Don Sanche
Encyclopedia
Don Sanche, ou Le château de l'amour (Don Sanche, or The Castle of Love), S.1, is an opera in one act composed in 1824-25 by Franz Liszt
, with French libretto
by Théaulon
and de Rancé, based on a story by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
. For 30 years it was believed to be lost until it was rediscovered in 1903. The first modern performance took place 74 years after its rediscovery.
, who admittedly helped Liszt with orchestration. Liszt received a mere 170 francs for his opera. Later in the 1840s, Liszt tried to pursue a career as an opera composer. He planned, sketched, but never completed several other operas. Among them a work in the Italianate style known as Sardanapale
, of which 111 sketched pages exists.
on 17 October 1825 with Rodolphe Kreutzer
conducting. Liszt was not quite 14 years old at the time of the première. Lina Ramann
, his biographer, wrote:
found the manuscript score of the opera bound in two volumes in the library of Palais Garnier. The score is not copied in Liszt's hand and it contains extensive rehearsal markings. That and the reminiscent passages of Paer led Emil Haraszti
, a music critic, to declare that the opera was not by Liszt at all but a production by Paer only. He could not bring himself to believe that a 13 year old boy could produce such a relatively polished work. However, Adam Liszt
disclosed so many details to Carl Czerny
about his son's opera-in-progress that such claims are preposterous.
Since its discovery there have been some productions of the opera. The first modern performance took place on 20 October 1977, at the Collegiate Theatre in London. To date, the score of the opera has not been published, and only a handful of microfilms of the manuscript is in circulation in various libraries of Europe and the United States. The original score is located in the Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra in Paris.
A pastoral song of invitation is heard from the cheerful company within the castle. Here estate and rank count for nothing and the song of peasants and nobles is entwined in the chorus of loving couples. The knight Don Sanche, arrives but a page bars his way at the gate, as only couples may enter this castle where love is a precondition. Don Sanche relates what lies heavily on his heart: he cannot join the happy inmates of the castle because the one he loves, the beauteous Princess Elzire is cruel and does not return his affections. The light march of the page and the chorus does not promise much hope for the desperate knight and Don Sanche almost plays with the thought of suicide.
Alidor, Lord of the castle, appears. He tells how he has had his castle built as a memorial to love, in gratitude to destiny for having assigned him many happy lovers' trysts. Alidor, who is also a magician, sees Elzire's future: the girl will choose a royal scion as her husband. Jealousy and a desire to fight are awakened in Don Sanche and he sings an angry duet with Alidor. Meanwhile he learns from Alidor that the Princess is on her way towards Navarre. The magician promises to divert Elzire from her intended route. Alidor is left alone and as the sky becomes overclouded, he gives and order to the spirits to bring on a storm. The spell succeeds and Elzire is already approaching with her retinue.
The village people are afraid of the devastating storm and then the thunder subdides, Elzire and her lady-in-waiting Zelis, seek refuge in the Castle of Love but they too are stopped by the page. He tells the newcomers the rules of the game in a song. Elzire and Zelis express their horror at the strict order. There is nothing to be done: Elzire and her retinue cannot be allowed in even though it is night and the storm is raging. The page has a saving idea: he mentions Don Sanche as a possible means of entering the castle, since the young man is madly in love with the Princess. But Elzire will not hear of it.
The storm begins raging again, the page withdraws into the castle, and the drawbridge is lifted. Elzire's men seek refuge in the forest. Zelis reproaches her lady for her coldness and pride and explains what has happened with the revenge of love. A knight named Romualde is pestering Princess Elzire with his love and it also turns out that in Navbarre Elzire hopes to meet her intended husband. We learn from Elzire that this unknown hero and would-be husband is the cause of her refusing Don Sanche, though the hero's figure has so far appeared only in the Princess's dreams. Zelis considers it would be better to accept the amorous services of Don Sanche, who is here at hand, particularly as the night is very cold. Don Sanche appears but Elzire remains firm as a rock. Alidor appears on the terrace of the castle and conjures up a bank of turf with his wand. The tired Princess lies down beneath the leafy bower and falls asleep. In the same dreamy, lulling mood Don Sanche sings a lullaby to his loved one. The young man also dreams of his lady requiting his love.
Don Sanche is mortally wounded in the combat and his last wish is to bid farewell to life at the side of his adored lady. The wounded hero is carried to Elzire to the sounds of a funeral march. In a sudden decision, The Princess tells Zelis to request entry into the Castle of Love as she is willing to give her own life to Don Sanche in exchange for his. The page yields to Elzire's request. It turns out that the part of the evil Romualde has been played by Alidor the magician and that the combat and the mortal wound were all a test of love. Elzire and Don Sanche swear undying love to each other and the people together with the happy amorous couples, jubilantly glorify the triumph of love.
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
, with French libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Théaulon
Emmanuel Théaulon
Marie-Emmanuel-Guillaume-Marguerite Théaulon de Lambert was a French playwright.A customs inspector, then an inspector of military hospitals, he composed an Ode on the birth of the King of Rome which brought him thanks from Napoleon himself...
and de Rancé, based on a story by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian was a French poet and romance writer.-Life:...
. For 30 years it was believed to be lost until it was rediscovered in 1903. The first modern performance took place 74 years after its rediscovery.
Composition
The opera appears to have been ready as early as September 1824. It is known that on 20 June 1825, Liszt presented an overture in his second Birmingham concert. This is probably the one from Don Sanche since no other overture exists from this period. The manuscript contains many passages that are reminiscent of the style of his compositions teacher Ferdinando PaerFerdinando Paer
-Biography:Paer was born at Parma. His father was a trumpeter with the Ducal Bodyguards and also performed at church and court events. His name, Ferdinando, was after Duke Ferdinand of Parma and was given to him by Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Duke Ferdinand's wife...
, who admittedly helped Liszt with orchestration. Liszt received a mere 170 francs for his opera. Later in the 1840s, Liszt tried to pursue a career as an opera composer. He planned, sketched, but never completed several other operas. Among them a work in the Italianate style known as Sardanapale
Sardanapale
Sardanapale is an unfinished opera by Franz Liszt based loosely on the 1821 verse play Sardanapalus by Lord Byron.-Background:...
, of which 111 sketched pages exists.
Premier
Don Sanche premiered at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris OpéraParis Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
on 17 October 1825 with Rodolphe Kreutzer
Rodolphe Kreutzer
Rodolphe Kreutzer was a German violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas.-Biography:...
conducting. Liszt was not quite 14 years old at the time of the première. Lina Ramann
Lina Ramann
Lina Ramann was a German writer and teacher known for her books on the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt...
, his biographer, wrote:
Reception
Reviews were mixed. In 1826, Almanach des Spectacles declared that "this work has to be judged with indulgence." In reply to his biographer, when asked about the overture of Don Sanche in 1880, Liszt said that if the lost opera would ever come to light it ought not be published "since it was nothing, it became nothing." The opera was not well received, and only 4 performances took place. The opera was not staged again for more than 150 years.Rediscovery
The manuscript was believed to have perished in the 1873 fire of Salle Peletier. However, in 1903 the French scholar Jean ChantavoineJean Chantavoine
Jean Chantavoine was a French musicologist and biographer and the secretary general for the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique...
found the manuscript score of the opera bound in two volumes in the library of Palais Garnier. The score is not copied in Liszt's hand and it contains extensive rehearsal markings. That and the reminiscent passages of Paer led Emil Haraszti
Emil Haraszti
Emil Haraszti was a Hungarian born French music critic and author. He was a director of the National Conservatory of Music in Budapest and was a scholar at the University of Budapest but lived much of his life in France and publishing in French....
, a music critic, to declare that the opera was not by Liszt at all but a production by Paer only. He could not bring himself to believe that a 13 year old boy could produce such a relatively polished work. However, Adam Liszt
Adam Liszt
Ádám Liszt - was a Hungarian musician and father of composer and pianist Franz Liszt.He was born in Nemesvölgy, Kingdom of Hungary as the second child of György Liszt and Barbara Slezák...
disclosed so many details to Carl Czerny
Carl Czerny
Carl Czerny was an Austrian pianist, composer and teacher. He is best remembered today for his books of études for the piano. Czerny's music was profoundly influenced by his teachers, Muzio Clementi, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Antonio Salieri and Ludwig van Beethoven.-Early life:Carl Czerny was born...
about his son's opera-in-progress that such claims are preposterous.
Since its discovery there have been some productions of the opera. The first modern performance took place on 20 October 1977, at the Collegiate Theatre in London. To date, the score of the opera has not been published, and only a handful of microfilms of the manuscript is in circulation in various libraries of Europe and the United States. The original score is located in the Bibliothèque-Musée de l'Opéra in Paris.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 17 October 1825 (Conductor: Rodolphe Kreutzer Rodolphe Kreutzer Rodolphe Kreutzer was a German violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas.-Biography:... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Don Sanche | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini.... |
| Princess Elzire | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... or mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
|
| Alidor | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
|
| A page | soprano | |
| Zélise | soprano or mezzo-soprano | |
| A lady | soprano | |
| A knight | tenor | |
Part I
Night time, full moon outlines the silhouette of a Gothic castle, the Castle of Love.A pastoral song of invitation is heard from the cheerful company within the castle. Here estate and rank count for nothing and the song of peasants and nobles is entwined in the chorus of loving couples. The knight Don Sanche, arrives but a page bars his way at the gate, as only couples may enter this castle where love is a precondition. Don Sanche relates what lies heavily on his heart: he cannot join the happy inmates of the castle because the one he loves, the beauteous Princess Elzire is cruel and does not return his affections. The light march of the page and the chorus does not promise much hope for the desperate knight and Don Sanche almost plays with the thought of suicide.
Alidor, Lord of the castle, appears. He tells how he has had his castle built as a memorial to love, in gratitude to destiny for having assigned him many happy lovers' trysts. Alidor, who is also a magician, sees Elzire's future: the girl will choose a royal scion as her husband. Jealousy and a desire to fight are awakened in Don Sanche and he sings an angry duet with Alidor. Meanwhile he learns from Alidor that the Princess is on her way towards Navarre. The magician promises to divert Elzire from her intended route. Alidor is left alone and as the sky becomes overclouded, he gives and order to the spirits to bring on a storm. The spell succeeds and Elzire is already approaching with her retinue.
The village people are afraid of the devastating storm and then the thunder subdides, Elzire and her lady-in-waiting Zelis, seek refuge in the Castle of Love but they too are stopped by the page. He tells the newcomers the rules of the game in a song. Elzire and Zelis express their horror at the strict order. There is nothing to be done: Elzire and her retinue cannot be allowed in even though it is night and the storm is raging. The page has a saving idea: he mentions Don Sanche as a possible means of entering the castle, since the young man is madly in love with the Princess. But Elzire will not hear of it.
The storm begins raging again, the page withdraws into the castle, and the drawbridge is lifted. Elzire's men seek refuge in the forest. Zelis reproaches her lady for her coldness and pride and explains what has happened with the revenge of love. A knight named Romualde is pestering Princess Elzire with his love and it also turns out that in Navbarre Elzire hopes to meet her intended husband. We learn from Elzire that this unknown hero and would-be husband is the cause of her refusing Don Sanche, though the hero's figure has so far appeared only in the Princess's dreams. Zelis considers it would be better to accept the amorous services of Don Sanche, who is here at hand, particularly as the night is very cold. Don Sanche appears but Elzire remains firm as a rock. Alidor appears on the terrace of the castle and conjures up a bank of turf with his wand. The tired Princess lies down beneath the leafy bower and falls asleep. In the same dreamy, lulling mood Don Sanche sings a lullaby to his loved one. The young man also dreams of his lady requiting his love.
Part II
The group returns to the secret halls of the castle. The chorus announces the approach of the evil knight Romualde, who wastes no time in asking for the hand of the Princess, even threatening her with force. Don Sanche cannot tolerate this and the two knights unsheathe their swords. As Don Sanche fights for the lady he loves so hopelessly, Elzire is overcome by remorse and sympathy for the brave knight slowly awakens her love. Her prayer to Cupid is one of repentance and a confession of love.Don Sanche is mortally wounded in the combat and his last wish is to bid farewell to life at the side of his adored lady. The wounded hero is carried to Elzire to the sounds of a funeral march. In a sudden decision, The Princess tells Zelis to request entry into the Castle of Love as she is willing to give her own life to Don Sanche in exchange for his. The page yields to Elzire's request. It turns out that the part of the evil Romualde has been played by Alidor the magician and that the combat and the mortal wound were all a test of love. Elzire and Don Sanche swear undying love to each other and the people together with the happy amorous couples, jubilantly glorify the triumph of love.
Recordings
- Tamás Pál (Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, 1986) - Gerard Garino, Julia HamariJulia HamariJulia Hamari, originally Hamari Júlia , is a Hungarian mezzo-soprano and alto singer in opera and concert, appearing internationally. She is an academic voice teacher in Stuttgart.- Professional career :...
, Istvan Gati, Katalin Farkas, Ildiko Komlosi, Maria Zadori & Gabor Kallay