Le prophète (The Prophet) is a grand opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which was premiered in Paris on 16 April 1849. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, after passages from the Essay on the Manners and Spirit of Nations by Voltaire. The plot is based on the life of John of Leiden, Anabaptist leader and self-proclaimed "King of Münster" in the 16th century.
Composition
After the brilliant success of their grand opera Les Huguenots (1836), Meyerbeer and his librettist Scribe decided to collaborate again on a piece based on a historical religious conflict. Meyerbeer's great personal wealth and his duties as official court composer to King Frederick William IV of Prussia meant that there was no hurry to complete the opera; the composition and planning took more than a decade.
Performance history Le prophète was first performed by the Paris Opera at the Salle Le Peletier on 16 April 1849. The production featured costumes by Paul Lormier and sets by Charles-Antoine Cambon and Joseph Thierry (acts 1 and 4), Charles Séchan (acts 2 and 5), and Édouard Desplechin (act 3). It involved the first use ever on stage of Léon Foucault and Jules Duboscq's electric arc light (régulateur à arc électrique), imitating the effect of sunlight.
The creators of the three main roles were Jeanne-Anaïs Castellan as Berthe, Pauline Viardot as Fidès, and Gustave-Hippolyte Roger as Jean. A sensational success at its premiere, the second city to hear it was London, at Covent Garden on 24 July of the same year.Kobbé, Gustav, Harewood, Earl of. Kobbé's Complete Opera Book 'Le prophète'. Putnam, London and New York, 1954, pp. 700–706. It was given all over Germany in 1850, as well as in Vienna, Lisbon, Antwerp, New Orleans, Budapest, Brussels, Prague and Basel. Its tremendous success continued throughout the 19th and into the early 20th century. Contralto Marie Goetze was a celebrated interpreter of the role of Fides and performed the role at many theaters; among them the Metropolitan Opera (1890) and the Vienna State Opera (1891).
Like Meyerbeer's other operas, Le prophète lost favor in the early part of the twentieth century and it fell out of the operatic repertoire worldwide, except for very occasional revivals. The Metropolitan Opera revived the opera in 1918 as a vehicle for star tenor Enrico Caruso. Since the Second World War, notable productions have included: Zürich in 1962, Deutsche Opera Berlin in 1966 (both starring Sandra Warfield and James McCracken) and the Metropolitan Opera in 1977 with Marilyn Horne as Fidès, directed by John Dexter.Giacomo Meyerbeer: Le prophète. In: Kaminski, Piotr. Mille et Un Opéras. Fayard, 2003, p945-949. A production of the opera by Hans Neuenfels was performed at the Vienna State Opera in 1998 with Plácido Domingo and Agnes Baltsa in the leading roles. Beginning in 2015, new productions of Le prophète would appear in European opera houses.
Roles
+ RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 16 April 1849(Conductor: Narcisse Girard)Jean de LeydetenorGustave-Hippolyte RogerFidès, Jean's mothermezzo-sopranoPauline ViardotBerthe, Jean's bridesopranoJeanne-Anaïs CastellanJonas, an AnabaptisttenorLouis GuéymardMathisen, an Anabaptistbass or baritoneEuzetZacharie, an AnabaptistbassNicolas LevasseurOberthal, a feudal countbassHippolyte BremondNobles, citizens, Anabaptists, peasants, soldiers, prisoners, children
Synopsis Time: The religious wars of the 16th century Place: Dordrecht and Münster Precis: Jean de Leyde (based on the historical John of Leiden), whose beloved, Berthe, is coveted by Count Oberthal, ruler of Dordrecht, is persuaded by a trio of sinister Anabaptists to proclaim himself king in Münster.
Meyerbeer originally wrote a long overture for the opera which was cut during rehearsals, along with various other sections of the work, due to the excessive length of the opera itself. For over a century, the overture was thought to survive only in piano arrangements made at Meyerbeer's request by Charles-Valentin Alkan, but Meyerbeer's manuscript full score was rediscovered in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris in the early 1990s; the original parts were discovered in the archives of the Paris Opèra shortly thereafter and a newly edited edition was published in 2010.Noteworthy Musical Editions, Los Altos CA, edited by Mark Starr (2010)
Act 1
The countryside around Dordrecht in Holland. At the bottom flows the Meuse. On the right, Oberthal's castle with a drawbridge and turrets; on the left, the farms and mills connected with the castle.
It is morning. The peasants and millers leave to work, the wings of the mills begin to turn (Prelude and pastoral chorus: La brise est muette). Berthe, a young peasant girl, is very happy to be able to marry the man she loves (Aria: Mon cœur s'élance et palpite). She welcomes her future mother-in-law, Fidès, who blesses her and puts an engagement ring on her finger. Berthe explains to Fidès that she needs the Count's permission to marry Jean whom she has loved ever since he rescued her from the Meuse. Before leaving for Leiden, where Fidès runs an inn with her son, Berthe must obtain permission from Oberthal to leave the country and to marry. The two women head for the count's castle, but stop at the sight of three men dressed in black. These are three Anabaptists, Jonas, Matthisen and Zacharie, singing their chorale, Ad nos ad salutarem (to a tune created by Meyerbeer). The Anabaptists arouse the interest of the local peasants in their ideas of social revolution and urge them to revolt against their overlord. The peasants arm themselves with pitchforks and sticks and make for the castle, but all stop at the sight of the Count of Oberthal and his soldiers. Seeing Berthe, Oberthal asks the girl about the reasons for her presence. Berthe explains that she has loved Fidès' son Jean since he saved her from drowning and asks his permission to marry. Oberthal however recognizes one of the Anabaptists, Jonas, as a former steward and orders soldiers to beat the three men. Taken by Berthe's beauty, he refuses her request and arrests the two women. The people become angry, and with the returning Anabaptists, threaten the castle.
Act 2 The interior of the inn of Jean and Fidès in the suburbs of Leiden in Holland. At the back, a door with crosses overlooking the countryside. Doors to the right and left of the stage
The Anabaptists enter with merrymaking peasants and try to persuade Jean that he is their destined leader, claiming that he closely resembles the picture of King David in Münster Cathedral. Jean recounts to them a dream in which he was in a temple with people kneeling before him. Jean tells the three Anabaptists that he lives only for his love for Berthe and refuses to join with them (Aria: Pour ma Berthe, moi je soupire); they leave. Berthe hurries in, having fled Oberthal; the Count next arrives and threatens to execute Jean's mother Fidès unless Berthe is returned to him. In despair, Jean gives in and hands over Berthe to Oberthal. Fidès blesses her son and attempts to console him (Aria: Ah! mon fils sois béni). When the Anabaptists return, Jean is ready to join them in vengeance against Oberthal; he goes, without letting Fidès know (Quartet: Oui, c'est Dieu qui t'appelle).
Act 3 Scene 1 The camp of the Anabaptists in a forest of Westphalia. A frozen pond extends to the horizon lost in the mist and is bordered to the left and right of the scene by the forest. On the banks of the pond are erected the tents of the Anabaptists
Jean has been proclaimed to be a prophet. Anabaptist soldiers bring in a group of prisoners made up of richly clothed nobles and monks, whom they are threatening with axes. All the captives were going to be massacred, but Mathisen intervened and reminded the other Anabaptists that it would be better to execute them only once their ransom had been demanded and paid. Farmers arrive, skating across the frozen pond, bringing food which has been paid for with money stolen from the captives. The farmers are invited by the Anabaptist soldiers to celebrate with them (Ballet and chorus).
Scene 2 The interior of the tent of Zacharie, a few moments later
The Anabaptists determine to seize Münster; their decision is overheard by Oberthal who has entered the camp in disguise. He pretends that he wants to join the Anabaptists and Zacharie and Jonas then make him swear to respect the peasants and the poor, but to mercilessly massacre the nobles and the burghers, after having stripped them of their wealth (Comic trio: Sous votre bannière que faudra-t-il faire?). On his detection, he is arrested; but, when he informs Jean that Berthe escaped from his clutches and he has seen her alive in Münster, Jean, wearying of the violence and bloodshed caused by the Anabaptist campaign, cancels the order for his execution.
Scene 3 The Anabaptists' camp
An attack on Münster led by the three Anabaptists fails, and the returning rabble are rebellious. However, Jean, as Prophet and Leader, inspires the Anabaptist troops with a celestial vision of their impending success (Triumphal hymn: Roi du ciel et des anges).
Act 4 Scene 1
The town hall of Münster, where several streets end. To the right, a few steps leading to the door of the town hall
Jean, who wishes to make himself Emperor, has taken the city, whose citizens are in despair at his rule. Fidès sits on a pillar and begs for alms to pay for a Mass for the rest of her son, whom she thinks dead. Berthe, dressed in pilgrim's clothes, arrives in the square. She recognizes Fidès and the two women fall into each other's arms. Berthe relates that after she managed to escape from the Count of Oberthal, she sought Jean and her mother in their inn in Leiden. Neighbors told her they would have gone to Münster. Berthe immediately set out to try to find them. Fidès then tells the girl that her son died: she found only his bloodied clothes while an unknown person claimed to have witnessed his assassination ordered by the prophet of the Anabaptists. Berthe then decides to assassinate the prophet, while Fidès prays God to bring her son eternal rest. Exalted, the girl runs to the palace of the prophet while Fidès tries in vain to catch up (Duet: Pour garder à ton fils le serment).
Scene 2 Inside Münster Cathedral
The second scene is Jean's coronation in the cathedral and is preceded by a Coronation March, during which the crown, the scepter, the sword of justice, and the seal of the State, are handed over to Jean. Fidès is determined to carry out Berthe's plan for revenge; entering the cathedral, she curses the Anabaptists' prophet (Prayer and imprecation: Domine salvum fac regem). The coronation ends while the crowd marvels at the miracles already accomplished by the prophet and acclaim him as the Son of God, not conceived by woman (Children's chorus with general chorus: Le voilà, le roi prophète). When Fidès hears Jean say that he is anointed by God, she recognizes his voice and cries out "My son!". This threatens Jean's plan and he pretends not to know her. He calls on his followers to stab him if the beggar woman claims again to be his mother. This forces Fidès to retract, saying her eyes have deceived her.
Act 5
Scene 1 A vault in Jean's palace in Münster: on the left, a staircase through which one descends into the vault. To the right, an iron gate opening onto a tunnel that leads out of the city