Sigurd (opera)
| Sigurd | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Ernest Reyer | |
 The composer in 1893 | |
| Librettist | |
| Language | French |
| Based on | Nibelungenlied |
| Premiere | 7 January 1884 Théatre de la Monnaie, Brussels |
Sigurd is an
Initially sketched out in 1862 (and virtually completed in draft by 1867), the work waited many years before it was performed in full.
In America, the opera was first performed on 24 December 1891 at the
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 7 January 1884[3] Conductor: Joseph Dupont |
|---|---|---|
| Sigurd, Frankish hero | tenor | Julien Jourdain |
| Gunther, king of the Burgundians | baritone | Maurice Devriès |
| Hagen, warrior, companion of Gunther | bass | Léon-Pierre Gresse |
| Brunehild, Queen of Iceland | soprano | Rose Caron |
| Hilda, Gunther's sister | mezzo-soprano | Rosa Bosman |
| Uta, Hilda's nurse | contralto | Blanche Deschamps-Jéhin |
| The high priest of Odin | baritone | Maurice Renaud |
| Rudiger | baritone | M. Boussa |
| Irnfrid | tenor | Jean Goffoël |
| Hawart | baritone | Mansuède |
| Ramunc | bass | Stalport |
| The bard | bass | |
| Burgundian warriors, Burgundian people, Icelandic people, Priests, Wives of Burgundian warriors, Maids to Hilda and the Queen, Valets, envoys of Attila, etc. | ||
In the ballets:
- Act 2: The three Norns, Valkyries, Nixes, Elves, Kobolds
- Act 3: Divertissement: Dances without Warriors
Instrumentation
- 1 piccolo, 2 flutes, 1 cor anglais, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons
- 4 trombones, 1 tuba
- percussion, 2 harps, string section
- stage band
Synopsis
Hilda, the younger sister of Gunther, king of the Burgundians, loves the hero Sigurd, despite the fact that she was expected to be given to Attila himself as a bride. At the instigation of her nurse (Uta) she gives Sigurd a magic potion which brings him to her feet. Sigurd, Gunther and Hagen then swear fealty to each other and set off to Iceland, where Brunehild lies asleep upon a lofty rock, surrounded by a circle of fire and some supernatural beings. There, Sigurd, to earn the hand of Hilda, must overcome those monsters. He achieves this and passes through the flames to win Brunehild for Gunther. His face is closely hidden by his visor, and Brunehild in all innocence accepts Gunther as her saviour, and gives herself to him. The secret is afterwards disclosed by Hilda in a fit of jealous rage, whereupon Brunehild releases Sigurd from the enchantment of the potion. He recognises her as the bride ordained for him by the gods, and they sing a passionate love duet, but before he can taste his new-found happiness he is treacherously slain by Gunther while hunting. His body is brought back to the palace and Brunehild mounts the funeral pyre. A powerful apotheosis ends the opera when spirits of Sigurd and Brunehild ascend to paradise, and soldiers of Attila are seen walking over corpses of Burgundians.[4]
Recordings
- Malibran Music, Dom Disques: Compilation of various fragments of the opera, made between 1910 and 1934, with César Vezzani, Marcel Journet, Marjorie Lawrence, Germaine Lubin, and others (1 CD, 74 min.)
- Le Chant du Monde, Harmonia Mundi LDC 27891719: concert ORTF, commercial recording of Sigurd, 1973, in studio, 3 CD, total 191 min), Manuel Rosenthal conducting, with the following cast: Guy Chauvet (tenor), Robert Massard (baritone), Jules Bastin (bass), Ernest Blanc (baritone), Nicolas Christou (bass-baritone), Bernard Demigny (baritone), Jean Dupouy (tenor), Claude Méloni (baritone), Jean Louis Soumagnas, Andréa Guiot (soprano), Andrée Esposito (soprano), Denise Scharley (mezzo-soprano).[5]
- Radio broadcast of live performance at Montpellier Festival on 6 August 1993, total 176 min, with following cast: Chris Merritt (Sigurd), Michèle Lagrange (Hilda), Valérie Millot (Brunehild), Monte Pederson (Gunther), Hélène Jossoud (Uta), Marcel Vanaud (High Priest), Alain Vernhes (Hagen), Wojtek Smilek (Barde), conducted by Günter Neuhold (the performance was taped, however never released commercially).
- Grey market DVD of telecast of live performance in Marseilles on 22 June 1995 (182 min): Alberto Cupido (Sigurd), Françoise Pollet (Brunehild), Cécile Perrin (Hilda), Jean-Philippe Lafont (Gunther), Viorica Cortez (Uta), Jean-Marc Ivaldi (High Priest), Antoine Garcin (Hagen), Dietfried Bernet conducting (never released commercially).
- Extracts: "Salut! splendeur du jour", Andréa Guiot, Germaine Lubin, Régine Crespin, Françoise Pollet
See also
References
Notes
- ^ In Review from around the world: Marseille, Opera News, 9 December 1995.
- ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Sigurd, 7 July 1973". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
- ^ La Monnaie Archives
- ^ Streatfield R A. The Opera. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1925.
- ^ Note that both those above mentioned recordings, historical and the one of Rosenthal (1973) were the only commercially released recordings of that opera, but they are both out of print and circulation, and cannot be found easily.
Further reading
- Upton, George P.; Borowski, Felix (1928). The Standard Opera Guide. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. pp. 293–295.
- Huebner, Steven (2006). French Opera at the Fin de Siècle: Sigurd – Vallhalla á la Française. Oxford University Press, US. pp. 178–194. ISBN 978-0-19-518954-4.
External links
- Sigurd (Reyer): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
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