Get your own Free Home PageThe work was a tremendous success in Paris, where it was warmly received by public and press alike, although there was some criticism of the fact that there was no chorus. The opera quickly made the customary tour of the civilized world, being translated into German for a production in Berlin on 3 August 1836. Stagings in at least 20 other German language theatres in Germany, Austria and what is now the Czech Republic followed, while the original French version was given all over France, Belgium and even as far away as New Orleans, where it was first heard as early as 1837. It stayed in the repertory in that city for quite a few years, until the 1848-49 season, The company went on tour during the summer of 1843, visiting New York, Montreal and Philadelphia. L'éclair was given complete in New York, and at least excerpts were performed in Philadelphia. But it was not given in Montreal. Strangely, there is no record of an English version, nor is there any indication that it was ever given in Boston.
Musically, L'éclair is somewhat atypical of conventional opéras comiques. Probably the main reasons for this are that there are only four roles, two sopranos and two tenors--no chorus, no mezzo and no bass. However, the four roles are cleverly differentiated in that one couple (Harriet and Lionel) are serious and sentimental, but the other couple (Mme. Darbel and George) are lighthearted, gay, and even comical. The uncle who cures Lionel's blindness (a perfect excuse for a bass role) does not appear on stage. The opera is a succession of many attractive musical numbers: arias, duets, trios, and a quartet. With the exception of Lionel's aria in Act III: "Quand de la nuit", recorded by Jerry Hadley, they are virtually unknown, and yet to appear on disc. The other outstanding numbers cited by the French press at the time of the premiere include the opening duet for the two sisters, the entrance arias of George and Lionel, the first finale, and George's buffo aria in Act II. The storm scene and the love duet should also be mentioned.
After Halévy's double triumph in 1835, he became one of the leading figures of Parisian operatic life, continuing to be very active, and producing new operas at a much faster rate than Meyerbeer. Guido et Ginevra (Opéra, 1838) and Le guitarrero (Opéra comique, 1841) did fairly well, while La reine de Chypre 1841) was probably the most successful opera by a French born composer to be premiered between 1836 and 1852. It's plot is virtually identical to that of Donizetti's Caterina Cornaro, but was actually used for five different works between 1841 and 1846. Saint-Georges, one of the successful librettists of L'éclair had sold the same libretto to both Lachner and Halevy, and both their operas were to be premiered in December 1841, Lachner's in Munich on Dec. 3, and Halévy's in Paris on Dec. 22. But Donizetti was also working on his version, originally for Vienna, but switched to Naples when he learned that Lachner had beaten him to the punch in the Austrian capital. Later versions were by Balfe (in English) and Pacini, again in Italian. Fate works in strange ways, Halévy's setting was the most successful of the five in the 19th century, with 152 performances at the Opéra alone. Lachner's and Balfe's were also successful, but less so. Pacini's had only a limited number of stagings. On the other hand, Donizetti's attempt failed, with only two stagings in the 1840s followed by oblivion. Yet La reine de Chypre has not been heard since 1917, while Caterina Cornaro staged a comeback after the war, and was available at one time or another in four or more different recordings on CD.
When Spontini left Berlin in 1842, Meyerbeer, then already at work on Le prophète, left Paris to take over as Kappelmeister in the Prussian capital, leaving the field of grand opera open to Gaetano Donizetti and Jacques Fromental Halévy. Donizetti's stay in Paris was tragically too short lived. He actually alternated between that city and Vienna before returning to his birthplace, Bergamo, where he died in 1849.
The year 1843 was to see both Donizetti's Dom Sebastien and Halévy's Charles VI at the Opéra. The Halévy opera was by far the more successful of the two, running up a grand total of 61 performances at the Opéra over six seasons, but like La reine de Chypre has pretty completely disappeared not only from the repertory but even from the awareness of opera lovers. I had heard excerpts from both on 78 rpm records many years ago, was most impressed, and have always been fascinated at the prospect that they may some day be revived,as was Charles VI in Compiègne in March 2005. Both were created by essentially the same stellar singers who had been in the premiere casts of Donizetti's Les martyrs and La favorite: Duprez, Barroilhet, and both Dorus-Gras and Stoltz singing the leading roles. They survived into the 20th century; La reine de Chypre was revived in Paris (at the Gaitée Lyrique) in 1917 with the legendary John O'Sullivan as Gerard. Charles VI was given in Marseille as late as 1901, but never achieved the career it deserved in Paris, due probably to the political incorrectness of a piece that lauded French patriotism at the expense of the British at a time when the French government was trying to improve its relations with its northern neighbor. In cities such as New Orleans where no attempt had to be made to be nice to the British (one wonders if the opposite was the case), it actually lasted much longer, being in the repertory from the 1846-47 season to the 1873-74 season, being revived several times in 1880s and as late as the 1891-92 season.
A large number of additional works followed, the most successful of which were two in the light vein: Les Mousquetaires de la reine (1846) and Le val d'Andorre (1848). His second opera to an Italian text, La tempesta (London, 1850), after Shakespeare's The Tempest, should also be mentioned, especially since Luigi Lablache was the first Caliban. Halévy's's most important grand operas in his later years were undoubtedly Le Juif errant (Opéra, 1852), which had a respectable 49 performances during two seasons, and La magicienne (Opéra, 1858). The latter had a run of 42 performances during its' first season, and another three the second, but, like Le Juif errant, was never revived. His last major triumph was the opéra comique Jaguerita l'Indienne, (Théâtre Lyrique, 1855) which had a run of 124 performances over four seasons, and was given as far away as New Orleans. It was revived at the Opéra Comique in 1869, and at the Opéra Populaire in 1886.
In his final years, Halevy retired to Nice for reasons of health, dying in that city on March 17, 1862.
Considering the unexpected beauties of L'éclair, and the extent to which Halévy's other operas have been neglected by musicologists during the last 50 years, it would seem that these works should represent a gold mine for operatic archaeologists to explore and bring back to life. Among the grand operas, a truly note complete La juive is badly needed--the usual cuts, whether they be entire numbers or just internal cuts within numbers, ruin the majestic architecture of the opera, and make it impossible for us to judge it as it really is. But La reine de Chypre, once so popular, and so highly praised by Wagner, seems equally deserving of attention, as does Charles VI, a work robbed of its erstwhile success in France by political considerations. Among the lighter works, we do need a French version of L'éclair, while both Les mousquetaires de la reine and Le val d'Andorre deserve another look. Finally, with the current interest in operas dealing with conflicts, not between neighboring countries, but between cultures and civilizations, Jaguerita l'Indienne seems to be a natural. In it, a fascinatingly depicted American Indian queen in Guyana rescues a Dutch soldier she is in love with from her own warriors.
May the forthcoming recording of Charles VI be only the third of many Halévy works to be made available to the general public by means of CDs. And may Halévy's name have become a household world when the sesquicentennial of his death rolls around in 2012.
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