Opera Daily š¶ ā September 2, 2020
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Today weāre listening toā¦
āDepuis le jour,ā a soprano aria from Act III of the French opera Louise by Gustave Charpentier. RenĆ©e Fleming is singing here, and she gives us an almost dream-like interpretation of this piece. Itās lush, intense, and beautiful.
š§ Listen here (6 minute listen):
YouTube / Apple Music / Amazon Music / Spotify
Opera is filled with one-hit wonders. The rest of Louise is not nearly as good as this aria, but this piece is a staple in almost every sopranoās repertoire.
The story is simple. The title character, Louise, is the daughter of a working-class family. She's in love with Julien ā a poet, and against her family's wishes, the two run away together. Act III opens with Louise singing āDepuis le jourā (āSince the dayā). In this aria, Louise (soprano) describes how her life has changed since coming to live with Julien (tenor) and how her life grows better every day when she is with him.
What a beautiful life!
My dream wasnāt a dream! Oh! Iām so happy!
Love is spreading its wings over me!
In the garden of my heart sings a new joy!Everything is vibrant; everything rejoices at my triumph!
All around me, everything is smiling light and joy!
And Iām trembling delightfully from the charming memory
of the first day of love!What a beautiful life!
Oh! Iām so happyā¦utterly happy!
And Iām trembling delightfullyfrom the charming memory of the first day of love!
Conversation starters
Louise premiered in Paris at the OpĆ©ra-Comique on February 2, 1900. In addition to being the composer, Charpentier also wrote the libretto for Louise. Charpentierās next (semi) success was the opera Julien in 1913, essentially a sequel to Louise.
While Louise is an opera, Charpentier liked to call it a āmusical romance.ā When asked why, he said: āBecause in a romance there are two entirely distinct sides, the drama, and the description, and in my Louise, I wish to treat these different sides. I have a descriptive part, composed of decoration, scenic surroundings, and a musical atmosphere in which my characters move; then I have the purely dramatic part, devoted wholly to the action. This is, therefore, a truly musical romance.ā
Thank you for listening,
Michele
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Gustave Charpentier could not have foreseen that Louise's aria would be celebrated in an otherwise forgettable "musical romance". If this is a one-hit wonder, it has survived well the test of time. Fleming has given it sheen for us 21st century listeners. Brava!
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NY City Opera revived LOUISE with Carol Neblett, based on the original production with Norman Treigle as their Father. Neblett was very good with Kenneth Riegel and Joseph Roleau. LOUISE seems like a lesser French BOHEME. There is a spellbinding photo of Treigle as the Father in THE WORLD OF OPERA from 1968.
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