La belle Hélène
La belle Hélène (French pronunciation: [la bɛl elɛn], The Beautiful Helen) is an opéra bouffe in three acts, with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The piece parodies the story of Helen's elopement with Paris, which set off the Trojan War.
The premiere was at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris, on 17 December 1864. The work ran well, and productions followed in three continents. La belle Hélene continued to be revived throughout the 20th century and has remained a repertoire piece in the 21st.
Background and first performance
By 1864 Offenbach was well established as the leading French composer of
In the
The opera opened on 17 December 1864. The first night audience was enthusiastic but the reviews were mixed,[n 2] and box-office business was sluggish for a few subsequent performances until supportive reviews by leading writers such as Henri Rochefort and Jules Vallès made their impression on the public, after which the piece drew large audiences from fashionable bohemians as well as respectable citizens from the wealthy arrondissements.[11] It ran through most of 1865 (with a summer break in mid-run),[12] and was replaced in February 1866 with Barbe-bleue, starring the same leading players, except for Silly, with whom Schneider declined ever to appear with again.[13]
Roles
Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 17 December 1864, (Conductor: Jacques Offenbach) |
---|---|---|
Agamemnon, King of Kings | baritone | Henri Couder |
Ménélas, King of Sparta | tenor | Jean-Laurent Kopp |
Pâris, son of King Priam of Troy | tenor | José Dupuis |
Calchas, high priest of Jupiter | bass
|
Pierre-Eugène Grenier |
Achille, King of Phthiotis | tenor | Alexandre Guyon |
Oreste, son of Agamemnon | soprano or tenor | Léa Silly |
Ajax I, King of Salamis | tenor | Edouard Hamburger |
Ajax II, King of the Locrians | baritone | M. Andof |
Philocome, Calchas's attendant | spoken | M. Videix |
Euthyclès, a blacksmith | spoken | M. Royer |
Hélène, Queen of Sparta | mezzo-soprano | Hortense Schneider |
Parthénis, a courtesan | soprano | Mlle. Alice |
Lœna, a courtesan | mezzo-soprano | Mlle. Gabrielle |
Bacchis, Helen's attendant | soprano | Mlle. C. Renault |
Ladies and Gentlemen, Princes, Guards, People, Slaves, Helen’s servants, Mourners of Adonis |
Synopsis
- Place: Sparta and the shores of the sea
- Time: Before the Trojan War.
Act 1
Paris arrives, disguised as a shepherd, and wins three prizes at a "contest of wit" (outrageously silly wordgames) with the Greek kings under the direction of Agamemnon, whereupon he reveals his identity. Helen, who was trying to settle after her youthful adventure and aware of Paris's backstory, decides that Fate has sealed hers. The Trojan prince is crowned victor by Helen, to the disgust of the lout Achilles and the two bumbling Ajaxes. Paris is invited to a banquet by Helen's husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. Paris has bribed Calchas to "prophesise" that Menelaus must at once proceed to Crete, which he agrees to reluctantly under general pressure.
Act 2
While the Greek kings party in Menelaus's palace in his absence, and Calchas is caught cheating at a board game, Paris comes to Helen at night. After she sees off his first straightforward attempt at seducing her, he returns when she has fallen asleep. Helen has prayed for some appeasing dreams and appears to believe that this is one, and so resists him not much longer. Menelaus unexpectedly returns and finds the two in each other's arms. Helen, exclaiming 'la fatalité, la fatalité', tells him that it is all his fault: A good husband knows when to come and when to stay away. Paris tries to dissuade him from kicking up a row, but to no avail. When all the kings join the scene, berating Paris and telling him to go back where he came from, Paris departs, vowing to return and finish the job.
Act 3
The kings and their entourage have moved to Nauplia for the summer season, and Helen is sulking and protesting her innocence. Venus has retaliated for the treatment meted out to her protégé Paris by making the whole population giddy and amorous, to the despair of the kings. A high priest of Venus arrives on a boat, explaining that he has to take Helen to Cythera where she is to sacrifice 100 heifers for her offences. Menelaus pleads with her to go with the priest, but she refuses initially, saying that it is he, and not she, who has offended the goddess. However, when she realises that the priest is Paris in disguise, she embarks and they sail away together.
Musical numbers
Act 1
- Introduction and chorus
- "Amours divins" – "Divine loves" – Chorus and Helen
- Chœur et Oreste "C'est Parthoénis et Léoena" – "It's Parthoenis and Leoena" – Chorus and Orestes
- Air de Pâris "Au mont Ida" – Air: "Mount Ida" – Paris
- Marche des Rois de la Grèce – March of the Kings of Greece
- Chœur "Gloire au berger victorieux"; "Gloire! gloire! gloire au berger" – "Glory to the victorious shepherd"; "Glory! glory! glory to the shepherd " – Chorus and Helen
Act 2
- Entr'acte
- Chœur "O Reine, en ce jour" – "O Queen, on this day" – Chorus
- Invocation à Vénus (Invocation to Venus) – "Dis-moi Vénus"– Helen
- Marche de l'oie – The march of the Goose
- Scène du jeu – Scene of the game of "Goose"
- Chœur en coulisses "En couronnes tressons les roses" – "In wreaths braid roses" – Offstage chorus
- Duo Hélène-Pâris "Oui c'est un rêve" – "Yes it's a dream" – Helen and Paris
- "Un mari sage" (Hélène), valse et final: " A moi! Rois de la Grèce, à moi! " – "A wise husband"; waltz and finale: "To me! Kings of Greece, to me!" – Helen; Menelaus
Act 3
- Entr'acte
- Chœur et ronde d'Oreste "Vénus au fond de nos âmes" – "Venus in the depths of our souls" – Chorus and Orestes
- Couplets d'Hélène "Là vrai, je ne suis pas coupable" – Couplets: "There, I'm not guilty" – Helen
- Trio patriotique "Lorsque la Grèce est un champ de carnage" (Agamemnon, Calchas, Ménélas) – Patriotic Trio – Agamemnon, Calchas, Menelaus
- Chœur "La galère de Cythère", tyrolienne de Pâris "Soyez gais" – "The ship for Cythera"; Tyrolean song: "Be gay" – Chorus and Paris
- Finale – All
Revivals
19th century
La belle Hélène was revived at the Variétés in 1876, 1886 and 1889 starring Anna Judic, in 1890 with Jeanne Granier, and 1899 with Juliette Simon-Girard.[14]
The Austrian premiere was at the Theater an der Wien, as Die schöne Helena, in March 1865. It was for this occasion that Eduard Haensch made a new arrangement of the overture, which is universally played today; Offenbach's brief prelude is very seldom heard. The work was given in Berlin at the Friedrich-Wilhelmstädtisches Theater in May of that year, in Brussels the following month,[15] and in Hungary in March 1866 in German and April 1870 in Hungarian.[14]
In London an adaptation by
The first New York production of the opera was given in German at the
20th century
Revivals in Paris included those at the
American productions included those of the New York City Opera (1976) with Karan Armstrong,[14] Ohio Light Opera (1994),[26] and Lyric Opera Cleveland (1996).[27]
21st century
Among revivals in France there have been productions at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris (2000 and 2015), the Opéra d'Avignon and Opéra de Toulon (both 2014), the Grand Théâtre de Tours (2015), and the Opéra national de Lorraine (2018).[28] The 2000 Châtelet production, by Laurent Pelly, was presented by ENO at the Coliseum in 2006 with Felicity Lott as Helen.[29] In the US productions have included those by Portland Opera (2001),[30] and Santa Fe Opera starring Susan Graham (2003).[31]
Critical reception
The reviewer in Le Journal amusant thought the piece had all the expected Offenbach qualities: "grace, tunefulness, abandonment, eccentricity, gaiety and spirit. ... Do you like good music of cheerful spirit? Here is! Do you want to laugh and have fun? You will laugh, you will have fun! Do you like to see a battalion of beautiful women? Go to the Variétés! For these reasons and many others, La belle Hélène will have its 100 performances. There is no better party at the theatre." The reviewer commented that the librettists were not at their subtlest in this piece, and had "painted with a broad brush of buffoonery".[32] The British journal The Musical World thought the music "very flimsy and essentially second-rate", and attributed the opera's great success to the popularity of Schneider.[33] The Athenaeum considered the piece grossly indecent.[n 3]
In his 1980 biography of Offenbach,
Recordings
- François le Roux, Marie-Ange Todorovitch. Musical direction Marc Minkowski (version given at the Théâtre du Châteletin 2000).
- Jessye Norman, John Aler, Charles Burles, Gabriel Bacquier, Jean-Philippe Lafont. Musical direction, Michel Plasson.
- Jane Rhodes, Rémy Corazza, Jacques Martin, Jules Bastin, Michel Trempont, with the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg under Alain Lombard, and the chorus of the Opéra national du Rhin under Gunter Wagner (1978).
See also
- Poire belle Hélène
- Sköna Helena - a 1951 Swedish film
- Libretto in WikiSource (in French)
Notes, references and sources
Notes
- ^ The carrot is an allusion to the song "Vénus aux carottes", by Paul-Léonce Blaquière, with which Silly was associated.[6]
- ^ The vehement hostility of the critic Jules Janin of the Journal des débats had piqued the public's interest in Orphée in 1858 and boosted attendances;[9] he tried to avoid falling into the same trap on this occasion but could not restrain his invective against the "perfidious" Meilhac, "traitor" Halévy and "wretched" Offenbach.[10]
- ^ The magazine's 680-word article denouncing the opera did not at any point mention the composer's name.[34]
- ^ Cardus evidently excepted The Tales of Hoffmann from his strictures: "There was more music in Sullivan's little finger than Offenbach dreamed of in all his life, until at death's door he was inexplicably touched by poetry".[37]
References
- ^ Lamb, Andrew. "Orphée aux enfers", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2002. Retrieved 14 April 2019. (subscription required)
- ^ Faris, pp. 71, 77, 92 and 110; and Kracauer, p. 242
- ^ Faris, p. 112
- ^ Kracauer, p. 244
- ^ Kracauer, pp. 244–245
- ^ Breckbill, Anita. "André Gill and Musicians in Paris in the 1860s and 1870s: Caricatures in La Lune and L'Éclipse", Music in Art 34, no. 1/2 (2009), pp. 218 and 228
- ^ Lamb, Andrew. "Belle Hélène, La" Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2002. Retrieved 14 April 2019 (subscription required)
- ^ Kracauer, pp 243–244; and Faris, p. 125
- ^ Martinet, p. 50
- ^ Kracauer, p. 246
- ^ Kracauer, p. 249
- ^ Faris, p. 134
- ^ Faris, pp. 138–139
- ^ a b c d e f g Gänzl and Lamb, pp. 286–287
- ^ a b c Gänzl, Kurt. "La belle Hélène", Operetta Research Center, 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2019
- ^ "Adelphi Theatre", The Morning Post, 2 July 1866, p. 2
- ^ "St. James's Theatre", The Standard, 13 July 1868, p. 3
- ^ "St. James's Theatre", The Morning Post, 12 July 1873, p. 4
- ^ a b Gaye, p. 1359
- ^ Senelick, Laurence. "Offenbach and Chekhov; Or, La Belle Yelena", The Theatre Journal 42, no. 4 (1990), pp. 455–467. (subscription required)
- ^ Canning, Hugh. "I love Paris... Opera", The Sunday Times, 5 November 2000, p. 18 (Culture section)
- Illustrated London News, 6 February 1932, p,. 212
- ^ Hoyle, Martin. "Arts: 'La Belle Helene", The Financial Times, 3 November 1995, p. 13
- ^ Traubner, unnumbered introductory page
- ^ Porter, Andrew. "Helen destroyed: Frayn reduces Offenbach's classical figures to Chippendales and Paris to plaster, The Observer, 17 December 1995, p. 61
- ^ Guregian, Elaine. "Updating 'Helene'", Akron Beacon Journal, 25 June 1994, p. C6
- ^ Rosenberg, Donald. "La Belle Helene A Zany Kickoff for Season", The Plain Dealer, 28 June 1996, p. 1E
- ^ "La belle Hélène", Opera Online. Retrieved 15 April 2019
- ^ Picard, Anna. "A thousand ships? This Helen can’t launch a dozen", The Independent on Sunday, 9 April 2006, p. 19
- ^ McQuillen, James. "'La Belle Helene' -- Funny, Absurd, Satirical", The Oregonian, 11 May 2001, p. 62
- ^ Cantrell, Scott. "Juvenility Impairs 'Hélène': staging is a jumble of dubious jokes and clashing themes", The Dallas Morning News 31 July 2003, p. 9b
- ^ Wolf, Albert. "Chronique Théatrale", Le Journal amusant, 24 December 1864, pp. 6–7
- ^ "Mdlle Schneider", The Musical World, 8 August 1868, p. 549
- ^ "Music and the Drama", The Athenaeum, 18 July 1868, p. 90
- ^ Gammond, p. 81
- ^ Faris, pp. 121–122
- ^ a b Cardus, Neville. "'Helen!' at the Opera House", The Manchester Guardian, 28 December 1931, p. 11
- ^ Milnes, Rodney. "La Belle Helene", The Times, 3 October 2000, p. T2.22.
- ^ Traubner, p. 43
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-571-11147-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7119-0257-2.
- OCLC 966051934.
- Gaye, Freda, ed. (1967). Who's Who in the Theatre (fourteenth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. OCLC 5997224.
- OCLC 639465598.
- Martinet, André (1887). Offenbach: Sa vie et son oeuvre. Paris: Dentu. OCLC 3574954.
- ISBN 978-1-138-13892-6.
External links
Media related to La Belle Hélène at Wikimedia Commons