''Le Marchand de Venise'' (''The Merchant of Venice'') is a French

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in three acts by

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn de Echenagucia (9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born ...

. The libretto was by Miguel Zamacoïs, after

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's '' The Merchant of Venice''. Hahn first started working on the opera during the First World War, imagining it as a 'Mozartian' work, with the role of Portia written specifically with the soprano

Mary Garden Mary Garden (20 February 1874 – 3 January 1967) was a Scottish-American operatic lyric soprano, then mezzo-soprano, with a substantial career in France and America in the first third of the 20th century. She spent the latter part of her chil ...

in mind. The opera was first performed at the Paris Opéra, on 25 March 1935. It was revived at the Opéra on 18 November 1949 and again on 19 February 1950, and in 1979 at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

under Manuel Rosenthal. The United States premiere was by the Portland Opera on 4 November 1996 under French conductor Marc Trautmann. In May 2017 the opera received its German premiere at the Theater Bielefeld in a production by Klaus Hemmerle conducted by Pawel Poplawski.Rye, Matthew. Report from Bielefeld. ''

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'', September 2017, Vol.68 No.9, p1159-60.

Principal roles

Synopsis

The story follows Shakespeare's play, ''The Merchant of Venice'', but with some transpositions of the text. The comic figures of Lancelot Gobbo and Old Gobbo are absent.

Recordings

Some of the original role creators have left recordings of arias: (''Hahn: Recordings 1908-35'' with Martial Singher, Andre Pernet, Fanny Heldy, on Pearl CD 1165392).

References

* *O'Connor, Patrick (1992), 'Marchand de Venise, Le' in ''The

New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London)

External links

Classical Iconoclast page on the opera, accessed 28 March 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchand de Venise, Le Operas by Reynaldo Hahn French-language operas 1935 operas Operas Operas based on The Merchant of Venice Operas set in Venice Opera world premieres at the Paris Opera