| Giacomo Meyerbeer |
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Operas
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Le prophète (The Prophet) is an opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe.
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The opera was first performed by the Paris Opera at the Salle Le Peletier on 16 April 1849. The creators of the three main roles were Anaïs Castellan as Berthe, Pauline Viardot as Fidès, and Gustave Roger as Jean. The second city to hear it was London, on 24 July of the same year. It was given all over Germany in 1850, as well as in Vienna, Lisbon, Antwerp, New Orleans, Budapest, Brussels, Prague and Basel. Its tremendous success continued throughout the 19th century.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 16 April 1849 (Conductor: Narcisse Girard) |
|---|---|---|
| Jean de Leyde | tenor | Gustave-Hippolyte Roger |
| Fidès, Jean's mother | mezzo-soprano | Pauline Viardot |
| Berthe, Jean's lover | soprano | Jeanne-Anaïs Castellan |
| Jonas, an Anabaptist | tenor | Louis Guéymard |
| Mathisen, an Anabaptist | bass or baritone | Euzet |
| Zacharie, an Anabaptist | bass | Nicolas Levasseur |
| Oberthal, a feudal count | bass | Hippolyte Brémond |
(Jean de Leyde (based on the historical John of Leiden), whose beloved, Berthe, is coveted by Count Oberthal, ruler of Dordrecht, is persuaded by a trio of sinister Anabaptists to proclaim himself king in Münster)
Meyerbeer originally wrote a long overture for the opera but this was cut, with various other sections of the work, during rehearsals due to the excessive length of the opera itself.
The overture now survives only in the arrangement made for piano solo or duet made at Meyerbeer's request by Charles-Valentin Alkan.
Before Oberthal's castle
Berthe explains to Fidès that she needs the Count's permission to marry Jean. The Anabaptists enter singing their chorale, Ad nos ad salutarem (to a tune created by Meyerbeer) and arouse the interest of local peasants in their revolutionary ideas. Oberthal refuses Berthe's request and arrests the two women.
Jean's inn at Leyden
The Anabaptists enter and try to persuade Jean that he is their destined leader. Berthe enters, fleeing Oberthal; the Count arrives and threatens to execute Jean's mother Fidès unless Berthe is returned to him. In despair, Jean hands over Berthe and succumbs to the lures of the Anabaptists.
The camp of the Anabaptists
The first scene includes a 'skating' interlude set on the ice of a lake, which became a favourite part of the opera. (Apparently Meyerbeer was persuaded to include this at a late stage when roller-skating became a craze in Paris). The Anabaptists determine to seize Münster; their decision is overheard by Oberthal who has entered the camp in disguise. On his detection he is arrested; but when he informs Jean that he has seen Berthe alive in Münster, Jean cancels the order for his execution. Jean, in his role as Prophet and Leader, inspires the Anabaptist troops with a celestial vision of their impending success.
Münster
Jean has taken the city, whose citizens are in despair at his rule. Berthe recognises Fidès, who has been told that Jean is dead, begging in the streets. Berthe determines to kill the wicked Prophet. Jean's coronation is preceded by a splendid March. Fidès is determined to carry out Berthe's plan for revenge but at the last moment recognises her son. Jean denies her and forces her to retract her recognition.
John's palace in Münster
The Anabaptist trio resolve to hand over Jean to the Imperial armies to buy their own protection. Fidès encourages Jean to acknowledge her and his sins, and repent. Berthe enters intending to set fire to the palace. When she realises that Jean is the Prophet she has come to destroy, she commits suicide. Jean and Fidès determine to end the revolt; during the celebrations of his coronation, Jean sets off an explosion which brings the palace down on all who remain of the principal characters.
The musical and theatrical influences of the opera can be felt in, amongst others, Liszt's monumental Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam" for organ which is based on the Anabaptists' chorale, the duet between mother and lost child in Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore, and the catastrophic finale of Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung. The tremendous success of Le prophète at its Paris première also provoked Wagner's anti-Jewish attack on Meyerbeer, Das Judenthum in der Musik.
In 1937 Constant Lambert arranged excerpts from this opera and from L'étoile du nord into the ballet Les Patineurs, choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton.