Félicien DAVID (1810-1876)
Herculanum - opera in four acts (1859)
Véronique Gens (soprano) - Lilia
Karine Deshayes (mezzo) - Olympia
Edgaras Montvidas (tenor) - Hélios
Nicolas Courjal (bass) - Nicanor / Satan
Julien Véronèse (baritone) - Magnus
Flemish Radio Choir
Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra/Hervé Niquet
rec. Brussels?, February-March 2014
EDICIONES SINGULARES ES1020 [72.58 + 49.06]
Any serious collector of early vocal records will know the
name Félicien David on the strength of a single aria: "Charmant oiseau",
the "Air de mysoli", from La Perle du Brésil (1851). This
was a standard repertoire piece for most lyric sopranos into the 1920s, but,
outside France, it was the only piece of David's which survived into
the 20th century. On the strength of the contents of the Pathé company catalogue,
in France itself a few bits of David's oriental opera Lalla Rookh
(1862) were also remembered, but, as far as my knowledge goes, not a note
of Herculanum has ever been recorded until the present issue.
David has had a bit of a renaissance recently; Lalla Rookh was issued
by Naxos last year (8.660338-39 - not yet reviewed here), there are now two
recordings of the piece which brought him fame Le Désert (Guida
on Capriccio and Equilbey
on Naive), some songs and even some of his chamber
music has made it onto CD.
Herculanum, the second of David's five operas (also including
Le Saphir (1865) and La Captive (1883)), was composed in
1859 and performed with considerable success at the Opéra that year. It received
a very favourable review from no less a person than Hector Berlioz, who described
it as having "many beauties". The plot is utterly conventional when
it is not being ridiculous, which is one of the main reasons why many operas
of the period are so difficult to revive in the theatre today. It is set in
the Roman city of the opera's title in 79 A.D. Two betrothed Christians,
Lilia and Hélios, are brought by the mob to Queen Olympia and her brother
Nicanor with the demand that they be executed for their beliefs. Olympia,
however, falls for Hélios and pardons them. She then sends Lilia away and
seduces Hélios with a magic potion. Nicanor, meanwhile, lusts after Lilia
and follows her into the desert. She rejects his advances and in his fury
he tells her that her god does not exist. There is a flash of lightning and
Nicanor is struck dead. For some utterly incomprehensible reason, this frees
Satan from a century-long incarceration in Hell, whereupon he vows to make
life difficult for humanity. He starts by showing Lilia a vision of Hélios's
betrayal with Olympia and takes up Nicanor's cloak to disguise himself.
Lilia makes her way back to the palace and confronts Hélios. Olympia condemns
Lilia to death but Satan (still disguised as her brother Nicanor) persuades
her that Lilia will suffer more if she is made to live and witness Hélios's
marriage to Olympia. Torn between the two, his mental turmoil makes Hélios
recover from the magic, but in order to save Lilia's life determines
still to marry Olympia, much to Satan's delight. In the last act Satan
foments rebellion among the slaves while Vesuvius rumbles in the distance.
From the terrace of the palace, Hélios calls out to Lilia. She enters and
he begs her forgiveness, which she gives him. Vesuvius erupts and Satan reveals
his true identity to Olympia. All are killed in the eruption, though Hélios
and Lilia die happy in the knowledge that they will be together in heaven.
The music is charming and tuneful without being in any way memorable. Lilia's
Act one air "Noble Hélios", which flows seamlessly into a duet is
lovely in its delicate melancholy, but the cabaletta continuation is distinctly
less impressive. Olympia's Drinking Song "Bois ce vin" is
effective, if lacking the swagger of the best examples. I thought the best
number in the score was the duet between Lilia and Hélios in the last act,
"Ah! malgré moi", which edges towards real distinction. It is significant
that Herculanum was the only one of David's five stage works
which was a full-blown opera, the others were all opéra comiques.
Herculanum was an attempt to follow in the footsteps of Meyerbeer
and Verdi and produce a full scale grand opéra, but David's
musical style was simply not up to the task; he did not have the breadth and
ability to write music to fit the grand passion and spectacle that was necessary
for grand opéra. His recitative is dull and without the capacity
to convey character. The music is essentially still that of an opéra comique,
as is shown in the pitifully feeble music for the eruption of Vesuvius.
The performance - issued in a limited edition of 3000 sets - is more than
adequate and it is good to see that all the singers except Montvidas are French
- a real rarity in a recording of a French opera nowadays. The vocal palms
go to the two sopranos, Véronique Gens and Karine Deshayes, who have sweet,
clear, technically proficient voices entirely appropriate to the music and
who sing with style. Montvidas' Hélios is rather strained at the top
and the quality declines noticeably when it is under pressure. There is not
much juice in his tone. Nicolas Courjal sings both Nicanor and Satan, as was
done at the 1859 premiere. This must be tricky to stage, as Nicanor is struck
dead by the lightning bolt and within seconds Satan enters. He makes a good
job of the two baddies vocally, but does not do much in the way of characterisation.
The orchestra and chorus are excellent and Hervé Niquet conducts with real
understanding and commitment, making the most of the music. The recording
is clear and with a good dynamic range.
This issue is part of the continuing Palazzetto Bru Zane series of rare French
operas, and, as always, the presentation is absolutely first rate. The two
CDs come in an A5 sized, properly case-bound hardback book of 160 pages. This
contains an excellent series of five articles, each printed in French and
English, covering the composer, the history of the piece, a reprint of Berlioz'
review of the premiere, the place of Herculanum in the history of grand opera
and an overview of all the major reviews of the premiere along with a full
libretto in French with an English translation - it is like being back in
the golden age of LP opera sets from the 1960s to 1980s. The only disadvantage
to the format is that it will not fit on most CD shelves, being almost twice
the height of an ordinary CD set.
Herculanum is certainly not an undiscovered masterpiece, and I cannot
imagine that it will ever gain even a toehold in the repertoire — though
I believe that it is being staged at Wexford next year — but if, like
me, you have an interest in the byways of 19th century opera, then this set
is well worth investigating.
Paul Steinson
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