Halévy: La Reine de Chypré

Day 319

Halévy: La Reine de Chypré

Soloists

Flemish Radio Choir

Chamber Orchestra of Paris

Hervé Niquet

Halévy is one of the giants of 19th century French Grand Opera. He is most notably for La Juive, which was performed by the University opera group the year before I went up to university so I missed the opportunity to take part, but this opera was his second great contribution to the repertory.

It has a curious place in the footnotes of musical history in that Wagner was commissioned early in his life to prepare the vocal score of the opera. I followed this performance using that vocal score and there were plenty of places where the recording offered a significantly different text. The background to the complex textual history of the score is well set out in the booklet accompanying this recording - another example of the very high production values of these CD sets from Bru Zane which have brought so many important French operas back to life.

There was some tremendous music in this opera - particularly, as one would expect, in the big set piece ensembles, which had tremendous energy and excitement. But there is plenty of quieter, more contemplative music as well, and overall the opera has a really good balance of material.

As ever with French operas of this period you have to take the rough with the smooth. Like Meyerbeer Halévy is no master of transition.  There are some very abrupt gear changes which really grate. There is also a fair amount of rum-ti-tum music of no particular interest. And the end is rather underwhelming. The death of the villain is over in a few bars and the final air by the soprano is rather trivial. Interestingly the notes to the CD remind us that often the key attraction of the final scene was a coup de théâtre , where the scenery and costumes for the finale were the main attraction and would often be met with loud applause covering the music.  But this weakness in finales is something which is characteristic of 19th century French opera - it is something I have commented on before in these note.

So not an out-and-out masterpiece then, but at its best this is an opera of very high quality and dramatic force. I can't imagine it ever being revived on stage other than as a curiosity - the whole ethos of French Grand Opera is so far removed from our current view of what is effective in the theatre. I can't help thinking that this is our loss.