Brzoska

Meyerbeer's Le Prophète - Lecture Concert

by Prof. Dr. Matthias Brzoska at Essen-Werden Nov. 30, 1997

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Photographs from Essen-Werden

Discussion (to record your comments)

Other related articles on this site

The story of Le Prophète with audio clips!!

Review of Le Prophète in London Times (1849)

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Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed colleagues, and honored guests!

For a musicologist, it is a special occasion when, after years of research, the music can be heard for the first time. For this reason, I would first like to thank my colleagues from the Voice Department: Soto Papulka, Csilla Zentai, and Xaver Poncette, who have made this evening possible. My special thanks are due, however, above all to Gloria Scalchi. When she heard about our project, she spontaneously declared herself ready to come to us from Italy in order to create for us here the role of Fidès. At this point, we have arrived at the key word: what will be presented for the first time are parts of the original version of Meyerbeer's Prophète in the version from the New Complete Edition of Meyerbeer's works. By way of introduction, I will briefly comment on the following points:

- the importance and history of the opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer;

- on the need for the new edition, and on the current state of research; and finally,

- I will accompany you through the concert, by introducing you to this work which has been almost completely forgotten until today.

Giacomo Meyerbeer was the most often performed and, from the point of view of history of composition, the most influential opera composer of the nineteenth century. He was the creator of the great historical opera. His achievement in the history of composition consists:

- in the development of a network of themes which can be easily recalled;

- in the expansion of the orchestration and in making the winds more independent (a feature which today is erroneously identified with Wagner); and

- in the inclusion of advanced harmony.

A few facts will suffice to substantiate Meyerbeer's significance world-wide. Like his early opera, Le Prophète was, after the premiere in Paris in 1849, an absolute world success: within a few years, it was performed in Paris, London, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Vienna, Lisbon, New Orleans, Berlin, Budapest, Brussels, Graz, Prague, Basel, St Petersburg, Stockholm, Florence, New York, Helsinki, Havana, Barcelona, Melbourne, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, as well as in countless smaller provincial theaters. By comparison, Wagner achieved similar performance statistics only in Germany, and only with Lohengrin and Tannhäuser.

All the more astonishing is the almost complete suppression which has overtaken his oeuvre in the twentieth century. There are basically two reasons for this: the one lies in the background of the composer, and other in the work itself.

Meyerbeer was of Jewish origin, and his operatic ideal lay in a kind of cosmopolitan combination of national schools of opera: the Italian bel canto, and the ideal of orchestral expression of the French successors of Gluck. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, both were unacceptable to a view of music which was inclined to nationalism. After 1933, the performance of his works was strictly forbidden.

To be sure, in view of his world importance, this explanation is not adequate: what is essential, rather, is that his work makes extremely high demands on the set designer and the singer. The elaborate scenery which his stage settings demand as early as the twenties -- a period marked by New Realism and Neoclassicism -- was already suspect as mere pomp and empty pathos which was rejected as an expression of the so-called bad nineteenth century. Besides, Meyerbeer's roles often demand a wide range of pitch, and combine great dramatic efforts with considerable coloratura flexibility. For example, the role of Fidès, from which we will hear parts today, is a once-in-a-century role, which exceeds the usual vocal categories today.

To be sure, it was precisely this last-named circumstance which was responsible for the fact that Meyerbeer was never completely forgotten. For again and again, great singers have been successful in new productions and recordings, e.g., Sutherland, Horne, Price, Gedda, and Domingo.

In the course of the twentieth century, however, these intentions met with greater and greater difficulties because the orchestra parts still existing were becoming more and more worn and less and less readable. Meyerbeer's original publisher, Brandus, no longer existed. Later piano arrangements were no longer suited to the voices, and these, on the other hand, did not agree with the sole existing score, which was set in older clefs which are no longer in use today.

The need for a new edition of Meyerbeer's operas was hence first voiced by the performers, for example, by Ricardo Muti. Since that time, in cooperation with various institutions, among them the International Meyerbeer Institute and the Folkwang College, a new critical edition of his works is being prepared which is to be published by Ricordi. This had only become possible, you see, after the most important source for a critical edition had again come to light: the original version of the score.

The history of the central sources of Meyerbeer's works is in itself so exciting that I would not like to keep it from you. It is one of the ironies of history that, on the one hand, all of the sources which had remained in the possession of the family -- above all, the priceless letters and diaries -- had survived the Nazi rule in a completely bombed out Berlin without damage. Heinz and Gudrun Becker edited them after the war. On the other hand, it was precisely the autograph scores which Meyerbeer had left in his will to the Prussian State Library which had disappeared after the war. Cautious librarians had wanted to preserve them -- incidentally, contrary to the official directive of the cultural administrators of the Nazi regime. They placed them in storage, together with other valuable scores, e.g., of Beethoven and Mozart, in Silesia. There they were allegedly destroyed by fire in the last turbulent days of the war -- or at least so the official story went for decades. Only in the political thaw of the Solidarity Movement did Sieghart Döhring succeed in recovering the autograph scores of the four great French operas -- carefully preserved in the Bibliotheka Jagiellonska in Cracow. (see S. Döhring, Die Autographen der vier Hauptopern Meyerbeers: Ein erster Quellenbericht. in: Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 39 (1982), S. 32-63) Since then, we established a very good and intensive collaboration with our Polish collegues from Bibliotheka Jagiellonska.

The autograph score of Le Prophète is a source which is indispensable, but not sufficient. Meyerbeer had the habit of composing countless alternative versions for almost every number, which were combined in random fashion in the manuscript, cryptically bound one over the other, pasted over, supplied with additions and cross references, and with notations in various colors. From the letters and diaries which have been preserved, we know that this often began during the rehearsals, whenever he was forced to make massive cuts in a rapid and hectic fashion.

This explains the unreadable and, in some cases, impenetrable condition of the score. In order to decipher the autograph score, therefore, further sources were necessary.

In the library of the Paris Opera, I have found some -- to my astonishment, literally tons of them. Several hundred pounds of them are original material from the premiere, which has to be compared, note for note, with others from the same source, and with the autograph score. Meanwhile, an American scholar, Alan Armstrong, who had been
consulting more or less the same material, published a carefully elaborated dissertation about the genesis of the work and gave, in the annex, a first transcription of its different earlier and discarded versions (see Alan Armstrong, Meyerbeers Le Prophète: A history of its composition and early performances. Diss. Ohio State Univ. 1990, UMI 1990).

At this point, it finally became clear to me that this was a task which could not be completed with the means at my disposal.

For example, it took me several days of reflection merely to realize that under this spot the tempo direction is concealed, which I have underlined in red in the copy: "On peut ralentir un peu le mouvement à l'entrée du chant."

In addition, the countless distinctions of color in the marks can only be determined by examining the original. Nevertheless, a passage like the following cannot be deciphered from the autograph score alone:

It was only through a semester released for research and a grant to get the project going, for which I am obligated to the Province of North-Rhine-Westphalia, that I could get the project, together with my co-worker Andreas Jacob, under way. In the middle of this year, we have found a promoter in the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, who has given us a long-term commitment, so that we will also be able to complete the scholarly part of the project. The Meyerbeer Institute, however, is, now and in the past, but especially now, dependent on the donations of many private enthusiasts and supporters, so that we can make our draft of the musical score available to performing artists. For that will again cost a great deal of technical computer work.

After an inspection of the sources, it appeared that our opera, simply stated, existed in two versions. The first version we simply call the "original version". It is the form of the work which Meyerbeer had worked out after many years of planning and rejection, and which he had brought to Paris when the rehearsals began. The other version is the printed score, which was published at that time by Brandus. The latter differs from the original essentially by virtue of the massive cuts in it. These arose in the course of the rehearsals for the premiere, sometimes because individual singers asked for simplifications and cuts, mainly, however, because of the simple need to reduce the time of performance. Meyerbeer's opera, you see, has for that time quite unaccustomed Wagnerian dimensions. In this regard, one has to understand the customs of the time and, for example, give the audience sufficient time in the intermissions to have supper. For this reason, the overture was left out entirely, with no substitution. In addition, given the conditions of a live performance at that time, the complete version was simply an imposition on the singers. Today there is no reason not to use the complete version at least for a studio production.

Let us take another look here at our example, Jean's pastoral aria. From the editorial standpoint, it is the most difficult problem which we have encountered. The difficulties derive in part from the fact that Meyerbeer originally had the star tenor Gilbert Duprez in mind when he wrote the piece -- the first tenor whose upper register was not a falsetto voice, but rather who sang in full voice. But when Duprez's voice declined somewhat later, Meyerbeer in December of 1843 laid the work aside. Only when he had discovered a voice which comes only every hundred years in Pauline Viardot-Garcia did he resume composition: he recreated the role of Fidès for her, and in return simplified the tenor role for Gustave Roger, who interpreted it at the premiere.

That means that right at the beginning of the rehearsals we have two versions of the Pastorale before us, of which the later has been bound on top of the earlier Duprez version.

Here we see, for example, the end of the strophe in the Duprez version:

On top of this leaf, the first variant of the Roger version was attached:

But the first three measures of this version were changed once again during the rehearsals. The new variant was again affixed to it:

Then the now visible first six measures were crossed out with a large "X":

Back to:

The precise continuation in the last measures on this page can only be determined from other sources. In the last four measures, only the last measure is definitely genuine, and the ossia- version written in smaller notation in front of it. This is again pasted on the half-leaf sewed on the right side:

Back again:

Here, on the lower leaf, only the last measure remains visible.

Of the entire aria, Roger sang only half, i.e., the first strophe.

Most affected by excisions was the fifth act, which in some places was drastically condensed at the last minute. For this reason, we have first prepared this act, along with the overture and the other numbers which you will hear today in the original version. It is in this form that Marcello Viotti will stage the opera with orchestra for the first time at the Vienna State Opera on May 21 next year, with Placido Domingo, Agnes Baltsa, and Viktoria Loukianetz interpreting the main roles. We are confident that we can prepare the remaining acts in the coming years.

But now to the work itself: what is it about?

As in his previous opera [Les Huguenots], Meyerbeer took up a theme in Le Prophète which at the time was being discussed in countless tracts on the philosophy of history: religious fanaticism as the cause of historical events which culminated in situations in which human beings were ignominiously slaughtered. In France, which had lived through two revolutions and was standing on the threshold of a third, this topic was absolutely relevant to the current situation -- and unfortunately it has lost nothing of its relevance since that time. In the previous opera, Les Huguenots, Meyerbeer had sketched a panorama of the Wars of the Reformation on the example of the St Bartholomew's Night Massacre. Le Prophète is concerned with the same epoch, i.e., with the Peasant wars connected with the Anabaptist movement of the sixteenth century. However, unlike Les Huguenots, the story is told from the perspective of individuals who are drawn into the events of history.

At the beginning, we experience a pastoral peasant scene. The peasant maid Berthe is looking forward to seeing her fiance Jean again, whom she is to marry on the following day. Originally, Meyerbeer had composed no entrance aria for Berthe. At the request of the singer at the premiere, Jeanne Anaïs Castellan, he composed a simple cavatina in strophes in the key of C major. The point of this characterization is to lay the basis for the dramatic development of this figure: from a simple country girl she evolves into an avenging angel and ends in desperation as a suicide. Apparently Meyerbeer was afraid that the singer would not be satisfied with such a simple entrance. In any case, he composed a second aria, a three-part cavatina in B major in a virtuoso manner, in the text of which there were fluttering little birds, which gave the singer ample opportunity to warble along with the orchestra to her heart's content. Nevertheless, in the first performances, the simpler C-major aria was sung. Only later did Castellan opt for the more virtuoso B-major version, which has since become established in stage practice.

There can be no doubt at all, that Meyerbeer was not satisfied with this solution. He did not include the aria in the original piano arrangement; in the printed score, it is only in the appendix. Later remarks show that he would have liked most of all not to have had an entrance aria for Berthe, but if one were necessary, he would have preferred the C-major version.

For the edition of the original version, there emerges from this instance of the developmental history of the work a quite unusual case, i.e., there are two easily legible sources for the C-major aria. Since the aria was still being sung in the earlier performances, it is not only present in the autograph score, but is preserved also as an individual number in the rehearsal score of the opera. Since it was then replaced by the later B-major version, the corresponding pages are simply sewed together, with the result that the aria in this remarkably readable source has been preserved undamaged:

Essentially, we only had to supply a few purely mechanical additions, such as triplet marks, legato marks, and dynamic indications, in order to make the aria ready for performance.

It can be heard now for the first time in 148 years, interpreted by Csilla Zentai and Xaver Poncette:

Kb. Zentai No. 1

Immediately after this aria, the historical catastrophe enters into Berthe's life: Anabaptist preachers try to incite the peasants to revolution against their master, Count Oberthal. Oberthal easily succeeds in intimidating the rebels, and at the same time teaches them a lesson in regard to his power. When Berthe, then, and her future mother-in-law Fidès ask the count to free Berthe from serfdom so that she can marry Jean, the count refuses to give his permission, and furthermore has the attractive Berthe along with her mother-in-law immediately hauled off to his castle.

At the beginning of the second act, Jean knows nothing of all this. Jean is an innkeeper by occupation. In his tavern at the edge of the city, he waits for his fiancee to arrive. Here, too, the Anabaptist preachers appear, trying to win him for their cause. The reason why the Anabaptists very much need Jean for the success of their revolt can easily be inferred from the sociology of the time. As an innkeeper, Jean is, in contrast to Berthe, a free citizen. And all the systems of the philosophy of history of that age are in agreement that the revolution does not arise among the peasantry, but in the bourgeoisie of the cities. At the time, Jean is not impressed by the Anabaptist preachers, however. In his pastoral aria, he dreams the dream of modest petit-bourgeois marital bliss.

The original version reconstructed by us includes the version current at the beginning of rehearsal, i.e., the complete Roger version. The beginning is identical to the latter version up to the passage

Kb. Papulkas sings up to 19

in the latter version it continues in sequence:

Kb. Papulkas sings 20-25 in the Brandus edition

In the original version, provision is first made for a splitting of the theme by a recitative passage, then immediately thereafter for an intense section accompanied by the Anabaptists:

Kb. Papulkas sings the original version 19-33

The later version is, to be sure, more comfortable vocally, but formally more conventional. The original version, by contrast, breaks up the conventional flow of the folk song with the interpolated recitative. It makes clear Jean's exalted character from the beginning, which one can even at this point feel behind the facade of the petit-bourgeois dream.

In the later version, too, the entire stretta passage "Non, non, non, oh quel bonheur suprème" was completely eliminated, etc.

Kb. Papulkas sings the original version 94-111

We now hear the entire number in context:

&127

Kb. Papulkas, Chang-Who Cho, Hong-Kyu Kim and Jeong-Han Lee

No. 8 original version complete

After Jean refuses to cooperate with the Anabaptists in their intrigues, however, the idyllic dream is suddenly destroyed: Berthe has fled from Oberthal and seeks refuge in Jean's inn. Oberthal forces Jean to surrender Berthe to him by threatening the life of his mother Fidès. Only now is Jean ready to join with the Anabaptists. These, however, impose the condition on him that he must leave his mother without saying good-bye, because he is to represent himself as a prophet created by God.

In the third act, we see Jean as leader of the army. His charismatic leadership even forces rebelling troop units to submit to his influence. In his "Prière", he forces them to their knees.

This number was easier for us to edit because the unabridged original version was preserved in the piano score. Therefore, we only had to reconstruct the missing parts of the orchestral score. This number is introduced by the Anabaptists' chorale, which links the entire opera together as a Leitmotiv.

&127

Kb. Papulkas No 18

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- Concert Intermission -

&127

We left Jean as a successful military leader in the third act. In the meantime, he has conquered the fortress of Münster, because he suspects that his beloved Berthe is there. And in fact she has fled to Münster. There she plans to murder the hated prophet, whom she believes to be the murderer of her beloved Jean, who, as we know, has disappeared from her view without a trace.

Meanwhile, Jean has had himself crowned in Münster as the King of the Anabaptists. In the middle of the ceremony, there is a moment of excitement when Fidès recognizes that the prophet is her son. Jean, however, again displays his power of political suggestion: he denies his mother, and forces Fidès publicly to kneel before him in order to maintain his status as a prophet created by God.

Only in the fifth act do the main figures encounter one another: Fidès is torn back and forth between forgiving mother love and rage at her son, who has publicly denied her, and who blasphemously represents himself as the son of God (Fidès's Cavatina and air). In the following duet, she turns the tables and forces her son to fall upon his knees and repent for his misdeeds. She promises the penitent heaven's grace. Then, Berthe appears, who still does not know that Jean is the same person as the hated prophet (trio). This moment, in which Jean is already reconciled with Fidès, but has not yet been revealed to Berthe as the prophet, constitutes the moment of utopian happiness in the opera. The central segment of the trio again repeats the pastoral tone of the dream of private withdrawal into the idyll; the three figures are -- for the first and only time in the opera -- united in happy circumstances. However, happiness does not last long: an officer enters, and addresses himself to his leader. Only then does Berthe realize that Jean and the prophet are one and the same person. Overwhelmed by desperation at this discovery, she stabs herself on the stage. This suicide scene -- like countless other parts of this scenic complex -- is new in our edition, and can only now be heard for the first time.

But before this, I would like to tell you briefly how the opera ends. After Berthe's suicide, Jean resolves to punish the guilty. He calls the Anabaptists together to a sumptuously bacchanalic feast, while in the cellar a fuse is already glowing in the powder magazine. In a cathartic scenario of destruction, the apocalypse turns into purgatory. It is characteristic for Meyerbeer's skeptical view of history, on the other hand, that both parties to these historical events are destroyed, both the Anabaptists and the army of the legitimate emperor. This opera, too, ends with the insight that religious fanaticism and intolerance must irresistibly lead to a catastrophe -- for the guilty as well as the innocent. In view of the great historical catastrophes of our centuries, ladies and gentlemen, one can call this central statement of Meyerbeer's Le Prophète only prophetic.

Kb: all together
No. 26 - 27 - 28 (Original version)

your comments? meyerb@meyerbeer.com

For frequent e-mail updates and news of your favorite neglected composers, PLEASE JOIN MEYERBEER FAN CLUB!!! Membership registration

Photographs from Essen-Werden

Discussion (to record your comments)

Other related articles on this site

The story of Le Prophète with audio clips!!

Review of Le Prophète in London Times (1849)

Note to all readers: An audio tape of this concert is available FREE to members of Meyerbeer Fan Club. Go to Membership!!

Home page of Prof. Dr. Matthias Brzoska