''Robert Bruce'' is an 1846

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in three acts, with music by

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

and

Louis Niedermeyer Abraham Louis Niedermeyer (27 April 180214 March 1861) was a Swiss and naturalized French composer. He chiefly wrote church music and a few operas. He also taught music and took over the École Choron, renamed École Niedermeyer de Paris, a scho ...

to a French-language libretto by

Alphonse Royer Alphonse Royer, (10 September 1803 – 11 April 1875) was a French author, dramatist and theatre manager, most remembered today for having written (with his regular collaborator, Gustave Vaëz) the librettos for Gaetano Donizetti's opera ''La f ...

and

Gustave Vaëz Jean-Nicolas-Gustave Van Nieuwen-Huysen (known as Gustave Vaëz) (6 December 1812 – 12 March 1862) was a Belgian playwright, librettist and translator of opera librettos. Born in Brussels, he studied law and earned a doctorate at the State Un ...

. The plot concerns the defeat of the forces of

Edward II of England Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

King of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the sovereign state, state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thoug ...

, and is adapted from

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

's ''History of Scotland''. The music was stitched together by Niedermeyer, with the composer's permission, with pieces from ''

La donna del lago ''La donna del lago'' (English: ''The Lady of the Lake'') is an opera composed by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola (whose verses are described as "limpid" by one critic) based on the French translationOsborne, Charles 19 ...

'', ''

Zelmira ''Zelmira'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. Based on the French play, ''Zelmire'' by de Belloy, it was the last of the composer's Neapolitan operas. Stendhal called its music Teutonic, compa ...

'', and other Rossini operas. The work was premiered on 30 December 1846, by the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

at the

Salle Le Peletier The Salle Le Peletier or Lepeletier (sometimes referred to as the Salle de la rue Le Peletier or the Opéra Le Peletier) was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and con ...

.Osborne 1986, p. 288. In his second edition (2007), Osborne gives the date of the premiere on p. 137 as 23 December and on p. 357 as 30 December. Weinstock 1968, p. 238, explains that the premiere was originally scheduled for 23 December, which is the date found in the printed libretto, but was postponed to 30 December because the lead mezzo-soprano,

Rosine Stoltz Rosine Stoltz (born Victoire or Victorine Noël) (13 January 1815 – 30 July 1903) was a French mezzo-soprano. A prominent member of the Paris Opéra, she created many leading roles there including Ascanio in Berlioz's '' Benvenuto Cellini'', Ma ...

, was ill. See also ''

Le Ménestrel ''Le Ménestrel'' (The Minstrel) was an influential French music journal published weekly from 1833 until 1940. It was founded by Joseph-Hippolyte l'Henry and originally printed by Poussièlgue. In 1840 it was acquired by the music publishers Heu ...

''
vol. 14, no, 4 (27 December 1846)
The audience may not have noticed, but the orchestra included for the first time a recently invented instrument, which later came to be known as the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Background

After

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

's arrival in Paris in 1843 for medical treatment, he was visited by

Léon Pillet Léon Pillet (6 December 1803 – 20 March 1868),Huebner 1992. was a 19th-century French journalist, civil servant, and director of the Paris Opera from 1840 to 1847. A political appointee, he was probably the least successful director of the Paris ...

, the Director of the Paris Opera. Pillet begged Rossini to compose a new work for the house. Rossini declined because of his poor health, but pointed out that his opera ''La donna del lago'' (1819), which he felt had never been performed adequately at the Théâtre Italien in Paris, would be "most suitable for the French stage, the one that more than the others, had need of your big choruses, your magnificent orchestra, your beautiful staging. … Now that you have osineStoltz at your disposal you would do well to profit by it." However, Pillet was reluctant to present a work which since 1824 in its Italian version was already well known to Parisian audiences. Rossini went back to his home in Bologna, where in June 1846 he was again visited by Pillet, who was accompanied by librettist

, and

. The result (which also involved Vaëz's regular collaborator

as co-librettist) was ''Robert Bruce'', an elaborate

pasticcio In music, a ''pasticcio'' or ''pastiche'' is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, o ...

, based on music not only from ''La donna del lago'' and ''Zelmira'', but also from ''

Bianca e Falliero ''Bianca e Falliero, ossia Il consiglio dei tre'' (English: ''Bianca and Falliero, or The Counsel of Three'') is a two-act operatic ''melodramma'' by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani. The libretto was based on Antoine- ...

'', ''

Torvaldo e Dorliska ''Torvaldo e Dorliska'' is an operatic dramma semiserio in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini, based on the novel/memoir ' (1787–1790) by the revolutionary Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvrai, whose work was th ...

'', ''

Armida Armida is the fictional character of a Saracen sorceress, created by the Italian late Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso. Description In Tasso's epic ''Jerusalem Delivered'' ( it, Gerusalemme liberata, link=no), Rinaldo is a fierce and determ ...

'', ''

Mosè in Egitto ''Mosè in Egitto'' (; "''Moses in Egypt''") is a three-act opera written by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, which was based on a 1760 play by Francesco Ringhieri, ''L'Osiride''. It premièred on 5 March 1818 at ...

'', and ''

Maometto II ''Maometto II'' (or ') is an 1820 opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Cesare della Valle. Set in the 1470s during a time of war between the Turks and Venetians, the work was commissioned by the Teatro di San Carlo i ...

''. Niedermeyer apparently wrote the necessary recitatives.

Premiere

Rosine Stoltz as Marie in Robert Bruce - Gallica (adjusted)

Rossini was clearly involved in the collaboration but did not attend the premiere in Paris.Osborne 1986, p. 98. The production included a ballet with the dancers

Lucien Petipa Lucien Petipa (December 22, 1815 – July 7, 1898) was a French ballet dancer in the early 19th century ( Romantic period), who was the brother of Marius Petipa, the famous ballet master of the Russian Imperial Ballet. He was born in Marseilles a ...

, Henri Desplaces,

Adèle Dumilâtre Adèle Alphonsine Dumilâtre (30 June 1821 – 4 May 1909 in Paris) was a French dancer, famous in the days of romantic ballet. After her marriage to Francisco Drake del Castillo she became a Countess. Biography The youngest daughter of Comédi ...

, and Maria Jacob, and choreography by

Joseph Mazilier Joseph Mazilier (1 March 1801 in Marseilles – 19 May 1868 in Paris) was a 19th-century French dancer, balletmaster and choreographer. He was born as ''Giulio Mazarini''. He was most noted for his ballets ''Paquita'' (1844) and '' Le Corsaire ...

. The décor was designed by Joseph Thierry (Act 1); Charles Cambon,

Jules Diéterle Jules Diéterle (8 February 1811 – 22 April 1889) was a 19th-century French architect, also a draftsman, painter, painter on porcelain, sculptor and theatre decorator. Biography Born in Paris, Diéterle, son of Jean Georges Diéterle,Fr ...

, and

Édouard Desplechin Édouard Desplechin His name is often spelt "Despléchin" » with an acute accent. (12 April 1802 – 10 December 1871), was a 19th-century French scenic designer, one of the most famous of his time. Biography He created numerous settings for ...

(Act 2); and René Philastre and Charles Cambon (Act 3). The costumes were designed by Paul Lormier.Wild 1987, p. 229. It was a moderate success, but the opera was the subject of much criticism from

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

, among others.

Roles

Recordings

References

Citations

Works cited

* Everist, Mark (2009). "Partners in Rhyme: Alphonse Royer, Gustave Vaëz, and Foreign Opera in Paris During the July Monarchy”, in ''Fashions and Legacies of Nineteenth-Century Italian Opera'', pp. 30–52 (ed.) Roberta Montemorra Marvin and Hilary Poriss. Cambridge University Press.
Preview
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. * Osborne, Richard (1986). ''Rossini''. London: Dent. . * Osborne, Richard (2007). ''Rossini: His Life and Works''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. * Tamvaco, Jean-Louis (2000). ''Les Cancans de l'Opéra. Chroniques de l'Académie Royale de Musique et du théâtre, à Paris sous les deux restorations'' (2 volumes, in French). Paris: CNRS Editions. . * Weinstock, Herbert (1968). ''Rossini: A Biography''. New York: Knopf. . Reprint (1987): New York: Limelight. . * Wild, Nicole (1987). ''Décors et costumes du XIX^e siècle. Tome I: Opéra de Paris''. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, Département de la Musique. .

External links

1847 French libretto
at

{{authority control Operas 1846 operas French-language operas Operas by Gioachino Rossini Operas by Louis Niedermeyer Operas set in Scotland Robert the Bruce