Opera Books
THE OPERA
EDITED BY
ALBERT HILLERY BERGH
VOLUME II.
1909
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Hérold.
Louis Joseph Ferdinand
Hérold was horn in Paris, January 28, 1791. He was the only child of
François Joseph Hérold, an able pianist of the school of Emmanuel Bach.
His gifts for music were soon apparent. He was educated at the
Institution Hix, where he distinguished himself, and at the same time
worked at solfeggio under Fétis, and took piano lessons from his
godfather, Louis Adam, father of Adolphe Adam.
In 1806 Hérold entered the Conservatoire, where he obtained the
first piano prize, studied harmony under Catel, and composition under
Méhul, whom he always held in great admiration, and at length, in 1812,
carried off the “Grand prix de Rome” for his cantata Mlle. de la
Valliée, the unpublished score of which is in the library of the
Conservatoire, together with his Envois de Rome, which show that
Hérold would have shone in symphony if he had adhered to that branch of
composition.
The stage, however, possesses an irresistible attraction for a man
gifted with ardent imagination and capacity for expressing emotion. It
was natural, therefore, that he should wish to make his début as a
dramatic composer at Naples, where he was pianist to Queen Caroline, and
where he led a happy life, in
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good relations with the court and society. With Landriani’s assistance
he compiled a libretto from Duval’s comedy La jeunesse de Henri
V, and the opera was a success.
Shortly after this he left Italy, and made a stay of some months at
Vienna on his way home. On his return to Paris he at once tried to
procure a good opera-book, but might have waited long for an opportunity
of coming before the public, if Boieldieu had not asked him to write the
latter half of Charles de France, an opéra de circonstance
produced June 18, 1816. This led to his obtaining from Thianlon the
libretto of Les Rosières (1817), which was a complete success.
La Clochette (1817) was full of new and fresh ideas. The
charming air “Me voila” soon became popular, while those competent to
judge were struck by the advance in knowledge of the stage, and the
originality of instrumentation which it displayed.
Hérold’s industry and fertility were further proved by Le
premier venu (1818), Les Troqueurs (1819), and L’Auteur
mort et vivant (1820); but unfortunately he accepted librettos that
were neither interesting nor adapted for music. Le Muletier
(1823), however, is full of life and color, and assured his reputation
with all who were competent to judge.
After the success of this lively little piece it is difficult to
understand how a man of literary tastes and culture could have
undertaken dramas, so tame and uninteresting as Lasthénie (1823)
and Le Lapin blanc (1825). The fever of production which consumes
all composers of genius affords the only possible explanation. In fact,
rather than remain idle he undertook
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any employment, however uninviting. Thus from 1820-27 he was
pianiste-accompagnateur to the Opéra Italien; and in 1821 was sent to
Italy to engage singers, among whom he brought back no less a person
than Mme. Pasta, and Galli.
In 1827 he became choir-master at the Académie de Musique, and
began to write ballets. During these laborious years, Hérold threw off
for the publishers an immense quantity of pianoforte music. Fifty-nine
of these pieces, on which be laid no value, have been published. He also
made arrangements for the piano.
In spite of his daily drudgery, Hérold kept one aim steadily in
view—that of becoming a great composer. Any opportunity of making
himself known was welcome, and accordingly he consented to join Auber in
writing the opéra de circonstance, Vendôme en Espagne (1823); and
also composed Le Roi Réné (1824) for the fête of Louis XVIII. In
Marie (1826) he evinced thorough knowledge of the stage, great
sensibility, and graceful and refined orchestration.
Urged by a desire to give a practical scope to his fancy, Hérold
composed a series of ballets, Astolphe et Joconde; La Sonnambule
(1827); La Fille mal gardée (1828); and La Belle au bois
dormant (1829). It was largely owing to him that the music of French
ballets acquired its peculiarly graceful, poetical, expressive and
passionate character. His next opera, L’Illusion, was brought out
in 1829. Emmeline, also produced in 1829, was a fiasco, chiefly
owing to the libretto; but a rich compensation was in store for him in
the brilliant success of Zampa (1831). The public recognized in
Zampa the hand of a master,
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who to the spirit of Italian music united the depth of the German and
the elegance of the French schools.
It is a curious fact that Hérold’s own countrymen rank the Pré
aux Clercs (1832) above Zampa, while the Germans give the
preference to the latter. This arises probably from the criticism to
which a French audience instinctively subjects the literary part
of an opera. Any want of unanimity between dramatist and composer is
felt at once. In Zampa this is very marked.
On January 19, 1833, within a few days of his forty-second year,
and but a month after the production of Pré aux Clercs, Hérold
succumbed to the chest-malady from which he had been suffering for some
time, and was buried with great pomp three days later. He died in the
Maison des Temes, which had been his home since his marriage with Adèle
Elise Rollet in 1827. Halévy completed the score of Ludovie,
which Hérold left unfinished.
In society Héro1d showed himself a brilliant and original talker,
though inclined to sarcasm. His friend, David d’Angers, made a medallion
of him in Rome in 1815; and there are busts by Pantan (1833), Demesmay—now
in the foyer of the new Opéra at Paris, and Charles Gauthier—in
the library of the Paris Conservatoire.
Opera in three acts,
by Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold. Libretto by Mellesville.
Characters: Zampa, a corsair; Alfonso, a Sicilian
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officer; Daniel, Zampa’s mate; Dandalo, a peasant; Seegano; Camilla;
Rita; corsairs, peasants and soldiers.
Place, Sicily. Time, the Seventeenth Century. First produced at
Paris in 1831.
In the first act Camilla, daughter of Count Lugano, expects her
bridegroom, Alfonso di Monza, a Sicilian officer, for the wedding
ceremony. Dandalo, her servant, who was to fetch the priest, comes back
in a fright. With him is the notorious pirate-captain, Zampa, who has
taken her father and her bridegroom captive, lie tells Camilla who he is,
and forces her to renounce Alfonso and consent to a marriage with
himself, threatening to kill the prisoners if she refuses compliance.
The pirates then hold a drinking-bout in the Count’s house, and
Zampa goes so far in his insolence as to put his bridal-ring on the
finger of a marble statue which stands in the room. It represents Alice,
formerly Zampa’s bride, whose heart was broken by her lover’s
faithlessness. The fingers of the statue close over the ring, while the
left hand is upraised threateningly. Nevertheless, Zampa is resolved to
wed Camilla, though Alice appears once more, and even Alfonso, who
interferes by revealing Zampa’s real name and by imploring his bride to
return to him, cannot change the brigand’s plans.
Zampa and his comrades have received the Viceroy’s pardon on
consideration of fighting against the Turks, and so Camilia dares not
provoke the pirate’s wrath by retracting her promise. Vainly she
implores Zampa to give her father his freedom and to let her enter a
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detests him because he is a pirate, tells her that he is Count of Monza,
and Alfonso, who had drawn his sword, throws it away, terrified by
recognizing in the dreaded pirate his own brother, who by his
extravagances has already once impoverished him.
Zampa sends Alfonso to prison and orders the statue to be thrown
into the sea. Camilla once more begs for mercy, but seeing that it is
likely to avail her nothing, she flies to the Madonna’s altar, charging
Zampa openly with Alice’s death. With scornful laughter he seizes
Camilla to tear her from the altar, but, instead of the living hand of
Camilla, he feels the icy hand of Alice, who draws him down with her
into the waves. Camilla is saved and united to Alfonso, while her father,
who has been set free, arrives in a boat, and the statue rises again
from the waves, to bless the union.
Opera in three acts by
L. J. F. Hérold. Libretto by Planard.
Characters: Henry III, of France; Henry IV, of Navarre; Baron de
Mergy; Comminge, favorite of Henry III; Cantarelli, musical director;
Girot; Queen Marguerite; Isabelle de Montral; Nicette, an innkeeper;
nobles and ladies of the Court, soldiers, citizens and servants.
Place, France. Time, Sixteenth Century. First produced at Paris in
1832.
Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, is detained at the Louvre as a
hostage for the preservation of peace between
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her husband, Henry IV, of Kavarre, and her brother, Henry III, of
France. Her maid of honor, Isabelle de Montral, is exciting general
admiration among the French courtiers, and is especially admired by the
king’s favorite, Comminge, a colonel and a famous swordsman, who is bent
on gaining her hand. Isabelle’s affections are, however, already
bestowed on the Baron de Mergy, who fully reciprocates them, and whose
suit is regarded with favor by the Queen.
The King of Navarre sends Mergy to Paris in order to recall the
Queen. On reaching Etampes he stops at Nicette’s inn, and there finds
preparations being made for Nicette’s wedding with Girot, the host of
the famous Pré aux Cleres at Paris. At Etampes, Mergy meets Cantarelli,
the director of court festivities, and hears all that has happened with
respect to Isa-belle. Shortly afterwards Queen Marguerite and Isabelle,
while hunting in the neighborhood, stop at Nicette’s inn, and the lovers
meet. Comminge, observing their emotion, is filled with suspicious
forebodings as to its cause.
Mergy delivers his despatches to the King, who not only refuses to
comply with the demands contained in them, but announces the approaching
marriage of Isabelle and Comminge. Queen Marguerite, however, succeeds
in secretly arranging with Nicette and Cantarelli that Mergy and
Isabelle shall be quietly married at the same time as Nicette and Girot
in the chapel of the Pré aux Cleres. Cantarelli succeeds in deceiving
Comminge by informing him that a love intrigue exists between Mergy and
the Queen. Mergy and Comminge meet at a masked ball, when the latter
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quarrel, and duel is arranged for the following night.
Mergy and Isabelle are secretly united, as arranged, and
immediately afterwards the former engages in a duel with Comminge, and
kills him. The happy couple escape from Paris, and fly to Navarre for
safety.
Last updated February 09, 2007