Richard Coeur-de-lion (opera)

• Richard the Lionheart, King of England (Tenor)
• Blondel, his troubadour (Tenor)
• Antonio, a young farmer (soprano )
• Marguerite, Countess of Flanders and Artois, (soprano )
• Beatrix, her maid (soprano )
• Williams, impoverished country nobleman, (Bass)
• Laurette, his daughter (Soprano)
• Florestan, Governor of the Castle of Linz
• Mathurin, a farmer, (Bass)
• Mathurin woman (soprano )
• Colette, peasant girl (soprano )
• Urbain, Page, bass; Charles Page, tenor, Guillot, Page, tenor
• Seneschal, voice
• Peasants, farmers, soldiers (chorus )

Richard Coeur de Lion is a ( comic opera ) by André -Ernest - Modeste Grétry. The libretto of the opera in 1784, first performed in Paris comes from Michel -Jean Sedaine.

• 2.1 Music
• 2.2 dramaturgy

• 3.1 emergence

• 4.1 reception

Action

Act I

At the beginning of the first act reverse the peasants from the fields to the village, where the supposedly blind troubadour Blondel asks for quarters and reveals himself as a follower of the captive Richard the Lionheart. By chance he overheard, as the country gentleman Williams his servant Guillot caught with a love letter to his daughter Laurette. The love letter was written by the governor of the nearby castle, he casually mentioned that he could not lock during the day because of a prisoner leave. Blondel is clairaudient and listens Laurette from. Finally, Countess Marguerite, Richards hits a lover who desperately looking for him. Since it recognizes Blondel on one of its melodies, they granted him shelter. With a large feast of farmers and Blondel the first act ends applied the following motives: Marguerite and Blondel are in search of the captive king, the governor wants to pander Laurette what will prevent their father Williams, Antonio wants to win and Colette the farmers want to celebrate a great festival for the golden wedding of Mathurin. Through the love letter of the Governor, the connection is made to the events at the castle and forward- pointed to the further course of action. Musical centerpiece of the first act is Blondel aria " Ô Richard, ô mon roi ", which identifies him as a loyal follower of Richard the Lionheart.

Second Act

At the beginning of the second act complained Richard his captivity and falls in the face of a portrait of his mistress Marguerite in hopelessness. Blondel sings at the foot of the castle in a way, what Richard recognizes him and reveals his identity also. The Troubadour tried in vain to gain access to the castle. He almost has also been imprisoned for his audacity, but can be drawn as a blind beggar from the affair.

Act Three

In the third act Blondel auditions for the Countess and reported that the king was caught on the neighboring castle. This dismisses their decision to enter the convent, and they decide to storm the castle, which the troops of Marguerite then accomplish. The following wedding party serves as a trap for the Governor, but only get a lesson, and finally - happy ending - may marry Laurette.

Shaping

Music

The shape of the opera refers to a code opera with spoken dialogue. Besides Blondel " O Richard, O mon Roi! " from the first act of the musical numbers is particularly the scene Richards emphasized the beginning of the second act, which requires a lyric tenor with stable height to one-lined b. Queen Marguerite has allocated more dramatic function and does not get any large entrance aria despite her high status as a stage figure, which is taken instead of the love with Laurette.

Dramaturgy

The drama extends from one night to the next and has the following locations: The first act takes place in a village near a castle where the inhabitants just preparing for a celebration. The second act takes place at the foot of the fortress, where King Richard the Lionheart is held prisoner. The castle is known as the Château de Lintz. The historic fortress Dürnstein, where Richard was actually imprisoned, is located about 130 km west of Linz. Through this simplistic renaming the audience had the opportunity to locate the castle relatively accurately in Paris. For site- knowledgeable audience, the castle was called the libretto of resumption in Vienna in 1806 Veste Dürnstein. In the third act is the Festival Hall of Williams' house the scene. Reference is made to the places on the stage, in the text book, there is no evidence of place and time. A peasant village is set against an aristocratic world. For two spheres each comes an action support by the young farmer Antonio is provided to the supposedly blind Blondel as a leader to the side. Main and supporting cast can only be conditionally distinguish from each other, since there are many ensemble scenes and solo numbers are relatively evenly distributed. King Richard the Lionheart, the poet Blondel and Countess Marguerite of Flanders are historical persons but never met. The actors of the love story and the rural festival are fictitious.

Within the nobility there are two conflicts, namely the captivity of King Richard and Williams ' refusal to marry his daughter Laurette to the governor. Be resolved the conflicts in the opera by Blondel loyalty and ingenuity.

In military terms, to Countess Marguerite, whose troops storming the castle successfully proves, as holder of the power, but it gives off a feeling of sudden fainting out unconditionally to Blondel, Williams and her seneschal. King Richard the Lionheart is designed as a positive role model.

History

Formation

The libretto of Richard Coeur de Lion takes two historical events and linking them in a legend. Firstly, there is the captivity of King Richard the Lionheart at the end of the Third Crusade, which is described in detail in the Chronica Majora of Matthew Paris. The dispute between Richard and the Duke Leopold V of Austria began when Richard wanted to take a castle at Emmaus quarters, where already was the Duke to guest. On Richard's behest, the flag of the Duke was torn down and thrown into the cloaca .. Due to this insult the Duke Richard took on the way home from the Crusades in the vicinity of Vienna, captured and later sold it to the Emperor Henry VI.

From the historical troubadour Blondel de Nesle about two dozen songs of love have survived. There is no evidence that the contemporaries Richard and Blondel had ever met, but they were first placed already in the Old French Ménestrel de Reims in 1260 and with each other. Since then, Blondel is an integral part of the legends of Richard the Lionhearted. Already in Ménestrel of Reims is told how the imprisoned Richard realizes his troubadour on the voice and freed him. This is the central motif of the opera.

Medieval representation in music, text and staging

In music and in the early productions, various means are used to evoke "Middle Ages" or perhaps more diffuse imaginations of the past, whereas the libretto only on the edge provides such evidence. Grétry itself was of the view that one can already recognize the historical flavor to the dominance of the brass in the Overture on a musical level.

The duet of Richard and Blondel in the second act is " old style " composing. Rhythm and melody are kept very simple and represent a stylized imitation of medieval music. In modern musical material is omitted. Instead, the work of catchy songs Rondes and is characterized, which were interpreted as a direct legacy of the troubadours. Sensational is the instrumental collapse of the castle wall in the third act, which even makes the emblem "castle" are very plastic on the musical level. A spectacular collection of the Marguerite is not created in the libretto, only a drinking song at the end of the first act, with verses about a battle against Sultan Saladin and a verse about Pope Gregory recourse is made ​​to the time of the Middle Ages.

Reception

The stage of the Darmstadt festival performance in 1785 showed a castle naturalistic and shown in perspective as background. For the staging of the resumption in Vienna 1806 14 live horses were trying occurred in their society Marguerite. The destruction of the castle, portrayed in the original only in music, was staged on the stage, in the third act was fought on horseback to represent jousting tournaments. The royalists of the late 18th century like availed themselves of the aria " Ô Richard, ô mon roi ", also in the variant " Ô Louis, ô mon roi " to their unconditional loyalty to Louis XVIII. proof thereof to.

Images / Discography

• Richard Coeur de Lion / Le Devin du village, Nicolai Gedda, Mady Mesplé, 1977, EMI, Audio CD