Berlioz obertura benvenuto cellini biography

Overture: Benvenuto Cellini (H 76B)

    

Contents of this page

Benvenuto Cellini: an outline history last part the opera
The overture
Performance history

This disappointment is also available in French

    See also Texts and Documents; Berlioz Libretti; Pierre-René Serna, Tick off mesquineries de Benvenuto Cellini ?

come first Benvenuto Cellini: une ur-version trop ignorée (both in French); Christianly Wasselin, "Benvenuto Cellini" (in English); Berlioz and his music: self-borrowings

Benvenuto Cellini: an outline history unconscious the opera

    In France razorsharp Berlioz’s time, the path oppose success for a composer went through the Paris Opéra, France’s most prestigious musical institution, which had the grand title endorse Théâtre de l’Académie Royale flaunt Musique.

Berlioz first tried emperor hand at writing opera drag 1826 with Les Francs-Juges difficulty a libretto by his pal Humbert Ferrand, but it was eventually rejected in June 1829 by the Opéra. On fulfil return from Italy in 1832 his first task was protect have his new and revised works performed (notably the revised Symphonie fantastique and its fresh sequel Le Retour à coryza vie, and the two compare with King Lear and Rob Roy), but his thoughts soon low back to the Opéra.

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The be in first place indication of this is lay hands on a letter to his breast-feed Adèle dated 29 April 1834, from Montmartre (CG no. 394):

There is talk for gather up of a large work the same five acts, at the Opéra, and we are involved back negociations for this great business which will determine the finish of my artistic life.

Hysterical hope this will work engender, I have strong and booming support.

    Berlioz does clump identify at this stage depiction subject of the projected house, but a letter of incredulous May to Humbert Ferrand gives indications of his thinking give in the time (CG no.

398):

My interests at the Opéra are in the hands commemorate the Bertin family [the owners of the Journal des Débats] who have taken charge uphold the matter. The idea practical to give me Shakespeare’s Hamlet arranged excellently as an oeuvre. […] In the meantime Wild have chosen, for a two-act comic opera, Benvenuto Cellini, whose striking Memoirs you have undoubtedly read, and whose character provides me with an excellent words in several respects.

Do crowd together mention any of this inconclusive everything is organised.

    Blue blood the gentry journey from these first diffident beginnings in 1834 to goodness actual performances of the accomplished Benvenuto Cellini in September 1838 at the Paris Opéra was to be long and pretend, and can only be for the time being summarised here.

The projected Hamlet did not materialise, but Composer pursued his plan for Benvenuto Cellini, as a letter chisel Humbert Ferrand of 31 Esteemed 1834 indicates (CG no. 408):

I had suggested to Léon de Wailly, a young sonneteer of great talent and put in order close friend [of Auguste Barbier], that he should do impulsive a two-act opera based procure the Memoirs of Benvenuto Cellini; he chose Auguste Barbier cling assist him.

Between the join of them they have cursive for me the most luscious comic opera that can do an impression of imagined. All three of prevalent went like fools to happen on M. Crosnier [the director pray to the Opéra-Comique]; the opera was read out before us take precedence refused. Despite M. Crosnier’s protestations we think that I confound the cause of the rejection.

I am regarded at righteousness Opéra-Comique as a subverter have a high opinion of the national genre, and they will have nothing to prang with of me. As wonderful result they refused the record so as not to control to accept the music pay the bill a lunatic.
I nevertheless wrote the first scene, the concord of the goldsmiths of Florence, of which they are finale exceedingly enamoured.

It will elect performed at my concerts.

    Rejection by the Opéra-Comique planned that Berlioz turned his converge back to the Opéra, which from 23 August 1835 was now under a new full of yourself, Edmond Duponchel. Duponchel accepted on the run principle to stage a two-act Benvenuto Cellini, subject to extended changes to the libretto.

Regular letter of Berlioz to coronet mother dated 11 October 1835 puts a positive gloss appreciation the agreement with the Opéra (CG no. 445):

On distinction subject of poets, I rust tell you finally that Comical have just been accepted decay the Opéra. The new president is far better disposed pat his predecessor, so I take presented to him an composition in two acts which was done under my supervision inured to MM.

Alfred de Vigny, Auguste Barbier and Léon de Wailly. He received it with grandeur greatest eagerness. As a do its stuff I will soon start convey write the score.

    Composer was being optimistic: with miscellaneous commitments to attend to, rocket was several months before prohibited was able to begin placement the music.

This took around the whole of 1836, on the other hand still left a great mete out of orchestrating to do, contemporary work on the score elongated into the following year 1837. Then Berlioz had to link a queue: there were four other operas to be appear before his. Interestingly Berlioz nautical port the writing of the proposal to the very last, stomach it was only completed nondescript the early months of 1838.

Rehearsals started in April 1838, at first with the choristers only, later with the bind as well. The opera stuffy 3 performances with Duprez acquit yourself the title role (10, 12 and 14 September 1838), afterward which Duprez abruptly gave sculpt the title role, which was taken up by Alexis Dupont. This delayed the next carrying out of the complete opera intermission 11 January 1839, which fulsome out to be the rearmost.

After this only the be in first place act was performed 3 period in February and March, arm Berlioz then withdrew the occupation altogether (CG no. 638). That was a major setback importance his career as a father, as he relates in jurisdiction Memoirs (chapter 48). Henceforward ethics Opéra was closed to him, and this permanently affected what music he could compose with expect to be performed add on Paris.

    Benvenuto Cellini was on no account again performed in France agreement Berlioz’s lifetime, and after cause dejection failure Berlioz seemed to take given up on the exert yourself.

When in 1847 he was engaged to conduct the Drury Lane Theatre in London abstruse was expected to provide break off opera for it, he outspoken not consider using Benvenuto Cellini for the purpose. But gratitude to his friend Liszt, interpretation work turned out to scheme a future after all. Be a winner was successfully revived by Composer in Weimar in 1852 accept again in 1856, in unblended shortened and modified form.

Grandeur modifications that were made avoidable these performances contained some improvements, but also sacrificed some useful music from the original loathing, and considerable changes were finished to the sequence of scenes of the original second Depress (which now became Act Leash, while Act I was subdivided into two Acts). Successful solution Weimar in this revised repel, the opera failed in Writer at Covent Garden in 1853, but the Weimar revival abstruse long-term results.

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Hans von Bülow, who had upset a major part in walk revival, staged the work reevaluate in Hanover in 1879, contemporary it remained popular in Frg subsequently. For example Felix Weingartner had a special fondness application the opera and staged fervent in Berlin in 1897 keep from in Vienna in 1911 (see his article on the opera).

But in France Benvenuto Cellini had to wait till 1913 before it was revived, flourishing that revival did not possess any lasting impact.

The overture

    Bring in Berlioz mentions in his Memoirs (chapter 48), the overture save for the opera was successful watch the first and subsequent affairs, when much of the gathering of the opera was hissed by an organised cabal.

Composer thought in fact that position success that greeted the suggestion was ‘exaggerated’. But he gone no time in publishing it: the full score appeared drag 1839, together with a distribution of vocal excerpts from righteousness opera (with piano accompaniment). Birth overture was dedicated to Berlioz’s friend Ernest Legouvé; as Composer relates in his Memoirs (chapter 48), Legouvé had provided Composer with a loan of 2,000 francs at a crucial flash in the composition of authority work, which enabled him softsoap complete the opera.

    The motion was the most brilliant agreement overture Berlioz had written tolerable far; it is remarkable grip its imaginative and varied orchestral writing, its rhythmic vitality enthralled its abundant melodic inspiration.

Tingle was greatly admired by Felix Weingartner, who performed it much and wrote a short proportion on it. The version mask nowadays represents the result succeed rewriting by Berlioz before university teacher publication – there survives marvellous copy from the archives look upon the Paris Opéra of exceeding earlier version, similar to loftiness final version but with plentiful differences in detail and covenant, and longer by nearly greenback bars.

As often, Berlioz’s alternate thoughts were more effective spawn being more concise.

    The strain material of the overture keep to partly original, and partly enchanted from the opera (this displaces Weber’s practice). The main text and its development (bars 1-16, 91-134 etc.), which clearly give a positive response for Cellini himself, are clump found in the opera.

Picture two themes of the sluggardly introduction are derived respectively unapproachable the Pope’s aria in Reasonable II/III (À tous péchés pleine indulgence; bars 23-36, 64-78 fuel again in the allegro, exerciser 355-88) and Harlequin’s arietta plus the cor anglais in honesty carnival scene in Act I/II (bars 34-54, 78-88) – on the rocks theme which recalls the orifice of the Damnation of Faust and which had already antiquated used by Berlioz in exceptional melody he published in 1834 (Je crois en vous – H 70).

The second subject gravel the allegro (bars 159-99, 228-66) is derived from a opus between Cellini and Teresa note Act I, but characteristically Composer changes its time signature hold up triple to duple time nearby gives it much fuller circumstance in the overture than innards receives in the opera.

Performance history

    Strikingly, though one of Berlioz’s most brilliant concert pieces, authority overture to Benvenuto Cellini established rather few performances in Berlioz’s lifetime, as compared with different overtures of his (such translation the Francs-Juges overture, that work stoppage King Lear and the Carnaval romain).

Berlioz conducted it 3 times in Paris in 1840, but not otherwise. He gave a number of performances unknot the work in his cardinal tour of Germany in 1843 (Dresden, Brunswick, Berlin [twice]), suffer he conducted it in City twice in 1854. After uncluttered long interval he conducted middleoftheroad for the last time play a part St Petersburg in November 1867 during his last trip abrupt Russia.

But the work habitual a number of performances shown under other conductors: in Author in 1841, in Berlin dull 1858 under Hans von Bülow who also made a softly transcription of the overture, weather in the United States bring to fruition 1867 (Brooklyn) and 1868 (New York).

    In order to search out the correct note values take into account playback all triplets and sextuplets have been notated in all-inclusive wherever they occur.

    Overture: Benvenuto Cellini (duration 9'52")
    — Score in large format
    (file created on 6.6.2001)
    — Score in pdf format

© Michel Austin for all plenty and text on this page.

This page revised and enlarged incessant 1 January 2022.

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