Great Opera Choruses

Program Notes

by Peter Rutenberg NOTE: The brief, introductory history of the opera chorus was written by Peter Rutmberg. In addition to his program notes, portions of the information provided for certain entries have been adapted from the materials published in the collection "Opera Choruses," edited by John Rutter. The chorus formed an indispensable part of early opera. From the first productions in Italy at the end of the 16th century through about 1640, the chorus was called upon to provide structure to the drama by punctuating with metered song the extensive, unmetered recitativo numbers that were all the rage for soloists. The choral numbers were simple, to the point, and underscored some important emotion or feature of the story. Beyond that, they provided a necessary and welcome contrast to the "aria-less" proceedings. By the fifth decade of the 17th century, the virtuosic air for vocal solo or duo had taken its place alongside the recitative - the former a moment of glorious display for the singer, the latter a fast-paced advancement of the plot through monoand dialogue. This development spelled the decline of the chorus, at least temporarily, for the alternation of aria with recitative was deemed adequate to define the dramatic structure and its motivating passions. Some years later, in France, the chorus shared the operatic stage with the soloists in much the same way as they joined the king's splendid orchestra for the grands motets at church, but this was more a passing fancy of the court, a fascination with pageantry per se, than a formal entrenchment, and the practice changed with the Revolution. The mid-to-late Baroque in Britain, from Purcell to Handel, also saw increased opportunities for the chorus. This was particularly true with Handel whose early vogue of ltalianate opera rose, then waned, in favor of the English oratorio. The identity of the chorus that sings the closing lament Plorate, Filii Israel (in Carissimi's early 17th century Jephte) barely matters. Yet who can imagine Carmen without the saucy cigarette girls? Similarly, only Nabucco's Hebrew slaves in exile could intone Va, pensiero. The rise of grand opera in the 19th century endows the chorus with a final acknowledgment of its significance to the form, and it is from this period that we begin to see a deepening of the importance composers attached to it. Now the stage is populated not only with individual heros and villains, ingenues and suitors, servants and rulers, but also by groups of villagers, sailors, soldiers, ladies-in-waiting, children, ball guests, troupes of actors and musicians, gods and goddesses, pilgrims and such. The presence of these everyday people becomes a powerful instrument not only for dramatic purposes, but also for musical development, and in a few cases, for the advancement of political undercurrents. Opera in the later Romantic era - with its new-found preference for vernacular language, local history, and the more personal aspects of mythology and morality - proved a cozy breeding ground for nationalism. This ethnocentric pride took on an equally grand stature, nowhere more prominent than in the fierce, soul-stirring music of Richard Wagner. In truth, it was Carl Maria von Weber who first visualized the new order - a drawing together of all the arts into a single, indivisible form that would become German opera in the late 19th century. But it took the early successes with Rienzi and Tannhäuser, not to mention the building of Wagner's state-ofthe-art theater in Bayreuth, to bring the reality of this trend into full focus. A more fitting and monumental welcome to this concert of Great Opera Choruses would be hard to imagine. The Entrance of the Guests from Wagner's Tannhäuser should be familiar to all, at least in its frequently heard orchestral version. The setting is 13th century Eisenach, as guests are entering the great hall in anticipation of a song competition between Elisabeth's two rival suitors. The opera in three acts to a libretto by the composer - based on the life of a 13th century minnesinger of noble birth who had participated in the Fifth Crusade - was first performed in Dresden in 1845 and later revised for the Paris Opera in 1861. The action is motivated by the conflict between erotic and spiritual love. The Pilgrim's Chorus from Act III (to be performed on the second half of this program) recasts a theme from the Overture, and is sung as an elderly group of pilgrims is returning from Rome. Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco (or "Nebuchadnezzar"), an opera in four acts to a libretto by Solera, was premiered at La Scala Milan in 1842, and marks the composer's arrival on the national scene. It was an auspicious arrival at that, for Va, pensiero, the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, became an instantaneous hit, soon dissolving into legendary status as a "national anthem" of the Italian people, and sung spontaneously at the great composer's funeral in 1901. The plot of Nabucco concerns the Babylonian capitivity of the Jews in 586 B.C. A vivid description of the dwarf Kleinzach scored for tenor solo and men's chorus, The Legend of Kleinzach from The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach returns us briefly to the court of Eisenach, and resorts to the jocularity of onomatopoeia to establish a rigorous rhyme scheme, based on the final syllable of the subject's name ( "zak" as pronounced in French). An opera in five acts to Barbier's libretto (completed by Guiraud), The Tales of Hoffman was written for the Opéra-Comique in Paris and produced posthumously in 1881. Franz Liszt conducted the first performance of Wagner's Lohengrin in Weimar in 1850. Following immediately on the well-known Prelude to Act III, the opening scene finds Elsa and the still-anonymous Lohengrin being escorted into the bridal chamber, but by scene's end, the secret is out: he is indeed the son of Parsifal. Although this music is used throughout the modern world to usher the blushing bride down her wedding aisle, many brides would truly blush at the real meaning of the text, Treulich geführt ziehet dahin. The onset of Romanticism in German opera is marked by a need for more profound kinds of expression. Such emotionalism becomes the catalyst for the musical and structural developments that take place, as the various art forms merge on the stage. Der Freischütz, Carl Maria von Weber's opera in three acts to a libretto by F. Kind, was premiered in 1821, and is generally recognized as the first opera to achieve this kind of artistic merger. Elements of folk song, orchestral colors and motifs associated with characters, musical keys as unification devices for scenes, stand-out choruses and grand arias, and the Romantic fascination with love and the supernatural - all become integrally important in Der Freischütz. The Huntsmen's Chorus - part of a pervasive presence of hunting themes in the opera - occurs in the third act, just before the final denouement. One of 13 operas composed by Camille Saint-Saens, Samson et Dalila (Weimar, 1877) was the only one to earn a permanent place in the repertoire. The aria, Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix, is Dalila's gorgeous, central act of seduction against which not even Samson is mighty enough to hold onto his locks. Like The Tales of Hoffmann, Alexander Borodin's Prince Igor was a posthumous triumph, being first performed in St. Petersburg in 1890. That he didn't live to see the premiere was especially tragic in light of the 18 years spent in its composition. Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov completed the balance of the work, but the Polovtsian Dances are Borodin's own orchestration. In an opera with many splendid choral scenes, the Dances stand out for their wild and primitive fervor. By the end of Act II, Igor, the prince of Seversk, has been defeated by Khan Konchak of the Polovtsi Tartars. He is held as an esteemed captive and entertained in this sumptuous manner by the khan's slaves who chant their master's glory. Together with its successful predecessors, II Trovatore firmly established Giuseppe Verdi as the heir to Rossini's crown, and purveyor of the latest advancements in staged musical drama. The opera in four acts, to a libretto by Cammarano and Bardare (after a popular 1836 play by Antonio Garcia Gutiérrez), takes place in early 15th-century Spain. Happily, an understanding of the complex plot is unnecessary for the enjoyment of the famed Anvil Chorus that opens Act II: hammering away, a band of Gypsy-tinkers sings this aubade, extolling the pleasures of work, women and wine. As familiar as this music is to us, it must have seemed outlandish and coarse compared to the stilted refinement of the customary classical fare, when first heard in Rome in 1853. Dein ist mein ganzes Herz is drawn from the 1929 operetta Das Land des Lächelns ("The Land of Smiles") - one of Hungarian-born, Austrian pacesetter Franz Lebar's several hits from the second period of his popularity in the post-war era. The first performance of Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, in Milan in 1892, brought the fame the composer sought, following the disappointment of his earlier I Medici. The libretto - his own - is set in Calabria and pits a troop of commedia dell'arte players against their real emotions, played out before the assembled villagers. Conciseness and directness place Pagliacci squarely in the verismo trend. The villagers sing the Bell Chorus interlude as the call to Vespers peals from the campanella. The Lutheran Reformation forms the backdrop for Wagner's opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, set in the 16th century, and first performed in Munich in 1868. The well-known music for the third-act Procession of the Master Singers introduces the protagonists in the mid-summer singing contest, whose prize is to be Eva. A tune, entitled Awake, by the town's highly-respected cobbler-poet Hans Sachs, erupts spontaneously from the crowd. Following this song in praise of dawn, the stuffy Beckmesser, unable to sing the "new style," is defeated; Sachs, sensitive to the inappropriateness of his age, withdraws from the contest with an admonition to the younger generation to preserve their precious German artistic heritage through discipline; and Walter, already deliriously in love with Eva, wins her hand. Carmen by Georges Bizet did not enjoy the instant acclaim its popularity today would suggest. In fact, the work was considered an obscene scandal for its libretto when it premiered in 1875 at the Paris Opéra-Comique. This depressed the composer, who suffered another bout of quinsy (a pharyngeal abcess accompanied by fever). Thus weakened, a pair of heart attacks prematurely ended his life a few months later. Set in 1820s Seville, the Chorus of Cigarette Girls drift out of the factory in a haze of smoke, and the assembled soldiers taunt and tease them until, finally, Carmen herself appears to sing the famous Habañera - her first attempt at wooing Don Jose away from his beloved, innocent Micaela. It is only the end of the first, craps-shooting, liquor-laden, drug-palled scene of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess when Serena's husband Robbins is murdered by the drunken Crown. His body lies on their bed as Scene 2 opens, while mourners paying their respects suffer the intrusion of the police and their brutal investigation. Finally overcome with grief, Serena wails the poignant My Man's Gone Now. Often paired in repertory productions with Pagliacci, Pietro Mascagni's landmark one-act Cavalleria Rusticana galvanized the verismo style. Its conversational text, continuous threads of music, and broad gestures gave new life to Italy's national musical treasure. Set in 1890s Sicily - that is, the "present" at the time it was written - the rural story of love, betrayal and death shows its "flip side" in the deeply religious but vibrant nature of the villagers, singing the Easter Hymn: Queen of the Heavens Rejoice.

Archival Recording