Beschreibung:

DescriptionGiacomo Meyerbeer
Fine autograph letter signed (“Meyerbeer”), to Pauline Viardot about Le Prophète, with two musical examples, 11 July 1849
discussing the forthcoming production in London, where she will reprise the part of Fidès, mother of Jean of Leiden, informing her of an important cut to the opening section of the Trio in Act 5, so that the soldier’s recitative (warning that Jean has been betrayed and identifying him as the prophet) follows directly from their Grand Duo and leads into the stretto with Berthe’s dramatic outburst “O spectre épouvantable!”; he asks Viardot to explain the cut in the attached recitative to the conductor Sir Michele Costa, as it is not sufficiently clear in his manuscript, and quotes a passage in her final aria which was cut in Paris, reminding her to include it in London, expressing the hope that they will give her sufficient time to rehearse Le Prophète, as this did not happen when they staged Robert le diable, and reporting the impending closure of the Opéra in Paris for the summer, because of the expense of staging the revival of Donizetti’s Dom Sebastien. 
...Veuillez avoir l'extrême bonté de donner ce Récitatif à Monsieur Costa, & de lui expliquer la coupure, parceque je crains ne l’avoir peut être pas indiqué avec assez de clarté sur la partition ci-jointe...Veuillez à la reprise de la Cavatine de 5e acte, ne pas oublier de remettre les mesures suivantes qui sont coupées à Paris...
2 pages, 4to (c.27 x 18cm), [Paris], 11 July 1849
Pauline Viardot (1821-1910) was the greatest French operatic mezzo-soprano of the nineteenth century. Revered by leading composers, she was herself a composer and a good enough pianist to play with Chopin and make the piano arrangement of “The Royal Hunt and Storm” music (from Les Troyens) for Berlioz.  
Le Prophète was a sensational success at its premiere at the Paris Opera on 16 April 1849, with Viardot especially notable as Fidès, the devout but conflicted mother of Jean of Leiden. The dramatic character of Fidès prefigures Verdian mezzo soprano roles like Azucena, Eboli and Amneris. The second city to hear the opera was London, at Covent Garden on 24 July, with the same cast. The Trio that Meyerbeer cut in the last act is No.29 for the three protagonists Berthe, Fidès et Jean, the opening first section of the piece, “Ah! combien ma douleur". Condition reportCondition is described in the main body of the catalogue where appropriate
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