Opera Books
THE OPERA
EDITED BY
ALBERT HILLERY BERGH
VOLUME IV.
1909
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Erlanger.
Camille Erlanger was born at Paris, on May 25, 1863. He was a pupil of the Paris Conservatory, and in 1888 won the Prix de Rome. Erlanger won his first operatic success at the Opéra Comique in 1887, with Le Juif Polonais. This was followed in 1904 by Les Fils de l’Étoile and by Aphrodite in 1906. He is also the composer of the operas Darkokéba and La Glu.
Opera in six scenes by
Camille Erlanger. Libretto adapted by Louis de Gramont from the novel of
the same name by Pierre Louys.
Characters: Bacchis, a courtesan; Corinna, a mulatress; Chimairis,
a fortune-teller; Rhodis and Myrto, flute players; Chrysis of Galilee, a
courtesan; Touni, the wife of the High-priest; Demetrios, a sculptor;
the High-priest; Philodène, a poet; Timon, a young Alexandrian; guests,
Alexandrians, slaves.
Place, Alexandria. Time, 57 B. C. First produced at Paris in 1906.
The first scene is on the Heptastade, a wide sea-jetty on the shore
at Alexandria. Singers, flute-players and
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courtesans are passing back and forth before the blue sea, laughing
among themselves, and discussing the fête which the wealthy and
beautiful Bacchis will give on the second day of the festival in honor
of Aphrodite, and at which she will liberate one of her slaves, Corinna,
the beautiful negress. The crowd grows and men mingle with the women.
Among them is Demetrios, whose attention women try in vain to attract.
Chimairis enters, and is immediately surrounded by women desirous of
knowing the future. Demetrios in his turn holds out his hand to be read.
“I see love,” the sybil tells him, “but it is drowned in blood—the blood
of a woman; then follows the blood of another, and then—your own!”
The crowd has melted away, and the jetty is almost deserted when a
young woman appears, whose resplendent beauty strongly moves the
sculptor. It is the courtesan, Chrysis, of Galilee. Demetrios approaches
her, and they engage in conversation. He proposes to accompany her, but
she spurns him, which has the effect of further exciting his interest.
He suddenly finds himself in love with her and offers her gold. She
replies that she is surfeited with gold, but that she has a fancy for
three gifts of a unique nature. In order to win her love it will be
necessary for Pemetrios to procure them for her. These three gifts are:
the mirror of Bacehis, which will have to be stolen; the comb of Tonni,
wife of the High-priest, to obtain which the owner will have to be
murdered; and the priceless necklace of Aphrodite, which will have to be
ravished from the statue of the goddess. Thus, in order to win this
wanton, Demetrios must become a thief, a murderer and a violator of the
sanctuary.
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The second scene takes place in the temple of Aphrodite. It is the
first day of the festival. The doors of the temple open, and a
procession of courtesans, led by the High-priest, comes to bring
offerings to the goddess, and to solicit favors in return. Chrysis
enters and places on the altar of Aphrodite her own necklace, mirror and
comb. When the High-priest inquires what she asks from the goddess
Chrysis answers indifferently, ‘Nothing,” so sure is she of obtaining
what she has exacted of Demetrios. He, hidden in a corner of the temple,
has already committed two of the crimes suggested by Chrysis: he has
stolen the mirror of Bacchis, and has killed Touni in order to obtain
possession of the comb. When the temple is empty, and the procession has
wound off into the distance, Demetrios commits the violation of the
sanctuary, and carefully hiding the necklace bears it away.
A fête at the house of Bacchis is in progress in the third scene. A
crowd of guests, among whom are the poet, Philodène, Timon, a young man
about town; Chrysis, the pretty Myrto and the elegant Rhodis. Of the
seven mulatresses, slaves of Bacchis, who are in attendance, one, the
most beautiful, Corinna, is to be liberated by her mistress that evening,
greatly to the disgust of her fellow-slaves, who are beside themselves
with jealousy. Suddenly one of them discovers the theft of the mirror.
Interrupting the dancing and singing, she runs with the information to
her mistress, who accuses her of having taken the mirror herself.
Through jealousy, and also with the desire to defend herself, the slave
declares that the thief is Corinna, who, despite her protestations of
innocence, is carried into a nearby
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room and crucified, without further inquiry. The cries of the poor girl
are heard. Her pleadings for mercy move all the guests, except Chrysis,
who, wrapped in thought, hears nothing. “If he has committed the first
crime,” she reflects, on learning of the theft, “the others will
inevitably follow.” Filled with triumph, she leaves the fête to go in
search of Demetrios.
The fourth scene presents the studio of the sculptor, Demetrios. He
is alone and is thinking. Chrysis suddenly enters, radiant, certain of
victory. “I bring you Chrysis!” she cries, throwing herself into the
arms of Demetrios. She demands the gifts, and receives from the hands of
her lover the mirror, which had belonged to Sapho; the comb, which had
been used to arrange the hair of the beautiful Nitaoukrit, a queen of
Egypt; and the marvellous necklace ‘of pearls which had adorned the
statue of Aphrodite. She is supremely happy. These wonderful playthings,
and Demetrios, the lover of Queen Berenice IV (the elder sister of
Cleopatra), the greatest artist in Egypt, are all hers! Suddenly, at the
end of a long love-scene between Demetrios and Chrysis, loud cries are
heard in the street:
“The wife of the High-priest has been murdered, and. the sacred
necklace of Aphrodite has been stolen!” Demetrios turns pale. He tears
himself from the restraining arms of Chrysis. The sculptor suddenly
hates her who has made him a criminal for her sake. But Chrysis would
detain him, and she kneels to him in supplication. He will not listen.
Then to obtain pardon she begs him to ask something of her in turn—to
impose any task upon her. She promises to obey him. “So be it, then,”
replies Demetrios. “You will
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swear?” “Yes, by Aphrodite,” responds Chrysis. “You are a Galilean, you
do not believe in Aphrodite. Swear by the God of Israel, by Jehovah!” It
is now Chrysis’ turn to become pale. The oath is a terrible one. However,
she takes it. Demetrios then says, coldly, “Restore the gifts to their
proper owners.” Chrysis is horrified. She is aware that this means death
to her, but she has sworn, and she will fulfil her oath.
In the fifth scene the unhappy girl is in the cell of Chrysis,
extended upon her couch, awaiting the end. As she had sworn to do she
has publicly restored the three gifts. Before the people of Alexandria,
on the terrace of a tower rising in the middle of the city, she has
shown herself, nude, in the full glory of her beauty, wearing the
necklace, and carrying the comb and the mirror. After a brief period of
utter surprise she was recognized by the people, who at first believed
her to be Aphrodite. She was seized by the guard, thrown into prison and
condemned to death. She is to drink hem lock. Chrysis is musing upon her
approaching death and praying that she may see Demetrios for the last
time. She is presently aroused by two voices, those of Rhodis and Myrto,
who approach the grating of the cell; but are warned away by the guard.
The jailer now enters and offers her the poison. She does not wish to
die yet. Falling upon her knees she begs the jailer to wait a little
while. Useless; the jailer must obey his peremptory orders, and he is
inflexible. She drinks from the cup of poison and her agonies begin. She
still hopes for the coming of Demetrios, but in vain. She can no longer
see, when, at the moment that the unfortunate
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fortunate Chrysis draws her last breath, Demetrios enters the cell.
The sacred grove of Hermanubis is shown in the sixth scene. At
night, in a flood of moonlight, two women are solemnly bearing a heavy
burden, walking silently through the wood. They are the two friends of
Chrysis, the joyous flute players, Rhodis and Myrto, who have come
mysteriously to bear away her body.
Last updated April 19, 2007