St Petersburg, Concert Hall

Berlioz. Stravinsky


Opening of the XVIII Music Festival Stars of the White Nights

With the participation of Elena Zhidkova (mezzo-soprano), Gérard Depardieu

Hector Berlioz. Nuits d’été
Vocal symphony cycle for mezzo-soprano and orchestra.
Performed by Elena Zhidkova (mezzo-soprano)

Igor Stravinsky. Oedipus Rex
Opera-oratorio in two acts
Performed in concert
The Narrator – Gérard Depardieu

Mariinsky Theatre Chorus and Symphony Orchestra
Principal Chorus Master: Andrei Petrenko

Hector Berlioz (1803–1868) periodically returned to the vocal cycle Nuits d’été over the course of twenty years. The first – unpublished – version of the cycle dates from 1834 and is dedicated to the composer’s acquaintance Louise Bertin (what the relationship was between her and Berlioz was not even mentioned in his autobiography Memoirs), but in the second version of 1841 the composer dedicated Nuits d’été to other people. Ultimately, in 1856 Berlioz returned yet again to this cycle of romances to create an orchestral version of the piano part; in so doing, the great French musical revolutionary of his age once again opened up a hitherto unexplored field in art: before Berlioz, vocal cycles with orchestral accompaniment had never been written. Fate decreed that it was the version with orchestral accompaniment that the cycle won renown and became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the Western European lyrical chamber and vocal repertoire.

To create Nuits d’été Berlioz turned to his friend for his source material – the French romantic poet Théophile Gautier’s anthology Comédie de la mort – and he arranged six of these poems to music: Villanelle, Le Spectre de la rose, Sur les lagunes, Absence, Au cimetière and L’Île inconnue. The general title of the cycle – Nuits d’été – does not feature with Gautier; it was conceived by Berlioz himself, in part to pay a tribute of respect to one of the great heroes of his entire life, his beloved Shakespeare (making the audience think of the comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Like most artists of the romantic movement, found it hard to separate the content of his works from his own personal human experiences; and so the composer’s inner world, full of emotional extremes and his irrepressible and feverous temperament with its truly confessional fullness and sincerity are to be seen in many of his works (the most famous being the Symphonie fantastique). The most interesting point when working on the cycle Nuits d’été came at the turn of the 1830s-40s – a time of disappointment for Berlioz regarding the greatest passion in his life – the English actress Harriet Smithson. The mood of despair and interminability, also linked to Berlioz professional failures in this difficult period of his stormy life, could not but be reflected in the romances of the cycle. The sequence of the light and pastorale sketches, filled with a truly French love of the beauty of nature (and it is precisely this kind of sequence that we should expect from the cycle after the first romance – Villanelle, Italian for “village”), appears in the form of a dramatically integral and psychological effusion where the tragic monologue Sur les lagunes (which has the subtitle Lamento) is followed by a pathos-filled “break-through” of declamation – the romance Absence. The fifth part of the cycle – Au cimetière – surprises us because of the story of loneliness at the grave of a loved one in the light key of D Major (which, apropos, is intense in expressive harmony colours in minor key). Finally, the last romance, L’Île inconnue, replaces the typical romantic transition from gloomy and cruel actuality to the desired ideal, a transition that may be achieved only in the hero’s imagination.

Marina Iovleva

 
Oedipus Rex

 

Cast
Oedipus: Sergei Semishkur
Creon: Mikhail Petrenko
Jocasta: Nadezhda Serdyuk
Tiresias: Mikhail Petrenko

Synopsis of the opera

Prologue
The narrator enters and addresses the auditorium: “Spectators! You will now hear Oedipus Rex in Latin. To free your ears and your minds from any excess burden, the more so as the opera-oratorio contains only the most important scenes, I will help you to recall Sophocles’ tragedy gradually.
This is how the story unfolds: the people of Thebes are in disarray. The Sphinx has sent a plague down on the city. The chorus begs Oedipus to save the city. Oedipus, the sphinx’s conqueror, promises he will save the people from a new disaster. But he does not realise that he is ruled by forces that are normally only met with in the afterlife. These forces have been preparing a trap for him since his very birth – you will see how it snaps shut.”

Act I
Creonte, Oedipus’ brother-in-law, has returned from the oracle to which he had been sent by Oedipus to seek counsel. The oracle demands that the murder of King Laius be avenged, and then the plague will leave the city. The murderer is hidden in Thebes, and must be found whatever the price. Oedipus is proud of his ability to solve riddles. He discovers the murderer and drives his from Thebes. Oedipus ask the prophet to help and begs him to speak the truth. Teiresias avoids giving a reply. He understands that Oedipus is a toy in the hands of the merciless gods. Teiresias’ silence annoys Oedipus. He accuses Creonte of a desire to seize the throne and Teiresias of conspiracy. Enraged at such an unjust slander, the prophet makes his choice and speaks. Thus comes the discovery: the King has committed regicide.

Act II
Jocasta appears. She becomes embroiled in the conflict and shames the men for arguing when disaster has struck the city. She does not believe the oracles: oracles lie. For example, it was said that Laius would die at the hand of his own son, while in fact Laius was killed by robbers where three roads met.
A crossroads! A banality! Take heed of this word. It terrifies Oedipus. He remembers that on the road from Corinth, before he met the Sphinx, he killed an old man where three roads met. And if that were Laius? What comes now? Oedipus mustn’t remain here, yet neither can he return to Corinth as the oracle never predicted that he would kill his father and become the husband of his own mother. Oedipus is gripped by terror.
At last a witness to the murder appears – a shepherd. The Messenger informs Oedipus of the death of Polybius, whom Oedipus had considered to be his father, but now it transpires that Polybius was not Oedipus’ natural father.
Jocasta understands everything. She tries to draw Oedipus away, dissuading him from digging deeper into the mystery, but in vain. She herself then flees herself.
Oedipus thinks that she is ashamed of being the wife of a humble impostor. And this is Oedipus, always proud of his ability to solve all riddles! He is in a trap, and only he fails to see this. Suddenly a dreadful conjecture strikes him mind. He is falling. He is falling from a great height.
A disturbing monologue begins: “I saw the dead face of the divine Jocasta,” in which the Messenger tells of how the Queen has hanged herself and Oedipus blinded himself with a golden buckle. His words are taken up by the chorus.
The King has fallen into the trap. May everyone, everyone, see this lowly animal, this half-breed, this madman! He is driven away. He is driven away with unusual pity, with compassion. Farewell, farewell, poor Oedipus! Farewell, Oedipus, you were loved here.

 

As part of the Year of Russia and France 2010   As part of the Year of Russia and France 2010
Age category 6+

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