The Maid of Artois

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maria Malibran, for whom Balfe wrote the opera

The Maid of Artois is an opera by Michael Balfe, written in 1836 to a libretto by Alfred Bunn, manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. The opera received good notices, and the overture was much admired. The opera opened on 27 May 1836, starring the Maria Malibran as the title character, Isoline. The story concerns a girl in love, who is poached by a rich Marquis. The lovers seem destined to end their days in the wastes of the desert, until an unexpected rescue comes.

Balfe's music shows the influence of his earlier training in Italy, especially of Bellini and Donizetti, as well as the French works that Balfe had sung (as a baritone) at the Paris Opéra, where he and Malibran had appeared together. Balfe wrote The Maid of Artois partly as a vehicle for her when she was 27, at the time of her riding accident in April 1836. She performed the opera using crutches beginning in May, but she never recovered from her injuries and died later in 1836. Malibran was a mezzo-soprano with a three octave range. She had died before the score was printed, and so Balfe decided to set brighter, higher versions of the coloratura and other music in her role that are more typical of operatic treatments of a youthful character such as Isoline.

1 Roles
2 Musical numbers
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Roles

Isoline
Jules
Marquis
Synnelet
Coralie
Sans Regret
Martin
Centinnel
Count Saulnier

[edit] Musical numbers

ACT I The grounds of a Parisian Chateau

1 Men - Drink, boys
2 Marquis - Recit. The Rosy hours
2a Marquis, Sans R, Chorus - Cavatina Then silly is the heart
3 Andante
4 Jules - Recit. Oh, if at times
4a Jules - Cavatina My soul, in one unbroken
5 Sans R & Jules - Here, take the contents
6 Coralie, Jules, Sans R, Men - Then thus oppress’d
7 Women - The sigh from her heart
8 Isoline - Recit. My thoughts which forth
- Isoline - The heart that once hath
- Isoline, Women - Oh could I but that peace
9 Isoline, Marquis - Oh! leave me not
9a Isoline, Marquis - Oh, why should I weep
10 Isoline - Yon moon o’er the mountains
11 Jules, Isoline, - Finale What sounds are those I hear
11a Isoline, Jules, Marquis - Finale: Trio My bosom with hope
12 Marquis, Isoline, Jules - Finale: Ensemble Deceitful woman
- Sans Regret, Chorus, Count