History: The French composer Louise Bertin (1805-1877) was brought up in an artistic and literary milieu, thus, her energy was channeled into painting and poetry, as well as music. Just as Mendelssohn, Bertin started to challenge herself quite early: 1825 saw the performance of her first opera, "Guy Mannering". The subsequent years were filled with other serious projects, including a 1831 operatic version of Goethe's "Faust" which received only three performances in its first run. Around the same time Bertin befriended the famous author, Victor Hugo. This relationship blossomed into a very ambitious project for the pair: an operatic version of Hugo's own "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (under the title "La Esmeralda"). Hugo himself adapted the novel to the stage which, in fact, makes Bertin the only composer in history to have collaborated directly with Hugo on an opera. However, despite a luxurious cast - Falcon, Levasseur, Nourrit - which had made the earlier premieres of "La juive" and "Les Huguenots" such great successes, the new opera's fate was no better than the earlier "Faust": as the works run began in 1836, the streets of Paris reeked with accusations against Bertin, claiming she had special privileges due to her brothers connection to government circles. During the seventh performance, a riot ensued, and the run of "La Esmeralda" was forced to end, though a shortened version of the opera continued to be performed over the next three years. Wrought with frustration, Bertin refused to write any more operas.
Narrative: Hugo had to make considerable simplifications (in particular, the role of Quasimodo (tenor) is reduced to a cameo part) to his gargantuan epic to present Bertin with a theatrical libretto: once the social and political commentary is completely dealt with, we are left with a conventional and ill-defined love triangle between Esmeralda (soprano), the tortured priest Frollo (bass) and the soldier Phoebus (tenor) whose feelings for the gypsy are genuinely sincere in this variation of the story. All the main scenes for these three characters are preserved: thus, Act II centers on the confrontation between Fleur-de-Lys (mezzo-soprano) and Esmeralda, Act III - on the wounding of Phoebus during the meeting of the lovers' in an inn on the outskirts of the city; the beginning of Act IV - on the priest's attempt to buy the gypsy's love by saving her from the gallows. The confused finale scene during which the assault on Notre-Dame actually begins is resolved by a highly ineffective ending: Phoebus returns fatally wounded to accuse Frollo and die, only to be followed by Esmeralda who dies of a broken heart, while Frollo and the chorus bemoan "fatality".
Music: Sadly, Bertin's melodramatic score is not a rediscovered masterpiece, and the music is, in a word, unfocused. While the basic idiom is reasonably close to the musical language of Berlioz and Halevy - romantic forms wedded to a robust, Germanic orchestration (indeed, the opera is just an act away from being termed a "grand opera") - and while Bertin proves herself to be an extremely able composer (for example, the obbligato lines for Phoebus' first aria and Frollo's entrance are quite elaborate), many individual movements sound both lacking in concentration and even unfinished: as a result, the crucial confrontation between Esmeralda and Frollo, as well as the heroine's preceding romanza, never truly take flight. Of course, the poor libretto is the main "culprit" in this case (surprisingly, the famous musical actually turns out to be the better adaptation), but the problem also lies in Bertin's compositional approach, as she frequently denies the melodies a chance to truly develop into complete numbers, instead connecting numerous motives into one structure. Still, as usual, I am going to concentrate on presenting the opera's most inspired moments which, thankfully, are quite numerous and, in some cases, very inspiring: both of Phoebus' arias, the climatic Act III terzet, Esmeralda's final prayer are undeniably effective pieces. All in all, an opera weakened by a distinctively untheartical libretto and a curiously uneven musical production but still presenting one with the usual "hidden treasures".
Recording: The live 2008 "Accord" recording under the direction of Lawrence Foster, conducting the Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon Orchestra, is a convincing account of the score with few true reservations: in particular, the part of Frollo demands a more noble sound that the bass can muster, while the main tenor, though possessing a very attractive voice and manner, sometimes sings under the breath; though, the remaining drama is always well-presented.
Performers:
Maya Boog - Esmeralda,
Manuel Nunez Camelino - Phoebus,
Francesco Ellero dArtegna - Frollo,
Frederic Antoun - Quasimodo,
Yves Saelens - Clopin (tenor),
Chorus - Choeur de la Radio Lettone.
Hope you'll enjoy :).
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