................................... 160 The Liebig Cards ............................................................................... 165 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 177 Bibliography ............................................................................................ 183 Index ........................................................................................................ 211 LIST OF FIGURES Musical Examples