Les Danaïdes

"Les Danaïdes" is an opera by Antonio Salieri, in 5 acts: more specifically, it is a "tragédie lyrique". The opera was set to a libretto by Leblanc du Roullet and Baron Tschudi, who in turn adapted the work of Ranieri de' Calzabigi (without permission). Calzabigi originally wrote the libretto of "Les Danaïdes" for Christoph Willibald Gluck, but the aged composer, who had just experienced a stroke, [http://www.oehmsclassics.de/cd.php?formatid=319&sprache=eng Oehms Classics CD (OC 909) description] ] was unable to meet the Opéra's schedule and so asked Salieri to take it over.Rough Guide to Opera, 4th ed., Boyden. ISBN 978-1-84353-538-6]

The plot of the opera is based on Greek tragedy and revolves around the deeds of the mythological characters Danaus and Hypermnestra.

Composition

Emperor Joseph II assured that Salieri wrote the music "almost under the dictée of Gluck," in a letter (dated 31 March 1783) to Count Mercy-Argenteau, the Austrian ambassador in Paris. Then Mercy told the directors of the Opéra that Gluck had composed the first two acts, and Salieri supplied the third act's music (Mercy did not realize the opera was in five acts). Even when the libretto was published, Gluck and Salieri shared billing as the composers. [http://www.library.unt.edu/MUSIC/virtual/Salieri_Danaides/background.html University of Texas's music library] ]

Though flattered, Gluck was not foolish enough to risk too close an association with Salieri's work and diplomatically informed the press: "The music of "Danaïdes" is completely by Salieri, my only part in it having been to make suggestions which he willingly accepted."Rough Guide to Opera, 4th ed., Boyden. ISBN 978-1-84353-538-6] Gluck, who had been devastated by the failure of his last Paris opera Echo et Narcisse, was concerned that "Les Danaïdes" would suffer a similar fate. He wrote to Roullet the same day that the opera premiered, crediting Salieri with the entire work, and the press noted this confession. [http://www.library.unt.edu/MUSIC/virtual/Salieri_Danaides/background.html University of Texas's music library] ] Salieri made a positive twist on Gluck’s statement, claiming that he was "led by [Gluck’s] wisdom and enlightened by his genius".Journal de Paris, 18 May 1784]

Performance history

The opera was first performed at the Paris Opéra on the 26th April 1784. [ [http://www.italianopera.org/libretti/l237844.htm ItalianOpera.org] ] Initially advertised (falsely) as being in part the work of Salieri's mentor Gluck, probably due to it being Gluck who received the initial commission for the work. [http://www.oehmsclassics.de/cd.php?formatid=319&sprache=eng Oehms Classics CD (OC 909) description] ] "Les Danaïdes" displays many Gluckist influences and at the time was a great success: it was staged at the Opéra over 120 times up to the 1820s, when a performance of it was seen by Berlioz. Its success was such that the Paris Opéra commissioned two more works from Salieri. [http://classyclassical.blogspot.com/2005/08/antonio-salieri-truth-or-fiction.html Classy Classical blog] ]

Roles

ynopsis

Act I

Danaus and his fifty daughters, the Danaïdes, vow loyalty to their enemy Aegyptus, Danaus's brother. Aegyptus dies and is succeeded by his eldest son, Lynceus (Lyncée). He and his brothers each agree to marry one of the Danaïdes; Danaus instructs his daughters to take revenge by killing their husbands.

Act II

Lynceus's wife Hypermnestra (Hypermnestre) is alone in refusing to obey her father's order, even after Danaus confronts her with the prophecy that he will be murdered himself if she fails to satisfy his lust for vengeance.

Act III

After the wedding ceremony, Hypermnestra manages to escape with Lynceus, just as his brothers are being killed.

Act IV

Danaus is enraged when news of Lynceus's escape reaches him, but he is distracted from his anger when Lynceus storms the city, killing all the Danaïdes except Hypermnestra and burning the palace to the ground.

Act V

The Danaïdes are sent to Hades where their father is seen chained to a rock, his entrails being torn from him by a vulture. The Furies promise an eternity of suffering.

Music

Salieri's use of trombones to delineate infernal moments in the drama has often been viewed of as a precedent for Mozart's similar orchestration in "Don Giovanni". Stylistically, Salieri combined the direct simplicity of Gluck's innovations with the concern for melody of Italian composers, though the frequent use of chorus owes much to French traditions, as did the munificent staging, which much impressed Berlioz.

Hypermnestra's soprano, which dominates the opera in a manner that anticipates the soprano-centered opera of Luigi Cherubini and Gaspare Spontini, is technically well written, but, typical of the opera as a whole, Salieri often seemed incapable of developing the basic material beyond the formulas inherited from Gluck. But the fine soprano role, the tremendously grim finale, and the brevity of "Les Danaïdes" (ten minutes under two hours) have ensured that the opera has made it onto CD.Rough Guide to Opera, 4th ed., Boyden. ISBN 978-1-84353-538-6]

Salieri was certainly aware of his role in continuing the Gluckian tradition of the "tragédie lyrique", with the attention to the relationship between text and music. The orchestral recitatives, choruses, and ballets also follow the model for French opera supplied by Gluck. Furthermore, the music itself is infused with the 'noble simplicity' that characterizes the older composer's reform operas. [http://www.library.unt.edu/MUSIC/virtual/Salieri_Danaides/background.html University of Texas's music library] ]

At the same time, "Les Danaïdes" marked a progression from number opera to the dramatically more consequent through-composed scenic opera. [http://www.oehmsclassics.de/cd.php?formatid=319&sprache=eng Oehms Classics CD (OC 909) description] ] A lyricism associated with Niccolò Piccinni and Antonio Sacchini, who also composed for Paris, can also be heard in "Les Danaïdes".

Discography

*Jean-Philippe LaFont, Maria Trabucco, Montserrat Caballé, Andrea Martin, Carlo Tuand, et al. Gianluigi Gelmetti cond., Rome RAI Orchestra. 2 CDs, ADD, recorded 1983, Dynamic, 26th July 2005
*Sophie Marin-Degor, Hans Christoph Begemann, Christoph Genz, Kirsten Blaise, Wolfgang Frisch, Sven Jüttner, Daniel Sütö, Jürgen Deppert. Michael Hofstetter cond., Jan Hoffmann chorus master, Chor und Orchester der Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele. 2 CDs, DDD, (Oehms, 2007)
*Marshall, Kavrakos, Giménez, Bartha. Gianluigi Gelmett cond., Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus. 2 CDs, EMI, 1990.
*The Overture has been recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) conducted by Michael Dittrich. Naxos, cat. no. "8.554838", barcode "0636943483824"

References

*John A. Rice: "Les Danaïdes", "Grove Music Online" ed L. Macy (accessed 29 May 2007), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] , subscription access.

External links

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