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Julien (opera)

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Template:Gustave Charpentier operas Julien, ou La vie du poète (Julien, or The Poet’s Life) is a 1914 poème lyrique or opera by composer Gustave Charpentier. The work is devised in a prologue and four acts and uses a French libretto by the composer. Julien is a sequel to Charpentier's Louise (1900) and describes the artistic aspirations of Louise’s suitor Julien. The opera premiered in Paris at the Opéra-Comique on 4 June 1913.[1]

History

Geraldine Farrar and Enrico Caruso in Julien at the Metropolitan Opera in 1914

Like Louise, Julien's plot is somewhat autobiographical and requires many characters and chorus roles, with the main female lead portraying four smaller characters in addition to the role of Louise. The opera integrates elements of an earlier piece, La Vie du Poète, a symphony-drama of 1888–1889. The chorus consists largely of ‘filles du rêve’ (girls of the dream), fairies, and chimeras as well as various men's roles, mainly different kinds of working class men. Charpentier described how, except for the prologue, "Louise and the various characters who surround Julien are not so much real people as an exteriorized realization of their inner souls". The opera was not well received and apart from two productions in 1914, one of which was at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City with Geraldine Farrar and Enrico Caruso in the main roles, it has not been revived. The work did, however, gain the admiration of Gabriel Fauré who admired its expressionist qualities.[2]

Geraldine Farrar in 1914

Synopsis

The opera begins with a prologue, subtitled "Enthousiasme" ("Filled with enthusiasm"), in which Julien, as a Prix de Rome winner, is studying in Rome at the Villa Medici. This resembles the life of Charpentier as he too was a Prix de Rome winner. However, after this point, the opera moves from the real world into the imagination until the final tableau, set in Montmartre, returns the plot to reality. Act 1, subtitled "Au pays du rêve" ("In dreamland"), contains three settings: the Holy Mountain, followed by a setting in the Accursed Valley, and lastly the Temple of Beauty. Act 2 takes place in the Slovakian countryside and follows Julien as he experiences doubts in creating his artwork. The third act, titled "Impuissance" ("Impotence"), takes place in Brittany's wild countryside. The fourth and final act, "Ivresse" ("Intoxication"), finishes in Montmartre, closing in Place Blanche with the sudden appearance of the Temple of Beauty.[2]

Roles

Role Voice type Premiere Cast[3],
4 June 1913
(Conductor: Albert Wolff)
Julien tenor Charles Rousselière
Louise/Beauty/homeless woman/young girl/old woman soprano Marguerite Carré
Hiérophante/peasant/mage baritone Raymond Boulogne
Painter baritone Andal
Bell ringer tenor Maurice Cazeneuve
Acolyte tenor Georges-Louis Mesmaecker
Student bass Éloi de Roqueblave
Bourgeoise soprano Berthe Marietti
A bourgeois tenor Daburon
First grisette mezzo-soprano Pla
Second grisette mezzo-soprano Marguerite Julliot
Voice from the abyss/officer tenor Eugène de Creus
First comrade/Another voice from the abyss/stone breaker/ bass Ernest Dupré
Second comrade/logger/bohemian tenor Maurice Capitaine
Third comrade tenor Donval
Fourth comrade tenor Pasquier
First café waiter baritone Corbière
Second café waiter baritone Pierre Deloger
First dream ('Chimère') soprano Madeleine Ménard
Second dream soprano Le Fontenay
Third dream mezzo-soprano Germaine Gallot
Fourth dream/country-woman mezzo-soprano Germaine Philippot
Fifth dream mezzo-soprano Cécilie Thévenet
Sixth dream mezzo-soprano Alavoine
First girl of the dream soprano Marie Tissier
Second girl of the dream soprano Marie-Louise Arné
Third girl of the dream soprano Germaine Carrière
Fourth girl of the dream soprano Jeanne Calas
Fifth girl of the dream soprano Marguerite Villette
Sixth girl of the dream soprano Marini
Voice offstage mezzo-soprano Reynald
Girl soprano Pesier

References

  1. ^ Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
  2. ^ a b Richard Langham Smith: "Julien", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed February 19, 2009), (subscription required)
  3. ^ amadeusonline.net