Les Abencérages
Encyclopedia
Les Abencérages, ou L'étendard de Grenade (English: The Abencerrages, or The Standard of Granada) is an opera
in three acts by Luigi Cherubini
with a French
libretto
by Etienne de Jouy, based on the novel Gonzalve de Cordoue by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
. It was first performed at the Paris
Opéra
on April 6, 1813 with Napoleon and his wife, the Empress Marie-Louise, in the audience. The opera was initially a success but its popularity waned after the fall of Napoleon.
Because of its use of large choruses, spectacle and extensive dance music as well as its story line of a love affair played out against the background of major historical events, Les Abencérages is considered an important precursor of French grand opera
. Almanzor's tenor
aria, Suspendez de ses murs, was admired by composers such as Berlioz and has been recorded by singers including Georges Thill
and Roberto Alagna
. The ballet music in Act One contains variations on the popular melody La Follia (known in French as Les folies d'Espagne).
and the Zegris. In spite of this conflict, Almanzor, a young Abencerrage warrior, and the Zegri princess Noraïme have fallen in love and are due to be married. Almanzor has also made friends with the Spanish noble, Gonzalve of Cordoba and forged a peace treaty between the Muslims and the Christians. But Almanzor's popularity has made him enemies among many of the Zegris and they plot against him. On the day of the wedding, a revolt breaks out among a subject tribe and Almanzor is forced to leave to quell it. He takes with him the standard of Granada, which is so sacred that its loss would mean exile.
to meet her. But he is ambushed by his Zegris enemies, arrested and condemned to death unless a champion can be found to defend his cause in single combat. An unknown warrior bearing the lost standard of Granada arrives to take up the challenge on Almanzor's behalf. He fights and defeats the Zegris champion, Alamir, before revealing he is Gonzalve of Cordoba and showing proof it was Octaïr and his fellow conspirators who hid the standard in order to destroy Almanzor. The conspirators are arrested and Almanzor and Noraïme's wedding goes ahead to general rejoicing.
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...
in three acts by Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....
with 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, based on the novel Gonzalve de Cordoue by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian was a French poet and romance writer.-Life:...
. It was first performed at the 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...
Opéra
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...
on April 6, 1813 with Napoleon and his wife, the Empress Marie-Louise, in the audience. The opera was initially a success but its popularity waned after the fall of Napoleon.
Because of its use of large choruses, spectacle and extensive dance music as well as its story line of a love affair played out against the background of major historical events, Les Abencérages is considered an important precursor of 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...
. Almanzor's 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, Suspendez de ses murs, was admired by composers such as Berlioz and has been recorded by singers including Georges Thill
Georges Thill
Georges Thill was a French opera singer, often considered to be his country's greatest lyric-dramatic tenor...
and Roberto Alagna
Roberto Alagna
Roberto Alagna is a French-Italian tenor. He was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Early years:Alagna was born outside of the city of Paris in 1963 to a family of Sicilian immigrants . As a teenager, the young Alagna began busking and singing pop in Parisian cabarets for tips...
. The ballet music in Act One contains variations on the popular melody La Follia (known in French as Les folies d'Espagne).
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, April 6, 1813 (Conductor: - Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis) |
|---|---|---|
| Noraïme | 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... |
Alexandre-Caroline Chevalier Branchu |
| Almansor | 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 Nourrit |
| Gonzalve de Cordoue | tenor | Jacques-Émile Lavigne |
| Alamir | 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... |
Duparc |
| Kaled | tenor | Laforêt |
| Alemar | 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... |
Henri-Étienne Derivis |
| Abderame | bass | Jean-Honoré Bertin |
| Octaïr | baritone | Alexandre |
| Egilone | soprano | Joséphine Armand |
| Troubadour | bass | Mouttit |
Act 1
The action of the opera concerns the feud between the families of the AbencerragesAbencerrages
The Abencerrages , were a family or faction that is said to have held a prominent position in the Moorish kingdom of Granada in the 15th century....
and the Zegris. In spite of this conflict, Almanzor, a young Abencerrage warrior, and the Zegri princess Noraïme have fallen in love and are due to be married. Almanzor has also made friends with the Spanish noble, Gonzalve of Cordoba and forged a peace treaty between the Muslims and the Christians. But Almanzor's popularity has made him enemies among many of the Zegris and they plot against him. On the day of the wedding, a revolt breaks out among a subject tribe and Almanzor is forced to leave to quell it. He takes with him the standard of Granada, which is so sacred that its loss would mean exile.
Act 2
Almanzor defeats the rebels but he loses the sacred standard and is put on trial. Almanzor defends himself by claiming that one of his enemies, Octaïr, secretly snatched it away, but his excuses are not accepted and he is condemned to exile.Act 3
Almanzor cannot bear life away from Noraïme and steals into the garden of the AlhambraAlhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
to meet her. But he is ambushed by his Zegris enemies, arrested and condemned to death unless a champion can be found to defend his cause in single combat. An unknown warrior bearing the lost standard of Granada arrives to take up the challenge on Almanzor's behalf. He fights and defeats the Zegris champion, Alamir, before revealing he is Gonzalve of Cordoba and showing proof it was Octaïr and his fellow conspirators who hid the standard in order to destroy Almanzor. The conspirators are arrested and Almanzor and Noraïme's wedding goes ahead to general rejoicing.
Recordings
- In Italian as Gli abencerragi with Anita CerquettiAnita CerquettiAnita Cerquetti is an Italian dramatic soprano who had a short career in the 1950s.Cerquetti was born in Montecosaro, near Macerata, Italy. She was first a student of the violin, she trained eight years with Luigi Mori. After a mere one year of vocal study at the Conservatory of Perugia she made...
, Louis Roney, Alvino Misciano and the Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Firenze, conducted by Carlo Maria GiuliniCarlo Maria GiuliniCarlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...
(recorded 1956; reissued on CD by Gala, 2001) - Les abencérages, Margherita RinaldiMargherita RinaldiMargherita Rinaldi is an Italian lyric soprano, primarily active in the 1960s and 1970s.Rinaldi was born in Turin, Italy, and completed her music studies in Rovigo. She won a voice competition in Spoleto and made her debut there in 1958 in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor...
, Francisco Ortiz, Jean Dupouy, Coro e Orchestra Sinfonica RAI di Milano, conducted by Peter MaagPeter Maag-Life:He was born on 10 May 1919 in St. Gallen, Switzerland and died on 16 April 2001 in Verona, Italy.His father, Otto, was a Lutheran minister and his mother, Nelly, a violinist who performed in the Capet Quartet as second violinist. His great uncles were conductors Emil and Fritz Steinbach. ...
(radio recording from 1975; issued on CD by Arts Archives, 2006)