Gustave III (opera)
Encyclopedia
Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué (Gustavus III, or The Masked Ball) is an opéra historique or grand opera
in five acts by Daniel Auber
, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe
.
on 27 February 1833. The opera was a major success for the composer, with 168 performances until 1853.
Ellen Creathorne Clayton has translated French critic Jules Janin
's description of the last act, which was often presented separately from the opera, as follows:
The major aspects of the plot can be found first in Giuseppe Verdi
's planned opera, Gustavo III
, which was never performed as written, but whose major elements were incorporated into a revised version of the story in the opea which became Un ballo in maschera
.
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
in five acts by Daniel Auber
Daniel Auber
Daniel François Esprit Auber was a French composer.-Biography:The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments...
, with a libretto by Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
.
Performance history
It received its first performance at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris OpéraParis Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
on 27 February 1833. The opera was a major success for the composer, with 168 performances until 1853.
Ellen Creathorne Clayton has translated French critic Jules Janin
Jules Janin
Jules Gabriel Janin was a French writer and critic.-Biography:Born in Saint-Étienne , Janin's father was a lawyer, and he was educated first at St. Étienne, and then at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris...
's description of the last act, which was often presented separately from the opera, as follows:
"I believe," says Jules Janin, "that never, even at the Opéra, was seen a spectacle more grand, more rich, more curious, more magnificent, that the fifth act of Gustave. It is a fairlyland of beautiful women, of guaze, of velvet, of grotesqueness, of elegance, of good taste and of bad taste, of details, of learned researches, of esprit, of madness and of whimsicality — of every thing in a word, which is suggestive of the eighteenth century. When the beautiful curtain is raised, you find yourself in an immense ballroom." The stage of the Grand Opéra, the largest in Paris, is admirably adapted for masked balls, and the side-scenes being removed, the stage was surrounded a salon, the decorations of which corresponded with those of the boxes. "This salle de bal is overlooked by boxes, these boxes are filled with masks, who play the part of spectrators. At their feet, constantly moving, is the circling crowd, disguised in every imaginable costume, and dominoes of every conceivable hue. Harlequins of all fashions, clowns, peddlers, what shall I say? One presents the appearance of a tub, another of a guitar; his neighbor is disguised en botte d'asperges; that one is a mirror, this a fish; there is a bird, here is a time-piece — you can hardly imagine the infinite confusion. Peasants, marquises, princes, monks, I know not what, mingle in one rainbow-hued crowd. It is impossible to describe this endless madness, this whirl, this bizarrerie, on which the rays of two thousand wax tapers, in their crustal lustres, pour an inundation of mellow light. I, who am so well accustomed to spectacles like this — I, who am, unfortunately, not easily disposed to be surprised — I am yet dazzled with this radiant scene."
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 27 February 1833 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Gustave, King of Sweden | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit Adolphe Nourrit was a French operatic tenor, librettist, and composer. One of the most esteemed opera singers of the 1820s and 1830s, he was particularly associated with the works of Gioachino Rossini.... |
| Anckarstrom | bass | Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur |
| Amélie, wife of Anckarstrom, in love with Gustave | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Cornélie Falcon |
| Arvedson, a fortune-teller | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Louise-Zulmé Dabadie-Leroux |
| Oscar | soprano | Julie Dorus-Gras Julie Dorus-Gras Julie Dorus-Gras was a Belgian operatic soprano.-Early life and training:She was born Julie-Aimée-Josèphe Van Steenkiste, the daughter of an ex-soldier who was the leader of the theatre orchestra in her native city Valenciennes... |
| Armfelt | bass | Ferdinand Prévost |
| Christian | tenor | Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol was a French operatic tenor and later baritone who sang in the world premieres of many French operas.... |
| Dehorn | bass | Henri-Bernard Dabadie Henri-Bernard Dabadie Henri-Bernard Dabadie was a French baritone, particularly associated with Rossini and Auber roles.- Life and career :... |
| Kaulbart | bass | Pierre François Wartel |
| Ribbing | tenor | Alexis Dupont |
Synopsis
The opera concerns some aspects of the real-life assassination of Gustavus III, King of Sweden, in 1792.The major aspects of the plot can be found first in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's planned opera, Gustavo III
Gustavo III (Verdi)
Gustavo III is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi to a libretto begun in early 1857 by the Italian playwright Antonio Somma. Never performed during Verdi's lifetime, the opera was later revised and renamed Un ballo in maschera...
, which was never performed as written, but whose major elements were incorporated into a revised version of the story in the opea which became Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
.
Recordings
- Gustave III: Laurence Dale, Rima Tawil, Christian Treguier, French Lyrique Orchestra; Intermezzo Vocal Ensemble, conducted by Michel Swierczewski (Arion, 1993)
- The overture and ballet music from Gustave III appears at the end of the second disc of Richard Bonynge's recording of Auber's Le domino noirLe domino noirLe domino noir is an opéra comique by the French composer Daniel Auber, first performed on 2 December 1837 by the Opéra-Comique at the Salle de la Bourse in Paris. The libretto to the three-act piece is by Auber's usual collaborator, Eugène Scribe. It was one of Auber's most successful works,...
.