The Collins Guide To Opera And Operetta. Michael White

       Principal Characters

      Leïla, a Brahman priestess

      Zurga, the fishermen’s leader

      Nadir, a fisherman

      Nourabad, a Brahman high priest

       Synopsis of the Plot

      Setting: Ceylon (Sri Lanka); ancient times

      ACT I The fishermen have gathered on the beach to choose their new leader and to celebrate the occasion with singing and dancing. Zurga is chosen as their chief and, to his delight, his old friend Nadir arrives on the scene. Zurga and Nadir recall old times together, particularly their rivalry for the love of Leïla. They are pleased, however, that in spite of this, their sworn oath of friendship for each other has never been broken. A boat arrives, bringing with it a heavily-veiled priestess, who has come to undertake a vigil and to pray for the fishermen’s safety at sea. The priestess is sworn to strict vows of chastity, on pain of death, and Zurga forbids anyone to approach her. The priestess is, of course, Leïla, and she and Nadir recognise each other, rekindling their lost love.

      ACT II Leïla and Nourabad are in a ruined temple and Nourabad reminds her of her vows. Leïla reassures him that she will not break her promises, reminding him of how she once risked death to protect a fugitive, whose gold chain she still wears. But when Nourabad leaves, she sings of her love for Nadir. In a moment he is beside her and they acknowledge their passion, before Leïla persuades Nadir to leave. Unfortunately he is seen by Nourabad and quickly captured. Leïla and Nadir are brought before Zurga who is inclined to be lenient – until he recognises Leïla and accuses Nadir of further treachery.

      ACT III The storm outside echoes Zurga’s restlessness as he tries to decide what to do. Leïla begs him to pardon Nadir, but Zurga’s jealousy prevents him from doing so. Finally Leïla gives Zurga her gold chain and asks him to send it to her mother, after she is dead. The funeral pyre is ready and Leïla and Nadir are about to die, when someone sees the glow of fire in the distance – the camp is in flames! In the commotion Zurga admits that he set fire to the camp because Leïla saved his life once – it was he who gave her the chain long ago. Zurga releases Leïla and Nadir and they go, leaving him alone to face Nourabad, who has overheard everything, and the wrath of the people.

       Music and Background

      This is an opera that exists in varying editions made after Bizet’s death, and it isn’t hard to understand why the score fell prey to other hands. Its quality is uneven – Bizet called it an ‘honourable, brilliant failure’ – and there are longueurs that combine with a lamentably feeble plot to make the piece, in parts, almost unbearable. But there are also moments of luxuriant, Gounod-indebted melody that show the composer at his lyrical best. You just have to take the rough with the smooth.

       Highlights

      The Act I tenor-baritone duet, ‘Au fond du temple saint’, ranks high among the all-time favourite opera pops items. Nothing else in the score quite compares with it, but Nadir’s Act I romance, ‘Je crois entendre encore’, is a hypnotic melody, magically orchestrated.

      Did You Know?

      Recommended Recording

      Barbara Hendricks, John Aler, Gino Quilico, Toulouse Capitole Choir and Orchestra/Michel Plasson. EMI CDS7 49837-2. Not the most exciting performances imaginable, but nothing better has emerged on disc in recent years.

Arrigo Boito

      (1842–1918)

       Mefistofele (1867)

      Nerone (1918)

       Boito was the very model of a literate, late 19th-century Italian polymath, and his lasting significance to opera is as much a matter of his words as of his music. As a young man he provided Verdi with the text for a ‘Hymn of the Nations’, and some twenty years later (after a falling-out and reconciliation between them) wrote the libretti for three of Verdi’s greatest operas: the revised Simon Boccanegra, Otello and Falstąff. It proved a collaboration almost without equal in opera history; and you could argue that Boito’s treatment of the Othello story is dramatically more effective than the original Shakespeare. As a composer he was never on such sure ground. Mefistofele occupied him for years, from when he was a student, and its premiere was a fiasco, undermined by its own ambitions. Nerone was similarly a work-in-progress for years, and left incomplete at his death.

Mefistofele

       FORM: Opera in a Prologue, four acts and an Epilogue; in Italian

       COMPOSER: Arrigo Boito (1842–1918)

       LIBRETTO: Arrigo Boito, after Goethe’s play

       FIRST PERFORMANCE: Milan, 5 March 1868

       Principal Characters

      Mefistofele

Bass

      Faust, a scholar

Tenor

      Margherita, a young girl

Soprano

      Marta, her neighbour

Mezzo-soprano

      Elena (Helen of Troy)

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