DUTCH PREMIERE OF THE ORIGINAL VERSION
Médée is the masterwork of the Italian composer Luigi Cherubini (1760 – 1842). He wrote it at the pinnacle of his career for the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris, where it was premiered on 13 March. The work also became a magnum opus for the librettist, François-Benoît. The text was based on a tragedy by Corneille that in turn was based on Euripides and Seneca.
Musically, the work is a flagship of the opera genre. Cherubini developed his own idiom which later became the basis for the Grand ópera in France. Great composers were also admirers. Beethoven wrote to Cherubini in a letter, ‘I admire your theatrical work more than anything […] true art is imperishable and the true artist feels genuine pleasure at the work of a genius, and that happens to me when I hear your works. I actually deem your work better than my own compositions. In short, I love you and honour you’. Brahms said that, ‘this Médée is, amongst musicians, the work that we recognize as the highest pinnacle of dramatic music’.
A NEW FORM OF OPÉRA-COMIQUE
Since the premiere was in the Théâtre Feydeau, Cherubini bound his tragedy to the conventions of the ‘opéra-comique’. This does not mean that the work is comic, but that the music is combined with spoken text. The hybrid form is a tragedy in itself: in dramatic moments, the music is sometimes suddenly silent. This form certainly curbed the spread of the work. The opera became most popular in adapted versions (with the addition of composed recitatives in the style of Wagner or verisimo). A 20e century Italian version became the standard for a long time since it was the one which Maria Callas made famous.The original French version has only made a come-back in the past years in a few theatres.
As already mentioned, the use of the opéra-comique form was for a long time a tragedy for the work. But we see this now as an opportunity. The moments when the music is silent are an invitation to use to the work to bring the audience even closer. This was perhaps the aim of the texts in their time. However, the pompous dialogues and monologues in old French would achieve the opposite today: they create distance. We see it as an adventure to create a new and modern version of this work.
OPERA2DAY takes great pleasure in being inspired in new ways by the old. We are delighted to bring the original French version of Médée in a contemporary manner for the first time on the Dutch stage.
