La Dame blanche
Encyclopedia
La dame blanche is an opéra comique
in three acts by the French
composer François-Adrien Boieldieu
. The libretto
was written by Eugène Scribe
and is based on episodes from no less than five of the works by Scottish
writer Sir Walter Scott
, including his novels The Monastery
, Guy Mannering
, and The Abbot
. The opera has typical elements of the Romantic
in its Gothic
mode, including an exotic Scottish locale, a lost heir, a mysterious castle, a hidden fortune, and a ghost, in this case benevolent. The work was one of the first attempts to introduce the fantastic into opera, and is a model for works such as Giacomo Meyerbeer
's Robert le diable
and Charles Gounod
's Faust
. The opera's musical style also heavily influenced later operas like Lucia di Lammermoor
, I puritani
and La jolie fille de Perth
.
on 10 December 1825 at the Théâtre Feydeau
by the Opéra-Comique
opera company. It was a major success and became a standby of the 19th-century operatic repertory in France and Germany
. By 1862, the Opéra-Comique had given more than 1,000 performances of the opera. Its popularity began to diminish towards the very end of the 19th-century and performances since have been rare. The opera was revived in Paris in 1996 by conductor Marc Minkowski
. A few different recording of the opera have been made (see below).
The overture was put together from Boieldieu's themes by his student Adolphe Adam
.
from the opera that is most often performed today in recital is the tenor
aria, "Viens, gentille dame" ("Come, Gentle Lady"). The opera also interestingly makes use of Scottish folk tunes.
The Count and Countess Avenel have both died in exile, leaving the fate of their castle and estate to their wicked and dishonest steward, Gaveston. The property is supposed to go to the Avenel's son, Julien, but he is missing. Dickson, a tenant farmer on the land of the late Count, and his spouse Jenny are about to celebrate the baptism of their infant son when they realize that they do not have a godfather. A youthful officer in the English army, Georges Brown, offers to take the position. Dickson informs Brown that the castle is going to be auctioned by Gaveston, who hopes to buy it and the title for himself. Jenny sings the Ballad of The White Lady ("D’ici voyez ce beau domaine"), the "White Lady" being the protecting spirit of the Avenels. Dickson receives a correspondence from the White Lady beckoning him to the castle. As he is too scared to obey, Brown goes in his place.
Meanwhile, Anna, an orphan raised by the Avenels, tells the elderly housekeeper Marguerite how she cared for an injured soldier who reminded her of Julien, who was her childhood sweetheart. Gaveston proclaims his plans for the auction the next morning. Brown appears, searching shelter for the night. Left alone, he sings the cavatina, "Viens, gentille dame". Anna enters, disguised as The White Lady, in a white veil. She recognizes Brown as the soldier she took care of in Hanover. Tomorrow he must obey her implicitly. Brown agrees to do so.
The following morning the auction occurs. Dickson, on behalf of the Avenel tenants, bets in opposition to Gaveston but quickly hits his limit. Encouraged by Anna, Brown places a bid in the auction and soon outbids the steward, buying the castle for 500,000 francs. However, Dickson does not have the money and if he doesn't pay before midday he will be thrown into prison.
Anna and Marguerite look for the statue of the White Lady in which is stashed the wealth of the Avenels. Brown has the curious feeling that he remembers the castle. Meanwhile, Gaveston receives the news that George Brown is in fact the missing Julien Avenel, although Brown does not know it. Anna overhears the news and sets a plan in motion. At the strike of 12 noon, the White Lady appears with a treasure-chest. Thwarted, Gaveston tears off her veil in rage to expose Anna, who then reveals Brown's true identity as Julien. Julien and Anna are happily reunited.
Opéra comique
Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
in three acts by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer François-Adrien Boieldieu
François-Adrien Boïeldieu
François-Adrien Boieldieu was a French composer, mainly of operas, often called "the French Mozart".-Biography:...
. The 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...
was written by Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
and is based on episodes from no less than five of the works by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
writer Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, including his novels The Monastery
The Monastery
The Monastery: a Romance is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott. Along with The Abbot, it is one of Scott's Tales from Benedictine Sources and is set in the time of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Elizabethan period.-Plot introduction:...
, Guy Mannering
Guy Mannering
Guy Mannering or The Astrologer is a novel by Sir Walter Scott, published anonymously in 1815. According to an introduction that Scott wrote in 1829, he had originally intended to write a story of the supernatural, but changed his mind soon after starting...
, and The Abbot
The Abbot
The Abbot is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott. A sequel to The Monastery, it is one of Scott's Tales from Benedictine Sources and is set in the time of Mary, Queen of Scots...
. The opera has typical elements of the Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
in its Gothic
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
mode, including an exotic Scottish locale, a lost heir, a mysterious castle, a hidden fortune, and a ghost, in this case benevolent. The work was one of the first attempts to introduce the fantastic into opera, and is a model for works such as Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
's Robert le diable
Robert le diable
Robert le diable may refer to:* Robert le diable by Giacomo Meyerbeer* Robert the Devil, a medieval legend...
and Charles Gounod
Charles Gounod
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...
's Faust
Faust (opera)
Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1...
. The opera's musical style also heavily influenced later operas like Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
, I puritani
I puritani
I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at...
and La jolie fille de Perth
La jolie fille de Perth
La jolie fille de Perth is an opera in four acts by Georges Bizet , from a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jules Adenis, after the novel by Sir Walter Scott...
.
Performance history
La dame blanche was first performed in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 10 December 1825 at the Théâtre Feydeau
Théâtre Feydeau
The Théâtre Feydeau, , a former Parisian theatre company, was founded in 1789 with the patronage of Monsieur, Comte de Provence , and was therefore initially named the Théâtre de Monsieur...
by the Opéra-Comique
Opéra-Comique
The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...
opera company. It was a major success and became a standby of the 19th-century operatic repertory in France and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. By 1862, the Opéra-Comique had given more than 1,000 performances of the opera. Its popularity began to diminish towards the very end of the 19th-century and performances since have been rare. The opera was revived in Paris in 1996 by conductor Marc Minkowski
Marc Minkowski
Marc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology...
. A few different recording of the opera have been made (see below).
The overture was put together from Boieldieu's themes by his student Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
.
Musical analysis
Boieldieu's enjoyable score is highly expressive and full of striking numbers. Of particular note are Jenny's ballad, Brown's entrance aria and, the music sung by Anna, which is highly florid and preceded by harp arpeggios whenever the White Lady appears. The central dramatic focus of the opera is the auction scene, an ensemble in the Italian style, which has an intensity not equalled or surpassed by any other opéra comique of that period, either by Boieldieu or his contemporaries. The ariaAria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
from the opera that is most often performed today in recital is the 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...
aria, "Viens, gentille dame" ("Come, Gentle Lady"). The opera also interestingly makes use of Scottish folk tunes.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 10 December 1825 (Conductor: ) |
|---|---|---|
| Gaveston, old intendant of the Counts of Avenel | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Henry Deshaynes |
| Anna, his pupil | 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... |
Antoinette-Eugénie Rigaut |
| Georges, young English officer | 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... |
Louis-Antoine-Eléonore Ponchard |
| Dickson, farmer of the Counts of Avenel | tenor | Louis Féréol |
| Jenny, his wife | 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... |
Marie-Julie Halligner |
| Marguerite, old servant of the Counts of Avenel | mezzo-soprano | Marie Desbrosses |
| Gabriel, servant at Dikson's farm | bass | Belnié |
| MacIrton, justice of the peace | bass | Firmin |
| Country people etc (chorus Choir A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus... ) |
||
Synopsis
Setting: Scotland, 1753The Count and Countess Avenel have both died in exile, leaving the fate of their castle and estate to their wicked and dishonest steward, Gaveston. The property is supposed to go to the Avenel's son, Julien, but he is missing. Dickson, a tenant farmer on the land of the late Count, and his spouse Jenny are about to celebrate the baptism of their infant son when they realize that they do not have a godfather. A youthful officer in the English army, Georges Brown, offers to take the position. Dickson informs Brown that the castle is going to be auctioned by Gaveston, who hopes to buy it and the title for himself. Jenny sings the Ballad of The White Lady ("D’ici voyez ce beau domaine"), the "White Lady" being the protecting spirit of the Avenels. Dickson receives a correspondence from the White Lady beckoning him to the castle. As he is too scared to obey, Brown goes in his place.
Meanwhile, Anna, an orphan raised by the Avenels, tells the elderly housekeeper Marguerite how she cared for an injured soldier who reminded her of Julien, who was her childhood sweetheart. Gaveston proclaims his plans for the auction the next morning. Brown appears, searching shelter for the night. Left alone, he sings the cavatina, "Viens, gentille dame". Anna enters, disguised as The White Lady, in a white veil. She recognizes Brown as the soldier she took care of in Hanover. Tomorrow he must obey her implicitly. Brown agrees to do so.
The following morning the auction occurs. Dickson, on behalf of the Avenel tenants, bets in opposition to Gaveston but quickly hits his limit. Encouraged by Anna, Brown places a bid in the auction and soon outbids the steward, buying the castle for 500,000 francs. However, Dickson does not have the money and if he doesn't pay before midday he will be thrown into prison.
Anna and Marguerite look for the statue of the White Lady in which is stashed the wealth of the Avenels. Brown has the curious feeling that he remembers the castle. Meanwhile, Gaveston receives the news that George Brown is in fact the missing Julien Avenel, although Brown does not know it. Anna overhears the news and sets a plan in motion. At the strike of 12 noon, the White Lady appears with a treasure-chest. Thwarted, Gaveston tears off her veil in rage to expose Anna, who then reveals Brown's true identity as Julien. Julien and Anna are happily reunited.
Recordings
- 1962 - Michel SénéchalMichel SénéchalMichel Sénéchal is a French tenor, particularly associated with French and Italian character roles in a repertory ranging from Baroque to contemporary works.- Life and career :...
(Georges Brown), Françoise Louvay (Anna), Jane BerbiéJane BerbiéJane Berbié is a French mezzo-soprano particularly associated with Mozart and Rossini roles.- Life and career :Berbié was born Jeanne Bergougne, in Villefranche-de-Lauragais, Haute-Garonne, France, and studied piano and voice at the Music Conservatory in nearby Toulouse...
(Jenny), André Doniat (Dickson), Adrien Legros (Gaveston), Geneviève Baudoz (Marguerite) - Orchestre symphonique et Choeur de Paris, Pierre Stoll (conductor) - (Accord) - 1964 - Nicolai GeddaNicolai GeddaNicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history...
, Mimi Aarden, Sophia Van Sant, Guus Hoekman, Erna Spoorenberg, Henk Drissen and Franz Vroons with Jean FournetJean FournetJean Fournet was a French conductor.Fournet’s father was a flutist who gave him some instruction on the flute and music theory. Fournet was then trained at the Conservatoire de Paris in flute by Gaston Blanquart and Marcel Moyse, and conducting by Philippe Gaubert...
conducting the HilversumHilversumis a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...
Radio Chorus and Hilversum Radio Orchestra. There are two issues of this version: Melodram catalog #: 50033 - Opera D'Oro catalog #: 1364 - 1996 - Rockwell BlakeRockwell BlakeRockwell Blake is an American operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in Rossini operas. He was the first winner of the Richard Tucker Award.-Biography:...
(Georges Brown), Annick MassisAnnick Massis- Biography :She worked as a school teacher before going to study at the Conservatoire Francis Poulenc in Paris. Her stage career began in Toulouse in the early 1990s, where she performed in operas by Mozart as well as playing the role of Leila in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.In 1999, she took the...
(Anna), Mireille DelunschMireille DelunschMireille Delunsch is an opera soprano. She was born in Mulhouse, France, and studied musicology and voice at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg. Her debut was at the Opéra du Rhin in Mulhouse, in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov....
(Jenny), Jean-Paul FouchécourtJean-Paul FouchécourtJean-Paul Fouchécourt is a French tenor, mostly as an opera singer. He was born on August 30, 1958, at Blanzy in the Burgundy region. He is best known for singing French Baroque music, especially the parts called in French haute-contre, written for a very high tenor voice with no falsetto...
(Dickson), Laurent NaouriLaurent NaouriLaurent Naouri is a French bass-baritone. Initially beginning his education at the École Centrale de Lyon, Naouri decided to concentrate on opera in 1986 and continued his musical studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.His professional career in France began in 1992 with...
(Gaveston), Sylvie Brunet (Marguerite), conducted by Marc MinkowskiMarc MinkowskiMarc Minkowski is a French conductor of classical music, especially known for his interpretations of French Baroque works. His mother is American, and his father was Alexandre Minkowski, a Polish-French professor of pediatrics and one of the founders of neonatology...
with the Choeur de Radio FranceRadio FranceRadio France is a French public service radio broadcaster.-Mission:Radio France's two principal missions are:* To create and expand the programming on all of their stations; and...
and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris (EMI ClassicsEMI ClassicsEMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....
)