"In his 'Mémoires, ou Essai sur la musique' (1797), Grétry states '...I wished to set to music a poem by Mr. Sedaine, who seemed to me to be the best person either for the creation of characters, or for the so rare ability to bring situations in such a manner as to produce new effects and yet remain true to nature. 'Le Magnifique' was offered to me by Madame de Lalive d'Epinay, the intimate friend of J.J. Rousseau...'
"Indeed Madame d'Epinay held a salon where the intellectual and literary elite of eighteenth-century Paris convened. Both major librettists of Grétry, Marmontel and Sedaine, frequented her salon along with Denis Diderot, Jean le Rond d'Alembert, Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux, Montesquieu and the baron Melchior Grimm, among others. So it is not surprising that the chosen subject for the libretto of 'Le Magnifique' had a well established literary history going back to Boccaccio's 1353 'Decameron' (Third day, fifth tale). Furthermore, Antoine Houdar de La Motte produced a two-act comedy, 'Le Magnifique', in 1731 which had been performed at court as recently as 1769. Sedaine, however, in the preface of his libretto, denies having seen or read La Motte's comedy when writing the libretto of 'Le Magnifique' and acknowledges having been inspired by La Fontain's tale. Indeed, Sedaine had previously mined the same source for the librettos of 'On ne s'avise jamais de tout' (Monsigny, 1761) and 'Le Faucon' (Monsigny, 1771) and had been inspired by La Fontain's fable for the libretto of 'L'Huître et les plaideurs' (Philidor, 1759). If Grétry wished to set a poem by Sedaine to music, Sedaine admitted to wanting to work with Grétry because Monsigny, his preferred composer to this date, was in possession of two librettos of Sedaine but was in no hurry to set them to music.
"This first collaboration between Sedaine and Grétry proved very fruitful, and Grétry paid homage to Sedaine in his 'Mémoires': 'If Sedaine is not the poet who fashions verses to be sung with the greatest care, the situations that he brings about [...] are so compelling that they force the musician to endeavor to convey them. He almost finds the right word and dispenses himself with poetical embellishments. He forces the musician to find new forms to illustrate his original characters.'
"In 'Le Magnifique' Sedaine presents several compelling situations: the release of prisoners, a theme already illustrated in Sedaine's 'Le Déserteur', to which he will often return ('Richard Cœur-de-Lion' [1784], 'Le Comte d'Albert' [1786], 'Raoul Barbe-bleue' [1789]) and which will later inspire Beethoven's 'Fidelio'; the confrontation of the innocence of a young girl with the cruel realities of the world; and, most dramatically, the love declaration and the dropping of the rose. This scene challenged Grétry to new expressive means and was the chief attraction to Sedaine's libretto. This scene was so successful that people flocked to the theatre to hear Le Magnifique (sung by Clairval) sing his love to Clémentine (Mme. Laruette) and watch her drop the rose. Grétry recounts that a lady attending the performance and 'impatient to see the rose drop from the hands of modesty, opened her charming fingers and dropped her fan on the stage. She was as disconcerted by her action, as was Clémentine a moment later.'
"As beautiful and novel as this scene is, it is not the only noteworthy piece of the score. The overture is one of the earliest examples of programmatic music. The overture portrays the movements and clamours accompanying a procession of captives and is so intimately linked to the beginning of the action that it is necessary for the scene's comprehension. It also has the particularity of juxtaposing music of different styles (march and plain-song) to illustrate the spectacle of different processions (captives, soldiers, priests) occurring simultaneously. This device would be used later by Mozart at the end of Act I of 'Don Giovanni' when three orchestras play, one a minuet, the second a contredanse and the third an allemande, all at the same time. The rondeau of Clémentine's 'Pourquoi donc ce Magnifique' illustrates very aptly, by the return of the rondeau theme, the obsession of Clémentine with Le Magnifique whom she cannot drive out of her mind. There are contrasting scenes such as the comic air of Alix's 'Ô ciel, quel air de courroux', followed by the sentimentality of Clémentine's 'Jour heureux!' and the multi-sectional finale of Act III, inspired by Italian 'opera buffa', which is one of the earliest examples in French 'opéra-comique'. To better link the scenes musically, Grétry composed extended preludes or postludes to his airs or duos to accompany the pantomime described in the libretto. For instance, during the ritornello of the duo between Aldobrandin and Clémentine's 'Ma chère enfant', the libretto states that 'during the ritornello of the following duo, Aldobrandin goes to close the door; Clémentine watches him with some apprehension' while after the duo of Clémentine and Alix in 'Je ne sais pourquoi je pleure', Sedaine directs that 'during the final ritornello, Alix and Clémentine are supposed to hear the steps of people approaching; they pretend to be concentrated on their work: Clémentine is to arrange a flower corsage and attach it to herself, leaving behind a single rose which she keeps in her hand'. This is the rose she will drop in the next scene in response to Le Magnifique's declaration of love. Madame Laurette was so eloquent in the rôle of Clémentine that she inspired the following poem by Frémincourt, published in 'Le Mercure de France':
"'Que ton jeu toujours vrai sait rendre intéressant
Le moment où tes doigts laissent tomber la rose!
Oui, tu triomphes en cédant.
En vain sur ton silence un tuteur se repose:
Que Laurette parle, ou qu'elle ait la bouche close,
Le sentiment par elle est sûr d'être vainqueur;
Elle le peint d'aprés son cœur.'
"[How your acting knows how to make interesting
The moment when your fingers drop the rose!
Indeed, you triumph by yielding.
In vain, a tutor rests assured by your silence,
Whether Laurette speaks, or has her mouth closed,
Feelings are sure to be victorious;
She paints them after her own heart.]" (Nizam Peter Kettaneh. From the liner notes.)
Performers: Opera Lafayette Orchestra, Ryan Brown, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Elizabeth Calleo, Marguerite Krull, Jeffrey Thompson, Karim Sulayman, Douglas Williams, Randall Scarlata
1. Ouverture
2. Acte I, Scène I: Marche. Andante
3. Acte I, Scène I: Tempo Giusto
4. Acte I, Scène I: Marche
5. Acte I, Scène I: 'C'est Lui'
6. Acte I, Scène II: Pourquoi Donc Ce Magnifique'
7. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Ma Chere Enfant'
8. Acte I, Scène VI: 'Ah, C'est Un Superbe Cheval'
9. Acte I, Scène VII: 'Vous M'etonnez, Vous Badinez'
10. Acte II, Scène III: 'Ah! Si Jamais Je Cours Es Mers'
11. Acte II, Scène VI: 'Je Ne Sais Pourquoi Je Pleure'
12. Acte II, Scène X: 'Quelle Contrainte!'
13. Acte II, Scène XI: 'Clementine, Mettez - Vouz La'
14. Entr'acte
15. Acte III, Scène I: 'Ah! Que Je Me Sens Coupable'
16. Acte III, Scène IV: 'Te Voila Donc'
17. Acte III, Scène VI: 'O Ciel! Quel Air De Courroux!'
18. Acte III, Scène VIII: 'Jour Heureux!'
19. Acte III, Scène XIII: 'Ne Me Bats Pas'
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