#GOD how I love discovering almost completely forgotten French operas

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

La jacquerie (Palazzetto Bru Zane recording, 2016): Reactions

And yet again, Palazzetto Bru Zane proves to be a treasure.

Composed by Édouard Lalo and Arthur Coquard (Lalo died before he could finish it, only writing the first act; Coquard wrote the rest), the opera premiered in 1895 and almost immediately vanished from the repertoire, not to be heard again until 2015, when this concert performance was recorded. (Sidenote: like the score, the libretto also was a multi-person effort: another Édouard, Édouard Blau, worked on part of it, while the rest was written specifically at Coquard’s request by successful playwright and librettist Simone Arnaud. Yes, a woman. That’s awesome.)

It’s currently four o’clock in the morning so this won’t be super-coherent but anyway: I really liked it. Actually, I liked it so much that I immediately put it on to play a second time and I am listening to Act I as I type this.

Basically, the setup of the plot, from what I gather in my “slightly tired, definitely overworked, and working-on-homework-as-I-listen state” is as follows: it’s the summer of 1358 and the people of northern France are upset because life sucks if you’re not part of the rich and famous. Robert (tenor) is the only son of Jeanne (mezzo), a widow and working peasant who sacrificed what she could to send her son to Paris because he wanted to learn and make a better life for himself. This has earned her the ridicule of the Seneschal (bass-baritone). While in Paris, Robert was gravely injured defending a poor man from some douchey nobles; he was taken to a convent and cared for by a woman whose name he does not know but he does know that she is a noblewoman who left shortly before he finished recovering. The noblewoman is Blanche de Sainte-Croix (soprano), who has been engaged by her father, the Comte de Sainte-Croix (bass-baritone) to a nobleman she has no interest in whatsoever, the cameo role of the Baron de Savigny (tenor who I’m pretty sure is in like one scene). However, she is in love with Robert. Two other things add to the problems: one of the peasants’ main complaints is that they have to pay for the wedding of the Comte’s unknown daughter (Blanche, who was separated from her father for several years); and Guillaume (baritone) is a revolutionary leader suspicious of Robert.

there’s a lot of shit that happens but long story short it reminded me of the plots of several major French grand opéras but in only about half the time (the recording clocks in at 1 hour and 53 minutes). here’s the libretto in French and English.

the music is marvelous: I’m more familiar with Lalo than Coquard (I had never heard of the latter), but I only really know Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, although that HARD SLAPS (especially the first movement, which I unsuccessfully tried to learn the solo violin part to because it’s awesome and dramatic as frick. to prove my point, here’s that first movement, but I digress). anyway, because of my relative lack of familiarity with both composers’ work, the difference between the two composers’ work wasn’t that obvious to me, although maybe if I knew their work better that would be different. idk. regardless, the music is of a very high quality all the way through: there are arias and duets and such but overall it does feel quite through-composed. the choral writing is of a particularly high quality: right off the bat, you get hit with this huge chorus of grief and suffering from the peasants and it is marvelous. like “perk up your head oh what was that cool thing?” marvelous. and the Stabat mater in Act II is gonna be something I come back to for a long time. There are also two standout wonderful duets back-to-back in Act IV: one for Blanche and Jeanne and one for Blanche and Robert (first track here because there’s like six tracks of it). My only actual complaint is that I felt like the music when Robert gets murdered by Guillaume (long story) is overly subdued, but that’s all.

the musical forces are all excellent: chorus, orchestra, and the soloists. the SOLOISTS! Charles Castronovo and Véronique Gens are the lovers and they are glorious as always; that’s all you need to know about them. the rest are all excellent as well.

anyway, here’s the recording on Spotify. if you have a couple of hours on your hands, go listen to it. bring the libretto linked above with you. you will not regret this.