Bob’s
World of
J. Massenet

Reviews — The New York Times

From the New York Times - December 5, 1881

FRENCH OPERATIC REVOLT
WHY MASSENET’S “HERODIADE”
WAS PRODUCED AT BRUSSELS.
DIRECTOR VAUCORBEIL’S HOSTILITY TO THE
NEW SCHOOL AND THE MOVEMENT
AGAINST HIM-MASSENET FOLLOWING
THE EXAMPLE OF REYER-HOW HE HAS
TREATED THE BIBLE STORY AND USED
A WORK BY FLAUBERT.

     Brussels, Dec 5. The musical world of Europe has been in a strange state of excitement for some time past over the announcement that the “Herodiade” of Massenet had been accepted by the director of La Monnaie, the opera royal of Brussels. The fact was confirmed by Massenet himself, and immediately the great event became the topic of conversation upon the boulevards and during the entr’actes of the first representations, when the critics meet in the coulisses to compare notes or to study the impressions of the leading artists. Hot discussions, in which M. Vaucorbeil was not spared, were heard on every side. In order to explain the immense interest caused by the announcement of the “Herodiade” it is necessary to give at least a rapid sketch of the latter days of the Paris opera. Naturally, the appointment of M. Vaucorbeil as Director gave rise to a great deal of discontent. I am not sure that the appointment of any other man would have given any more satisfaction, for the place is a very important one in France, and candidates innumerable present themselves on every occasion. The nomination is, I may say, purely political, for there is no difficulty in finding the million or two of francs required for the exploitation. There is more difficulty in obtaining a part at any price. When M. Hallanzier retired with a fortune variously estimated - in short, with a fortune - M. Vaucorbeil was appointed, and he came forward with the necessary funds subscribed in advance. The partisans of the young school, comprising such authors as Massenet, Reyer, Salvayre, and Coedes, were thrown into a state of consternation. Their partisans cried from the housetops that there was nothing left for the young authors of France but expatriation, and the only countries remaining to them were America, England, Belgium, and Russia. Their works were presented to the new Director of the Opera, who shuffled them off with the excuse that the moment was not propitious, that he had not the means required for mounting new works, and the young authors of France immediately sought a market elsewhere. Reyer was the first to arrive at La Monnaie, and was received with open arms by M. Salabresi. Massenet followed.
     M. Vaucorbeil is an author of the old school, according to his enemies, or of the classical school, as his friends term it. I do not clearly understand the distinction, for the “statue” of Reyer is as classical as the “Caravane de Caire” of Gretry, and Massenet does not pretend like Wagner, to be the founder of a new school. Vaucorbeil is the author of an opera entitled “La Mort de Diane,” with which, I venture to say, the American public is as little acquainted as with the “Devin du Village” of Jean Jacques Rousseau. He was for many years in the Ministères des Beaux Arts, charged with one of the musical bureaus. He was, therefore, thoroughly acquainted with the working of the operatic machinery in France. When he accepted the position, with the large and liberal subvention given by the Government, inheriting also, the material and the complete list of subscribers from his predecessor, who had retired with a fortune, he knew very well what he had to do. Article 9 of his contract obliges him to mount two pieces per annum. If he had fulfilled this contract during the two years and a half that he has had the opera he could have given the public the works of Reyer, Saint-Saëns, Massenet, Benjamin Godard, and Salvayre. Against his non possumus the friends of these young authors place the record of his predecessors. During his four years M. V‚ron brought out 61 new acts; M. Duponchet 60 in five years; M. Pillet 81 in seven years; M. Roqueplan 83 during the same lapse of time. In addition to the two new operas per annum, the Director is required to give 12 popular representations each year for the benefit of the tax-payers who have not the means of paying for their places at the opera; for it was necessary to justify, in a way, the donation of 800,000f. which the State annually makes to the Director of the Opera. M. Vaucorbeil has not carried out either of these clauses in his contract. These delinquencies might have been passed over if M. Vaucorbeil had given the younger French authors something like a fair chance, but since they are obliged to take their works abroad, they and their partisans naturally criticize sharply, oftentimes, perhaps, in a partisan spirit which renders injustice more than possible. They accuse him of being an envieux raté - a musical failure so envious of the success of others that he shuts the doors of the opera upon them for fear that they may give to the public something better than “La Mort de Diane” or “Intimités,” a collection of his own chef d’oeuvres up to the present writing unknown to fame.
     I do not pretend to enter into the merits of this quarrel, my object being to explain why Reyer was obliged to bring his “Statue” to Belgium, and why Massenet brings out his “Herodiade” at La Monnaie on the 20th of the present month. On his side M. Vaucorbeil may say that the works of these young French authors are not equal to the works of Meyerbeer, Mozart, and Rossini that he is in the habit of giving to the public. Alexandre Dumas and Sardou may not be equal to Shakespeare and Molière, yet their works are given from year to year at the Com‚die Française.
     The “Statue” of Reyer has been performed during the present season at La Monnaie with gratifying success. On the 20th we are promised the “Herodiade.” M. Antonin Proust, Minister des Beaux Arts, is coming, and all the leading musical critics of Paris have engaged their seats. It is necessary to make a voyage of five hours by rail to reach the Belgian capital, and this alone would prevent the presence of musicians, critics, and amateurs were it not for this quarrel with the director of the opera. In case “Herodiade” proves a success, and friendly hands will write the majority of the articles about it, M. Vaucorbeil will be severely censured for allowing the work to leave France. Furthermore, he will be called upon to carry out his contract in a proper spirit or give up his charge. Again, let me say that I do not take part for or against him. He may have a satisfactory reply to all of these allegations, but the quarrel bids fair to be a hot one for some time to come, and it is well to understand what it is all about.
     The journals of Brussels are beginning to speak of the great artistic event of the 20th, and one of them proposes to write the record of the first representation in letter of gold upon a separate page of the history of the first lyrical scene of Belgium. This is the rather lyrical opinion of a journalist who is sure of his seat, but on all sides I hear mutterings which forebode a storm. In fact, there is some reason for growling. The annual subscribers to La Monnaie are not allowed their loges or fauteuils for first representations. They are obliged to pay like non-subscribers, and in this case they would willingly pay twice over, but there are no seats to be had. The lists were made out in Paris, and the Ambassador of a great European power told me last night, during the performance of the “Huguenots,” that he had not been able to obtain the promise of a loge in the second tier. The people of Brussels, therefore, will be crowded out of their own theatre by the numerous musical critics and friends of “the young schools,” (comprising the enemies of Vaucorbeil,) who are coming on from Paris.
     And what is the “Herodiade?” The libretto is drawn from a book by Gustave Flaubert, the author of “Madame Bovary,” but a book which is little known to the public. In it the historian of “Salammbo” has united, under this title of “Trois Contes,” three of his incomparable pen-pictures; “Un Coeur Simple,” “La Legende de Saint Julien l’Hospitalier,” and “Herodias.” The latter title fixes sufficiently well the epoch, the characters, and the scene. We have St. Jean in a large hole covered with an iron grating, crying out his anathemas to Herod and Jezebel to all passers; Herod with his pleasures and his fêtes, and the Roman pro-consul Vitellius, with his troops and cortège of lictors. The end is in the peculiar style of Flaubert. St. Jean has been decapitated, and his head is brought in upon a charger, and presented to Herod in the midst of a feast. And when the lights are put out and the guests gone, Phanuel and two disciples of the prophet come in. “And all the three having taken the head of Jean, go away in the direction of Galilee. As it was very heavy they carried it alternately.” In this curious way ends the “Herodias” of Flaubert, but naturally the musician, obliged to bring in the ballet, the chorus, and many stage accessories, has to treat the subject in a different manner. Nevertheless it was the “Herodias,” of Flaubert that inspired the “Herodiade” of Massenet.
     Herodiade, the heroine of the opera was the daughter of Aristobule and Berenice and granddaughter of Herod the Great. She married Herod Philippe, from whom she had a daughter, Salomé, but did not continue to live with this Prince. The brother of Philippe, Herode Antipas, tetrach of Galilee, who was imposed upon the Jews by the Romans, was struck by the marvelous beauty of his sister-in-law. He desired to have her in his power and enticed her to his palace. From that time the beautiful Herodiade became the companion of Antipas, who finally married her. The Jews were indignant at this marriage, and Jean Baptiste, son of the priest Zacharie and Elizabeth, the last and boldest of the prophets did not hesitate to reproach them publicly. He who is called in the Bible the “Forerunner,” and whom the authors call the “herald of the Messiah,” had retired into the desert, where for many years he had been preaching the coming of the Saviour. Herod arrested him and wanted to put him to death, but did not dare to do so, because Jean, called the prophet, was sustained by the people. But Herod hated him, and only waited for an opportunity to execute his ideas of vengeance. An occasion presented itself on his birthday, when Salomé danced before him, and when he offered to give her anything that she might desire. She demanded the head of Jean, which was given her and brought in on a plate. This is simply the Bible story, but it forms the basis of the piece. The action passed in Jerusalem, capital of Judea, about the year 30. On the left of the scene there is a vast door, the entrance to the palace; on the right a mass of trees - sycamores and cedars. Back of this is a terrace overlooking a stretch of country, with the Dead Sea, in the distance. A caravan, which has arrived during the night, is bivouacked under the trees. The first scene represents the chiefs standing ordering the slaves to take up their burdens to enter Jerusalem, the end of their wanderings across the desert. There is room here for fine scenic effect. There the bales of goods are opened, and the perfumes of ophir, amber of Judea, and stuffs from Tyre and Sidon are spread out for sale. A quarrel ensues with Phanuel, who reproaches them for their want of friendship. They reply in a splendid chorus that the world is large enough for all, and move toward the city. Salomé appears. She recounts to Phanuel her troubles with Herod, and declares that she is going to quit the palace and seek the prophet who was once so kind to her. She flies, and Herod enters in search of Salomé, whom he loves. Phanuel stops him to say that he has visited the entire country, finding the people everywhere submitting to the Romans, and even in the city, he says the people fear Herod but do not love him. Herod breaks out into angry menaces, threatening to martyrize them and to destroy their temples. Then appears Herodiade, pale and agitated, who has just been insulted by the prophet, crying out his anathemas against her. Jean enters vehemently, and gives his malediction to both, daring Herod to strike him down. The two go out terrified, and Salomé comes in to throw herself down at the feet of the prophet. And while she remains prostrate Jean recalls the sacred object of his life. He cannot love, for his heart and soul are given to the work he has to do on earth. He goes out pointing majestically to heaven.
     The second scene brings us to the Xyste, one of the public places of Jerusalem. On the right the palace of Herod, with a broad staircase covered with rich carpets. The crowd collects, and circulating among them one sees priests, Jews, and Pharisees. The chiefs of the caravan are there awaiting Herod, who presently appears accompanied by Phanuel. He makes an appeal to the people to rise against the Romans, but at the moment of revolt the trumpets of Vitellius are heard, and the proconsul of Tiberius enters, accompanied by torch-bearers, for night has come on slowly. The priests demand the temples of the people. Vitellius accords the demand, and the crowd breaks out in cries of joy. He is about to mount the steps of the palace when Jean appears with a number of women from Cana, who sing “Glory to him who comes in the name of the Lord.” Who is this man so triumphant, asks Vitellius, and Herod replies in an aside that it is a crazy fellow who dreams of power. Jean and his followers are arrested. The third scene shows the interior of the Temple of Solomon, and it will make a decided sensation, for the scenic effect is marvelous. Outside the people chant the praises of Herod and the Queen in the early morning. Salomé is alone in the temple, where she has passed the night, endeavoring to communicate with Jean, who has been chained in one of the vaults below. She is anxious to see him before his death. While she is praying Herod enters, moody and preoccupied. He reflects that all is over with him. Tiberius is the master and he is nothing but the chief of a tribe. But he dreams of vengeance, and says that he will save Jean, attach him to his person, and get him to use his eloquence to make the people rise against the Romans. Suddenly the King perceives Salomé, and his love for her is revived. He begs her to follow him to his palace, but the slave (for Salomé is a slave who has been all her life seeking for her parents) repulses him. She loves another, and can love no other. Herod menaces her. He swears that he will give her up to the executioner, with the unknown person whom she loves. He goes away with a threatening gesture. Then the people enter the temple and the sacred dances of the daughters of Manahim begin, and then the grand cantique of the Sulamite. Vitellius, accompanied by the Princes of the Temple, Herodiade, and Phanuel enter at the moment. The priests demand the condemnation of Jean. Vitellius replies that Jean is a Galilean, consequently it is not for him to pronounce judgement, and he leaves the matter to Herod. Jean is brought in by the guards. Herod approaches him and makes his propositions, which are indignantly refused, and Jean is being hustled out by the guards, when Salom‚ arrives and demands to die with the one she loves. Thus Herod learns the name of his rival, and he condemns Jean and Salom‚ to die the death of the impious. Jean braves his death in a magnificent phrase, and the curtain falls as he and Salom‚ are dragged out by the guards.
     We are nearing the end. The fourth scene shows us the feebly lighted cell in which Jean is awaiting death. He is resigned to his fate, but the souvenir of Salomé oppresses him. The austere prophet gives way to the man when Salomé appears and throws herself into his arms. During this scene Phanuel comes in with the guards and tells Jean that Herod is yet willing to save his life, if he will yield. Upon his refusal Salomé is taken to the palace, where she finds Herod in the midst of a feast, and throws herself at his feet to beg for the life of Jean. It is then that Herodiade recognizes in the converted slave the daughter that she had abandoned. At this moment the executioner comes in with his bloody sword to announce the death of Jean. Salomé utters a cry of horror, and drawing a dagger from her belt, rushes toward Herodiade, but is stopped by the latter, who cries, “I am your mother.” Salomé turns the dagger against herself and falls at the feet of Herodiade.
     As can readily be imagined, there is a great deal of scenic effect and dramatic power in this story. The music is fine. I have read two of the parts, (for the ensemble has not yet been distributed,) and find passages of wonderful beauty. But it is impossible to judge a work by the parts given to separate artists. It is a work of this kind, and Saturday night, for the first time, the orchestra had the whole in hand. There is another rehearsal to-night, and Massenet hopes to have the “Herodiade” ready for the appointed time. These details are due to the indiscretion of an artiste, and I should not be surprised to learn that Massenet had taken the rôle away from this person, for there is nothing more annoying to an author than such revelations. The press, however, takes advantage of such opportunities, and cannot be blamed for so doing.

Last updated December 29, 2006