La vestale
Encyclopedia
La vestale is an opera
composed by Gaspare Spontini
to a French
libretto
by Etienne de Jouy. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra in Paris
on December 15, 1807 and is regarded as Spontini's masterpiece. The musical style shows the influence of Gluck and looks forwards to the works of Berlioz
, Wagner
and French Grand Opera
.
and Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis
. La vestale was an enormous success, enjoying over two hundred performances by 1830. Its fame soon spread abroad; it first appeared on the Italian stage in Naples
in 1811, and it was performed in Stockholm
in 1823. Important 20th-century revivals include the 1954 production at La Scala
with Maria Callas
in the title role, which was the first opera staging by the famous director Luchino Visconti
. La vestale is famous in historical terms but is only very infrequently performed. Two of its arias (translated to Italian
and recorded by Maria Callas
and Rosa Ponselle
), "Tu che invoco" and "O Nume tutelar", are better known than the work as a whole.
. Although Julia attempts to avoid going to Licinius's triumph
, she is delegated to present him with a wreath. He tells her that he intends to kidnap and reclaim her.
but refuses to name Licinius. She is sentenced to death for licentiousness.
ensues, during which lightning
reignites the sacred flame. Recognising this as a sign from the Gods, the High Priest and Vestal Priestess release Julia who is then married to Licinius.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composed by Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini was an Italian opera composer and conductor, extremely celebrated in his time, though largely forgotten after his death.-Biography:...
to a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
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 Etienne de Jouy. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra in Paris
Paris
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 December 15, 1807 and is regarded as Spontini's masterpiece. The musical style shows the influence of Gluck and looks forwards to the works of Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
, Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and French Grand Opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
.
Background and performance history
Spontini had finished La vestale by the summer of 1805 but had faced opposition from leading members of the Opéra and rivalry from fellow composers. The premiere was made possible with the help of Spontini's patron, the Empress Josephine, but only after being rearranged by Jean-Baptiste ReyJean-Baptiste Rey
Jean-Baptiste Rey was a French conductor and composer.Rey was born at Lauzerte. He remains the longest-serving conductor of the Paris Opera; his tenure spans from the last years of the monarchy to Napoleon's Empire...
and Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis
Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis
Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis was a French violinist, conductor, choirmaster, teacher, composer, and theatre director....
. La vestale was an enormous success, enjoying over two hundred performances by 1830. Its fame soon spread abroad; it first appeared on the Italian stage in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in 1811, and it was performed in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1823. Important 20th-century revivals include the 1954 production at La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
with Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
in the title role, which was the first opera staging by the famous director Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice .-Life:...
. La vestale is famous in historical terms but is only very infrequently performed. Two of its arias (translated to Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and recorded by Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
and Rosa Ponselle
Rosa Ponselle
Rosa Ponselle , was an American operatic soprano with a large, opulent voice. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered by music critics to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the past 100 years.-Early life:She was born Rosa Ponzillo on January 22, 1897,...
), "Tu che invoco" and "O Nume tutelar", are better known than the work as a whole.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 15 December 1807 (Conductor: Jean-Baptiste Rey Jean-Baptiste Rey Jean-Baptiste Rey was a French conductor and composer.Rey was born at Lauzerte. He remains the longest-serving conductor of the Paris Opera; his tenure spans from the last years of the monarchy to Napoleon's Empire... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Licinius, Roman Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean.... general |
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... |
Étienne Lainez |
| Cinna, head of a legion Roman legion A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"... |
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... |
François Lay or Lays |
| Chief Priest | bass | Henri Étienne Dérivis |
| Julia, young vestal | 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... |
Alexandrine-Caroline Branchu Alexandrine-Caroline Branchu Alexandrine-Caroline Branchu was a French opera soprano. She was born in Cap-Haïtien, Haïti at a time when Haiti was a French colony... |
| The Great Vestal | 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-Thérèse Maillard |
| Chief of the Aruspices | bass | Duparc |
| A consul | ||
Act 1
Returning to Rome after a victorious campaign, Licinius finds his beloved Julia has become a priestess of VestaVesta
-Astronomy:* 4 Vesta, second largest asteroid in the solar system, also a proto-planet, named after the Roman deity* Vesta family, group of asteroids that includes 4 Vesta- Places :* Monte Vesta, Lombardy, Italy* Temple of Vesta, Rome, Italy...
. Although Julia attempts to avoid going to Licinius's triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
, she is delegated to present him with a wreath. He tells her that he intends to kidnap and reclaim her.
Act 2
In the temple of Vesta, Julia guards the eternal flame and prays to be freed of temptation. Licinius arrives; during their rapturous reconciliation, the flame expires. Licinius is advised by Cinna to flee. Julia is interrogated by the High PriestPontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
but refuses to name Licinius. She is sentenced to death for licentiousness.
Act 3
Despite the pleas of Licinius, Julia is to be buried alive; even when he admits his intrusion to the Temple, Julia claims not to recognise him. A thunderstormThunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
ensues, during which lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
reignites the sacred flame. Recognising this as a sign from the Gods, the High Priest and Vestal Priestess release Julia who is then married to Licinius.
Recordings
- Maria VitaleMaria VitaleMaria Vitale was an Italian operatic soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory.She studied with the renowned Giannina Arangi-Lombardi in Milan. At first it was assumed that her voice was that of a coloratura soprano, however upon the recommendation of composer Riccardo...
, Elena NicolaiElena NicolaiStoyanka Savova Nikolova, more famous by her stage name Elena Nicolai , was a Bulgarian mezzo-soprano and opera singer.-Biography:...
, Renato Gavarini, Alfredo Fineschi, Giuliano Ferrein, Albino Gagi - Chorus and Orchestra della Rai di Roma, conducted by Fernando PrevitaliFernando PrevitaliFernando Previtali was an Italian conductor, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, especially Verdi operas....
(Warner Fonit, 1951) - Rosalind PlowrightRosalind PlowrightRosalind Anne Plowright OBE is an English opera singer who spent much of her career as a soprano but in 1999 changed to the mezzo-soprano range.- Life and career :...
, Francisco AraizaFrancisco AraizaFrancisco Araiza , is a Mexican operatic tenor. As one of the leading tenors of his generation he was named Kammersänger of the Wiener Staatsoper in 1988 and has been a permanent member of the Opernhaus Zürich since 1977....
, Gisella Pasino, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra, conducted by Gustav Kuhn (Orfeo, 1992) - Karen Huffstodt, Anthony Michaels-MooreAnthony Michaels-MooreAnthony Michaels-Moore is an English operatic baritone. After beginning studies in singing in 1981 and attending the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama from 1984-85, his career has focused on the Italian repertoire throughout Europe where, in addition to the standard repertoire, he has sung...
, Dimitri Kavrakos, Chorus and Orchestra of La ScalaLa ScalaLa Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, conducted by Riccardo MutiRiccardo MutiRiccardo Muti, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian conductor and music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.-Childhood and education:...
(Sony, 1995)