Reyer: Salammbô

Day 364

Reyer: Salammbô

Soloists

Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra de Marseilles

Lawrence Foster

I've been doing some research on performances of French opera in the 1890s and Reyer  (1823-1909) is one of the names which keeps cropping up. His was most notable for Sigurd, his French version of the Nibelungen myths but this opera, based on the novel by Flaubert, was also a repertory piece. Up to the First World War his operas were part of the standard repertory, at least in France, and record collectors will know that most of the French singers who made recordings in the early years of the gramophone often recorded items by Reyer. But his work went out of fashion very quickly - even more so that Meyerbeer - and performances now are few and far between.

Salammbô is a late work (1890) which must be one of the last works in the true French Grand Opera style. It must have seemed very old fashioned even when it was first performed. It has all of the ingredients of the genre: big choruses, dramatic confrontations, ballet, spectacular scenery and lots of off stage effects. But on its own terms I thought that it was a very impressive piece. The drama really takes hold - particularly in the big duet in the third act, and there is very little of the rum-ti-tum 'painting by numbers' that one so often finds in these big French operas. It held my attention throughout its five acts.  It must have been a huge spectacle when it was first put on.

There is no modern recording of Sigurd but there are some unofficial off-air recordings. I certainly hope to add that to my list of operas to listen to next year.