Uthal (opera)
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''Uthal'' is an ''
opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular ''opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Théâtre de la foire, Fair Theatres of St Germain and S ...
'' in one act by the French composer
Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 22 June 1763 – 18 October 1817) was a French composer of the late Classical period (music), classical and early Romantic period (music), romantic periods. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France ...
. The
libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
, by Jacques-Benjamin-Maximilien Bins de Saint-Victor is based on the
Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora (poem), Temora'' (1763), and later c ...
poems of
James Macpherson James Macpherson ( Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector, and politician. He is known for the Ossian cycle of epic poems, which he ...
. It was first performed 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 ...
in Paris on 17 May 1806. Méhul tried to give the work a dark "Scottish" atmosphere by eliminating the violins from the orchestra and replacing them with violas.


Roles


Synopsis

Uthal has seized the lands of his father-in-law Larmor, who sends the bard Ullin to get help from Fingal, chief of Morven. Malvina, Uthal's wife and Larmor's daughter, is divided between love for her husband and her father and seeks in vain to delay the war. Uthal is beaten in battle and sentenced to banishment. When Malvina offers to follow him into exile, Uthal confesses that he has been wrong and he and Larmor are reconciled.


The work

''Uthal'' was part of the European vogue for the Ossianic poems of Macpherson. Another notable example from the time is the opera ''
Ossian, ou Les bardes ''Ossian, ou Les bardes'' (English: ''Ossian, or The Bards'') is an opera in five acts by the French composer Jean-François Le Sueur. The libretto, by Alphonse François "Paul" Palat-Dercy and Jacques-Marie Deschamps, is based on the Ossian poem ...
'' (1804) by Méhul's rival
Jean-François Le Sueur Jean-François Le Sueur (more commonly Lesueur; ; 15 February 17606 October 1837) was a French composer, best known for his oratorios and operas. Life He was born at Plessiel, a hamlet of Drucat near Abbeville, to a long-established family of P ...
. In fact, critics accused Méhul's librettist Saint-Victor of copying ''Les bardes'', an allegation Saint-Victor rejected, claiming his work would have been ready in 1804 had it not been for a "host of obstacles". Méhul's orchestration in ''Uthal'' is strikingly experimental. In his ''Treatise on Orchestration'',
Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 â€“ 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...
, an admirer of the composer, wrote, "Méhul was so struck by the kinship between the sound of violas and the dreamy character of Ossianic poetry that in his opera ''Uthal'' he used them constantly, even to the complete exclusion of the violins. The result, according to the critics of the day, was an intolerable monotony which ruined the opera's chances of success. This is what prompted Grétry to exclaim: 'I'd give a
louis d'or The Louis d'or () is any number of French coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640. The name derives from the depiction of the portrait of King Louis on one side of the coin; the French royal coat of arms is on the reverse. The coin was r ...
for the sound of an E string!'" Part of this statement has been challenged. Edward Dent wrote, "It has been suggested that the opera would for this reason .e. the lack of violinsbe unbearably tedious, but, as Sir Donald Tovey has pointed out, ''Uthal'' is in one act only and quite short, so that its peculiar colouring would hardly have time to become oppressive." In fact, contemporary critics praised ''Uthal'', it was the public that was less enthusiastic and the opera was withdrawn after 15 performances. The overture depicting the heroine Malvina crying out for her lost father amid the storm has been compared to similar opening music in Grétry's ''
Aucassin et Nicolette ''Aucassin et Nicolette'' (12th or 13th century) is an anonymous medieval French fictional story. It is the unique example of a ''chantefable'', literally, a "sung story", a combination of prose and verse (similar to a ''prosimetrum''). History ...
'' and
Gluck Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...
's ''
Iphigénie en Tauride ''Iphigénie en Tauride'' (, ''Iphigenia in Tauris'') is a 1779 opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard. With ''Iphigénie,'' Gluck too ...
'' (both 1779).
Winton Dean Winton Basil Dean (18 March 1916 – 19 December 2013) was an English musicologist of the 20th century, most famous for his research on the life and works—in particular the operas and oratorios—of George Frideric Handel, as detailed in his bo ...
describes it as "athematic, at moments almost
atonal Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on ...
, and in no definable form."


Performance history

In modern times, a BBC studio recording of the opera was made on 21 October 1972 for broadcast on Radio 3 on 4 March 1973. Stanford Robinson conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra with John Wakefield in the role of Uthal and Laura Sarti as Malvina. On 30 May 2015 there was a concert performance at Versailles with
Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...
conducting
Les Talens Lyriques The French musical ensemble Les Talens Lyriques was created in 1991 in Paris, France, by the harpsichordist and orchestral conductor Christophe Rousset. This instrumental and vocal formation derives its name from the subtitle of '' Les fêtes d'H ...
and the Chœur de Chambre de Namur.
Yann Beuron Yann Beuron (born 1969) is a French operatic tenor. Biography Yann Beuron studied at the Conservatoire de Paris where he won first prize in singing and graduated in 1996. He made his debut in 1995 at the Opéra national du Rhin in 1995 in the rol ...
sang Uthal and
Karine Deshayes Karine Deshayes (; born 25 January 1973) is a French mezzo-soprano. She is noted for her interpretations of bel canto roles (principally Rossini and Bellini). Biography Deshayes was born in Rueil-Malmaison. She studied musicology at the Sorbo ...
Malvina.Château de Versailles website
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Recording

The Rousset performance was recorded and released as a CD by Ediciones Singulares in February 2017.


References


Sources

*Adélaïde de Place ''Étienne Nicolas Méhul'' (Bleu Nuit Éditeur, 2005) *Edward Joseph Dent ''The Rise of Romantic Opera'' (Cambridge University Press, 1979 edition) *Winton Dean, chapter on French opera in Gerald Abraham (ed.) ''The New Oxford History of Music Volume 8: The Age of Beethoven 1790-1830'' (Oxford University Press, 1988) *''The Viking Opera Guide'' ed. Holden (Viking, 1993) *Hugh Macdonald (ed, and translator) ''Berlioz's Orchestration Treatise: a Translation and Commentary'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002) *Ian Kemp (ed.) ''Berlioz: Les Troyens'' (Cambridge University Press, 1988)
Del Teatro (in Italian)
* {{Authority control Operas by Étienne Méhul 1806 operas Opéras comiques French-language operas One-act operas Operas Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique Ossian