Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)

Born Jacob Liebmann Beer (the prefatory 'Meyer' was added on the death of his maternal grandfather, Liebmann Meyer Wulff), Meyerbeer's family background was super-rich and hyper-cultured, so there was no obstacle to the development of his precocious talents. In 1815, his good friend Carl Maria von Weber pronounced him 'one of the best pianists, if not the best pianist of our time'. His ambitions, however, lay not on the concert platform but on the operatic stage, and in 1816, after a decade of study, he left his native Berlin for Italy, where a short visit turned into a protracted stay - of eight years. Here, with Rossini in the ascendant, he learnt the craft of Italian opera during one of its most dynamic phases. Today's programme focuses on these apprentice years, from Meyerbeer's earliest compositional efforts as a student of the celebrated Abb退 Vogler in Darmstadt, to his first international success with his farewell to Italian opera, Il crociato in Egitto.

Udite or alto arcano', from Il crociato in Egitto, act 2 scene 20

Geoffrey Mitchell Choir (chorus master: Geoffrey Mitchell)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

David Parry (conductor)

OPERA RARA ORC10 CD 4 tk 5

6 canzonettes italiennes (1810) - nos 1, 3, 4 and 6

1. Sceglier fra mille un core

3. Giura il nocchier

4. Bei labbri che amore

6. Basta dir ch'io sono amante

Ning Liang (mezzo-soprano)

Ilmo Ranta (piano)

CPO 999 269-2 tks 6, 8, 9, 11

Quintet in E flat for clarinet, 2 violins, viola and cello (1812) - 3rd mvt (Rondo)

Dieter Kl怀cker (clarinet)

Philharmonia Quartet Berlin:

Daniel Stabrawa (violin 1)

Christian Stadelmann (violin 2)

Neithard Resa (viola),

Jan Diesselhorst (cello)

ORFEO C 213 901 A tk 1

Wirth und Gast (Alimalek) (1813) - overture

Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra

Ola Rudner (conductor)

ARS PRODUKTION ARS 38 083 tk 3

Margherita d'Anjou (1820) - Act 1 scene 2 (opening) ('Miei fedeli!')

Annick Massis (Margherita)

Alastair Miles (Carlo)

London Philharmonic Orchestra

OPERA RARA ORC25 CD 1 tks 3-4

Il crociato in Egitto (1824) - Act 2 scene 17 (concl.)-18 ('Suona funerea')

Bruce Ford (Adriano)

Ian Platt (Aladino)

Della Jones (Felicia)

Ugo Benelli (Osmino)

OPERA RARA ORC10 CD 3 tks 17-20

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod focuses on Meyerbeer's apprentice years.

Today's programme sees Meyerbeer in Paris, at the invitation of Rossini, who had recently been installed as director of the Th退 tre Italien there. Meyerbeer's first two Parisian productions were of operas he had composed during his time in Italy, but before long he was being commissioned to write something brand new for the temple of French music drama - the Op退ra. This was Robert le diable, Robert the devil, the tale of a childless woman to whom the devil grants her dearest wish - a son. Robert is a bad boy who eventually repents, but not before he's got up to some mischief, including a graveyard encounter with a pack of zombie nuns, whose ballet shocked and thrilled the Paris of 1831 - and, in due course, cities across the globe. Chopin pronounced the opera a masterpiece, Berlioz praised its orchestration, and Liszt was so taken with it that he composed a fantasy on its themes: R退miniscences de Robert le diable. Meyerbeer's next opera opened to an expectant house on the 29th of February 1836. To say that audiences were not disappointed with Les Huguenots, a tale of political and religious conflict that must have struck a clanging chord in that age of revolutions, would be putting it mildly; it went on to become probably the most successful opera of the 19th century, and its influence can be felt in works as disparate as Die Meistersinger, Don Carlo and Khovanshchina.

Robert le Diable (1831) - conclusion of Act 1 ('Malheur sans 退gal')

Giorgio Surian (Bertram)

Warren Mok (Robert)

Bratislava Chamber Choir (chorus master: Pavol Prochကzka)

Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia

Renato Palumbo (conductor)

DYNAMIC CDS 368/1-3 CD 1 tk 11

Robert le Diable (1831) - Act 3 scene 7

DYNAMIC CDS 368/1-3 CD 2 tks 11-19

Les Huguenots (1836) - Act 3, opening ('C'est le jour du dimanche')

John Wakefield (Bois-Ros退)

Nicola Ghiuselev (Marcel)

New Philharmonia Orchestra

Richard Bonynge (conductor)

DECCA 430 549-2 CD 3 tks 1-2

Les Huguenots (1836) - Act 3, extract ('Rentrez, habitants de Paris')

Martina Arroyo (Valentine)

Ambrosian Opera Chorus

DECCA 430 549-2 CD 3 tks 5-7

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod on Meyerbeer's success in Paris with Robert le Diable and Les Huguenots.

Thirteen years separate Meyerbeer's second French opera, Les Huguenots, from his third, Le proph耀te, whose appearance suffered a protracted delay due to a serious disagreement over casting. Meyerbeer certainly wasn't one to sit around doing nothing, though, and today's programme examines how he occupied himself during this hiatus - with a particular focus on his output of songs, many of which were mini-dramas. In 1842, Meyerbeer was appointed Generalmusikdirektor of Prussia, in which role he wrote a German-language opera, Ein Feldlager in Schlesien (for the opening of the new Berlin Opera, after the old one had burnt down), as well as music for official court occasions, like his sequence of Fackelt䀀nze - torch marches. It was Meyerbeer's advocacy at this time that secured Wagner the Dresden premi耀res of his operas Rienzi and The Flying Dutchman - a favour Wagner was to return a few years later with a series of blisteringly personal anti-Semitic attacks.

Der Garten des Herzens (1839)

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)

Karl Engel (piano)

DG 00289 477 5270 CD 8 tk 5

Sequence of songs

- Komm, du sch怀nes Fischerm䀀dschen (1837)

- La fille de l'air (1837)

- Mina (?1837)

- Sicilienne (?1845)

Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano)

Melvyn Tan (fortepiano)

ARCHIV 469 074-2 tks 2, 4, 1, 5

Fackelt䀀nz (Torch Dance) no.1 in B flat (1844)

North German Radio Symphony Orchestra Hanover

Michail Jurowski (conductor)

CPO 999 168-2 tk 4

- Menschenfeindlich (1837)

- Scirocco (1837)

- St䀀ndchen (1840)

- Sie und Ich (1835)

DG 00289 477 5270 CD 8 tks 1, 13, 7, 10

Struensee (1846) - overture

CPO 999 336-2 tk 1

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod on how Meyerbeer occupied himself between Les Huguenots and Le prophete.

After the colossal success of his first two French operas, Robert le diable and Les Huguenots, Meyerbeer was keen to produce a third work in the same vein, to ensure that his 'system' of music drama was based on 'indestructible pillars'. This turned out to be Le proph耀te, first staged in 1849, which itself proved to be a pillar of the operatic repertoire until well into the 20th century. Like Les Huguenots, Le proph耀te has a basis in historical fact - an Anabaptist revolt that took place in Münster in the 1530s, doubtless given added resonance to first-run audiences by the European-wide unrest of the previous year. Add to this Meyerbeer's most impressively through-composed music to date, the opera's epic scale, and the no-expenses-spared production of the Paris Op退ra - including a ballet danced on specially designed roller skates (to simulate the effect of dancing on ice) and the first theatrical use of an electric arc lamp (to simulate a sunrise) - and it's no surprise that audiences didn't know what had hit them. Perhaps the composer realized that he had gone as far as he could in this direction, because for his next operatic project, L'退toile du nord, he turned instead to the gentler medium of comic opera.

Le proph耀te (1849) - Act 3, scene 1 (extract) - waltz from Skaters' ballet

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Henry Lewis (conductor)

CBS MSK 79400 CD 2 tk 5

Le proph耀te (1849) - Act 2 (complete)

Marilyn Horne (Fid耀s)

James McCracken (Jean)

Christian du Plessis (Mathisen)

Jean Dupouy (Jonas)

Jerome Hines (Zacharie)

Nicholas Webb (1st child)

Mark Richardson (2nd child)

Assorted anabaptists and citizens . Vernon Midgley, Leslie Fyson,

Neilson Taylor, Bruce Ogston

Ambrosian Opera Chorus (John McCarthy, dir)

Boys Choir, Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree (Alan Taylor, dir)

CBS MSK 79400 CD 1 tks 10-18

L'退toile du nord (1854) - Act 3, finale

Elizabeth Futral (Catherine)

Aled Hall (Danilowitz)

Juan Diego Fl　rez (George)

Darina Takova (Prascovia)

Vladimir Ognev (Peter)

Wexford Festival Opera Chorus (chorus master: Lubomir Matl)

National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland

Vladimir Jurowski (conductor)

MARCO POLO 8.223829-31 CD 3 tk 8

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod on Meyerbeer's happy return to Paris with Le prophete and L'etoile du nord.

The final programme of the week is devoted to Meyerbeer's last two music dramas: Dinorah, a gentle Breton love story intertwined with a yarn about a hunt for cursed treasure; and L'Africaine - The African Woman - an operatic epic conjuring up imagined, even fantastical events in the life of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. Meyerbeer died the day after he finished his fair copy of the full score, leaving instructions that the work was to remain unstaged should he not be around to oversee its production; his wishes were ignored, and L'Africaine took to the stage a year later, in a practical performing edition by the Belgian composer and musicologist, Fran瀀ois-Joseph F退tis.

Dinorah (1859) - Act 2 scene 1 ('Qu'il est bon')

Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

Philharmonia Orchestra

James Judd (conductor)

OPERA RARA ORC5 CD 2 tk 1

Dinorah (1859) - Act 2 scenes 3-6

Deborah Cook (Dinorah)

Christian du Plessis (Ho뀀l)

Alexander Oliver (Corentin)

OPERA RARA ORC5 CD 2 tks 3-7

Dinorah (1859) - Act 2 scenes 7 (conclusion)-8

OPERA RARA ORC5 CD 2 tks 9-11

L'Africaine (1865) - Act 5 final scene

Martina Arroyo (S退lika)

Sherrill Milnes (N退lusko)

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

Gerd Albrecht (conductor)

MYTO 3 MCD 011.235 CD 3 tks 8-9

Producer: Chris Barstow.

Donald Macleod on another comic opera, Dinorah, and Meyerbeer's swansong, L'Africaine.

With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.

A censored portrait, an ambitious mother and a few puppets... In the first act of his story, meet our young hero, Jakob, who, at a very young age, is already a piano prodigy, but also has to face religious discrimination.

Act II: Duo. 'Avec bonté, voyez ma peine

Erin Morley, soprano

John Osborn, tenor

Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine

Marc Minkowski, conductor

Le pardon de Ploërmel, or Dinorah

Act I. 'Ce tintement que l'on entend

Deborah Cook, soprano

Alexander Oliver, tenor

Alastair Miles, bass

Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields

James Judd, conductor

L'Africaine, or Vasco de Gama

Act IV, No 15. Entr'acte, Entrée de la Reine, Marche indienne

Frankfurter Opern- und Museumorchester

Antonello Manacorda, conductor

Der Fischer und das Milchmädchen (excerpts)

Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice

Dario Salvi, conductor

Der Admiral, or Der verlorene Prozess [in collaboration with Abbé Vogler]

Overture

Gott und die Natur

No 7, 'Es geht aus seinem Strahlentor' (arr D. Salvi for voice, strings & piano)

Andrea Chudak, soprano

Jakub Sawicki, piano

Neue Preussiche Philharmonie

Das Brandenburger Tor

Einleitung

Jephtas Gelübde

Overture (arr D. Salvi for piano and strings)

Neue Preußische Philharmonie

Presented by Donald Macleod

Produced by Julien Rosa

A BBC Audio Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3

Curtain-up on the life of 19th-century opera star Giacomo Meyerbeer, with Donald Macleod.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

Act one of the story of one of the biggest stars of opera's history, composer Giacomo Meyerbeer: Donald Macleod explores the musical upbringing of a young prodigy.

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With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.

An enamoured prima donna, some critical spoilsports and maestro Rossini himself... In this second act of Meyerbeer's story, the young composer falls in love with a country in which he'll have both musical epiphanies and his first successes, as well as a bit of romance.

Il nascere e il fiorire d'una rosa

Sivan Rotem, soprano

Jonathan Zak, piano

Act I, No 1a: Prélude et chœur pastoral. 'La brise est muette

Chœur de l'Opéra de Lyon

London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Mark Elder, conductor

Gli amori di Teolinda

IV. Allegro moderato

Lenneke Ruiten, soprano

Davide Bandieri, clarinet

Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne

Diego Fasolis, conductor

Romilda e Costanza

Overture

Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice

Dario Salvi, conductor

Emma di Resburgo

Act I, Scene 1; 'Sulla rupe triste, sola...Ah questo bacio' (Emma)

Diana Damrau, soprano

Choeurs de l'Opera National de Lyon

Orchestre de l'Opera National de Lyon

Emmanuel Villaume, conductor

Il crociato in Egitto

Act II, Scene 4: 'Tutto è finito' (Adriano, Felicia, Knights); 'Suona funerea' (Adriano, Knights)

Della Jones, mezzo-soprano

Bruce Ford, tenor

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

David Parry, conductor

Presented by Donald Macleod

Produced by Julien Rosa

A BBC Audio Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3

Next stop: Italy! Donald Macleod sees how Meyerbeer reinvents himself in the Peninsula.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

There is no place like Italy for opera lovers: Donald Macleod joins Giacomo Meyerbeer in his Italian adventure, a turning point in his music-making... and in his identity.

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With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.

Dancing ghouls, a sudden wedding and collectable figurines for fans... In the third act of the adventures of Meyerbeer, our protagonist arrives in Paris and conquers the hearts of French music lovers with a devilishly good opera, while having his own heart conquered by his new bride.

Margherita d'Anjou

Act II. 'Che bell'alba!' (Chorus)

Robin Leggate, tenor

Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

London Philharmonic Orchestra

David Parry, conductor

Il crociato in Egitto

Act 2, Scene 8: 'D'una madre disperata - ' (Palmide)

Diana Damrau, soprano

Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon

Emmanuel Villaume, conductor

A une jeune mère

Sivan Rotem, soprano

Jonathan Zak, piano

Act IV. Cavatine: 'Robert, toi que j'aime' (Isabelle, Robert) & Duo 'Mon cœur s'émeut à cette voix touchante' (Isabelle, Robert)

Erin Morley, soprano

John Osborn, tenor

Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine

Marc Minkowski, conductor

Act III. Procession des nonnes; Récit: 'Jadis fille, du ciel, aujourd'hui de l'enfer' (Bertram); Bacchanale

Nicolas Courjal, bass

Act I. Sicilienne: 'O fortune a ton caprice' (Robert); 'J'ai perdu – Ma revanche !' (Robert); 'Malheur sans égal' (Robert)

Bryan Hymel, tenor

Symphonic Orchestra of the Teatro Verdi, Salerno

Daniel Oren, conductor

An Mozart

Bernhard Scheffel, tenor

Rüdiger Ballhorn, tenor

Gregor Finke, bass

Markus Flaig, bass

Rheinische Kantorei

Hermann Max, director

Presented by Donald Macleod

Produced by Julien Rosa

A BBC Audio Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3

Donald Macleod joins Meyerbeer as he arrives in the City of Light, determined to shine.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

Donald Macleod follows a young ambitious Giacomo Meyerbeer, as he settles in the French capital in the 1820s, and is about to produce a worldwide musical phenomenon.

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With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.

A tragic queen, a theatrical ball, and some domestic trouble... The fourth act of our composer's life is marked by a royal proposition, which he won't be able to refuse, while having to face poisonous attacks, especially from a former protégé, a certain Richard Wagner.

Act II. Pas de cinq

Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine

Marc Minkowski, conductor

Struensee

Act II; Entr'acte II: Der Ball

Hannover Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

Michail Jurovski, conductor

Act IV. 'Gloire, gloire au grand Dieu vengeur !' (3 Monks, Saint-Bris, Conspirators)

John Wakefield, tenor

Alan Opie, baritone

Clifford Grant, bass

Gabriel Bacquier, baritone

Ambrosian Opera Chorus

Philharmonia Orchestra

Richard Bonynge, conductor

Act II. 'O beau pays de la Touraine' (Marguerite) [excerpt]

Dame Joan Sutherland, soprano

Josephte Clément, mezzo-soprano

Huguette Tourangeau, soprano

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano

Fantasie for clarinet & string quartet

Dieter Klöcker, clarinet

Consortium Classicum

Ein Feldlager in Schlesien [A Camp in Silesia]

Act 3. 'Oh Schwester, find' ich dich!... Lebe wohl, geliebte Schwester' (Therese, Vielka)

Diana Damrau, soprano

Kate Aldrich, mezzo-soprano

Chœur de l'Opéra National de Lyon

Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon

Emmanuel Villaume, conductor

Psalm 91

Veronika Winter, soprano

Anne Bierwirth, alto

Immo Schroder, tenor

Matthias Vieweg, bass

Rheinische Kantorei

Hermann Max, director

Presented by Donald Macleod

Produced by Julien Rosa

A BBC Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3

Time for a new job: Meyerbeer gets the highest musical honours. With Donald Macleod.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

He's done it: Meyerbeer reigns over opera. And yet, more plot twists are coming. Donald Macleod follows the composer, crowned with success, in his new adventure, at a royal court.

[LISTEN NOW]

With smash hits including 'Robert le diable', 'Les Huguenots' and 'Le Prophète', Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) was one of the most performed composers on the 19th-century stages: (re)discover the celebrated King of Grand Opera, in his own quasi-operatic life of sparkling successes, plot twists and travelling adventures, but also of prejudice and hardship.

An embarrassing tooth, a difficult director, and a bunch of ice-skaters... In the final act of his adventures, our hero creates one of his most important works, 'Le Prophète', which won't be an easy ride. And in his private life, he tries to preserve his marriage while having to deal with difficult losses.

Act III, Scene 12b. 'Du sang !' (Chœur des Anabaptistes)

Chœur de l'Opéra National de Lyon

London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Mark Elder, conductor

Act I, Scene 3 : La Prêche anabaptiste 'Ad nos, ad salutarem undam

Jerome Hines, bass

Jean Dupouy, tenor

Christian Du Plessis, baritone

Ambrosian Opera Chorus

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Henry Lewis, conductor

Act IV, Scene 24b 'Le voilà, le Roi Prophète !

John Osborn, tenor

Maitrise des Bouches-du-Rhône

Act III. Ballet des patineurs [excerpts]: Waltz ; Redowa

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra

Michal Nesterowicz, conductor

Act IV, Scene 24d : L'Exorcisme 'Arrêtez !

Elizabeth DeShong, mezzo-soprano

James Platt, bass

Valerio Contaldo, tenor

Guilhem Worms, bass-baritone

Choeur de L'Opéra National de Lyon

Pater Noster

Rheinische Kantorei

Hermann Max, director

L'Étoile du Nord

Acte III, Scène 8. 'Quel trouble affreux' (Danilowitz)

Pene Pati, tenor

Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine

Emmanuel Villaume, director

Act IV, Scene 23: Marche du sacre

Presented by Donald Macleod

Produced by Julien Rosa

A BBC Audio Wales & West production for BBC Radio 3

Have a seat at the opera with Donald Macleod, who's exploring Meyerbeer's The Prophet.

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

It is one of Giacomo Meyerbeer's operatic monuments: in this last chapter of our composer's life, Donald Macleod follows the tumultuous creation of 'Le Prophète'. Drama guaranteed.

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