Fromental Halévy – CHARLES VI – Complete opera (Compiègne 2005)

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CHARLES VI Opéra en 5 actes Composer: Fromental Halévy (1799–1862) Libretto : Germain et Casimir Delavigne First performance : Paris Opéra, Salle Le Peletier, 15 March 1843 SETTING : France, several years after the Battle of Agincourt (1415) PLOT: Charles VI (1368–1422), known both as le Bien-Aimé and le Fol, suffered from recurrent bouts of insanity, in which he believed he was made of glass, denied he had a wife and children, or attacked people. After Agincourt, Henry V married Catherine of Valois, Charles’s daughter. Their son, Henry VI, became heir to both the English and French thrones. In exchange for Henry V’s support in a civil war against the House of Valois, Charles offered large parts of France to Henry V. He signed the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, which disinherited his children and recognised Henry V as his legitimate successor to the French throne. Act I: Odette, daughter of Raymond, an old soldier who fought at Agincourt, leaves her home to go to the king, who is her godfather and over whom she watches in his fits of madness. She saves the Dauphin from English soldiers. Act II: Isabeau of Bavaria, Charles VI’s wife, gives a party at the hôtel Saint-Paul for the Duke of Bedford. Charles VI enters, mad. Odette tries to distract him, first by singing and then by playing cards, in a vain attempt to ignite a warlike spirit. Isabeau makes him sign a paper adopting the young Lancaster, the Duke of Bedford’s son, and disinheriting the Dauphin. Act III: The young Lancaster is to be crowned. Charles VI comes to his senses and tears the crown from the child’s head. Act IV: Isabeau and the Duke of Bedford show Charles the act of abdication he has signed. The king burns it and chases them away. Exhausted by this effort, he lies on a bed and tries to sleep – but Isabeau makes a series of ghosts appear: Clisson, Jean sans Peur, the man of the forest of Mans, who tell him that he will die at the Dauphin’s hands. The king orders his son’s arrest. Act V: By the banks of the Seine, Odette assembles a group of loyal knights to go to the abbey of Saint-Denis to stop France from being handed over to foreigners. At the abbey, all the characters assemble. Odette seizes the oriflamme (the battle standard of the King of France in the Middle Ages) and gives it to the king. A battle ensues; the English are repelled, and Charles falls dying in his son’s arms. NOTES: Halévy’s opera is a counterpart to Shakespeare’s ‘Henry V’, but is set after Henry V’s death and shows the events from the French perspective. The work was a success, and performed 61 times between 1843 and 1850. Despite its success, however, the censor forbade the opera, fearing that it could threaten the Entente cordiale with England. It was given 22 times in 1870, shortly before the Franco-Prussian War, and then vanished. Félix Clément wrote: ‘De tous les livrets modernes d'opéras, celui de Charles VI renferme le plus de beaux vers ; les situations en sont dramatiques, intéressantes. La musique d'Halévy est pleine de beautés de premier ordre. L'ensemble de cet ouvrage est de nature à réveiller dans les âmes les sentiments du plus pur patriotisme.’ [1] [1] ‘Of all modern opera libretti, that of Charles VI contains the most beautiful verses; the situations are dramatic and interesting. Halévy’s music is full of beauties of the first order. This work inspires the purest feelings of patriotism.’ The opera was also performed in Belgium (1845), Netherlands (1846), USA (1847), Germany (1851), Argentina (1854), Batavia (1866), Spain (1867), Italy (1876) and Mexico (1882) – but not, strangely enough, in England. An opera in which the English are villains and where the big number is the patriotic chorus « Guerre aux tyrans! Jamais en France, / Jamais l’Anglais ne régnera » would have flopped in London. Score available: http://imslp.org/wiki/Charles_VI_%28H… Charles VI (baritone) : Armand Arapian Isabelle de Bavière (soprano) : Isabelle Philippe Le Dauphin (tenor) : Bruno Comparetti Raymond (bass) : Matthieu Lecroart Odette, fille de Raymond / Raymond’s daughter (mezzo-soprano): Anne-Sophie Schmidt Le Duc de Bedford (tenor): Armando Noguera L’Homme de la Forêt du Mans ; Ludger ; Dunois (baritone): Eric Salha Tanguy Duchatel ; Eric d’Orléans (bass): Pierrick Boisseau Saintrailles ; Clisson (tenor): Stéphane Malbec Garcia Lahire ; Marcel ; l’étudiant ; Jean sans Peur (tenor): Jean-Loup Pagesy Lionel, officier Anglais ; Gontran (tenor): Mathias Vidal Chevaliers français et anglais, soldats Conductor : Miquel Ortega Orchestre Français Albéric Magnard Chœur Orfeon Pamplones Compìègne, 2005