Le prophète

1849 opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer

Le prophète (The Prophet) is a grand opera in five acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, which was premiered in Paris on 16 April 1849. The French language libretto was by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, after passages from the Essay on the Manners and Spirit of Nations by Voltaire. The plot is based on the life of John of Leiden, Anabaptist leader and self proclaimed "King of Münster" in the 16th century.

After the brilliant success of their grand opera Les Huguenots (1836), Meyerbeer and his librettist Scribe decided to collaborate again on a piece based on a historical religious conflict. Meyerbeer's great personal wealth and his duties as official court composer to King Frederick William IV of Prussia meant that there was no hurry to complete the opera, and it was more than a decade in the composition and planning. Le prophète was first performed by the Paris Opera at the Salle Le Peletier on 16 April 1849. In the audience at the work's premiere were Chopin, Verdi, Théophile Gautier, Delacroix, Charles Dickens, Ivan Turgenev and Berlioz, among others. It was given all over Germany in 1850, as well as in Vienna, Lisbon, Antwerp, New Orleans, Budapest, Brussels, Prague and Basel. Its tremendous success continued throughout the 19th and into the early 20th century. At the Vienna State Opera in 1998 the opera was given in a production by Hans Neuenfels with Plácido Domingo and Agnes Baltsa in the leading roles. Beginning in 2015, new productions of Le prophète are again appearing in European opera houses.

The countryside around Dordrecht in Holland. At the bottom flows the Meuse. On the right, Oberthal's castle with a drawbridge and turrets; on the left, the farms and mills connected with the castle. It is morning. The peasants and millers leave to work, the wings of the mills begin to turn (Prelude and pastoral chorus: La brise est muette). Berthe, a young peasant girl, is very happy to be able to marry the man she loves (Aria: Mon cœur s'élance et palpite). She welcomes her future mother in law, Fidès, who blesses her and puts an engagement ring on her finger. Berthe explains to Fidès that she needs the Count's permission to marry Jean whom she has loved ever since he rescued her from the Meuse. Before leaving for Leiden, where Fidès runs an inn with her son, Berthe must obtain permission from Oberthal to leave the country and to marry. The two women head for the count's castle, but stop at the sight of three men dressed in black. These are three Anabaptists, Jonas, Matthisen and Zacharie, singing their chorale, Ad nos ad salutarem (to a tune created by Meyerbeer). The Anabaptists arouse the interest of the local peasants in their ideas of social revolution and urge them to revolt against their overlord. The peasants arm themselves with pitchforks and sticks and make for the castle, but all stop at the sight of the Count of Oberthal and his soldiers. Seeing Berthe, Oberthal asks the girl about the reasons for her presence. Berthe explains that she has loved Fidès' son Jean since he saved her from drowning and asks his permission to marry. Oberthal however recognizes one of the Anabaptists, Jonas, as a former steward and orders soldiers to beat the three men. Taken by Berthe's beauty, he refuses her request and arrests the two women. The people become angry, and with the returning Anabaptists, threaten the castle.

The interior of the inn of Jean and Fidès in the suburbs of Leiden in Holland. At the back, a door with crosses overlooking the countryside. Doors to the right and left of the stage

The Anabaptists enter with merrymaking peasants and try to persuade Jean that he is their destined leader, claiming that he closely resembles the picture of King David in Münster Cathedral. Jean recounts to them a dream in which he was in a temple with people kneeling before him. Jean tells the three Anabaptists that he lives only for his love for Berthe and refuses to join with them (Aria: Pour ma Berthe, moi je soupire); they leave. Berthe hurries in, having fled Oberthal; the Count next arrives and threatens to execute Jean's mother Fidès unless Berthe is returned to him. In despair, Jean gives in and hands over Berthe to Oberthal. Fidès blesses her son and attempts to console him (Aria: Ah ! mon fils sois béni). When the Anabaptists return, Jean is ready to join them in vengeance against Oberthal; he goes, without letting Fidès know (Quartet: Oui, c'est Dieu qui t'appelle).

The camp of the Anabaptists in a forest of Westphalia. A frozen pond extends to the horizon lost in the mist and is bordered to the left and right of the scene by the forest. On the banks of the pond are erected the tents of the Anabaptists
Jean has been proclaimed to be a prophet. Anabaptist soldiers bring in a group of prisoners made up of richly clothed nobles and monks, whom they are threatening with axes. All the captives were going to be massacred, but Mathisen intervened and reminded the other Anabaptists that it would be better to execute them only once their ransom had been demanded and paid. Farmers arrive, skating across the frozen pond, bringing food which has been paid for with money stolen from the captives. The farmers are invited by the Anabaptist soldiers to celebrate with them (Ballet and chorus).

The town hall of Münster, where several streets end. To the right, a few steps leading to the door of the town hall

Jean, who wishes to make himself Emperor, has taken the city, whose citizens are in despair at his rule. Fidès sits on a pillar and begs for alms to pay for a Mass for the rest of her son, whom she thinks dead. Berthe, dressed in pilgrim's clothes, arrives in the square. She recognizes Fidès and the two women fall into each other's arms. Berthe relates that after she managed to escape from the Count of Oberthal, she sought Jean and her mother in their inn in Leiden. Neighbors told her they would have gone to Münster. Berthe immediately set out to try to find them. Fidès then tells the girl that her son died: she found only his bloodied clothes while an unknown person claimed to have witnessed his assassination ordered by the prophet of the Anabaptists. Berthe then decides to assassinate the prophet, while Fidès prays God to bring her son eternal rest. Exalted, the girl runs to the palace of the prophet while Fidès tries in vain to catch up (Duet: Pour garder à ton fils le serment).

A vault in Jean's palace in Münster: on the left, a staircase through which one descends into the vault. To the right, an iron gate opening onto a tunnel that leads out of the city

The Anabaptist trio resolve to hand over Jean to the German Imperial armies, which are preparing to invade the city, to buy their own protection. Soldiers bring Fidès to the vault where she is held prisoner. She is torn apart by contradictory feelings: she still loves her son, but she loathes what he has become, a false prophet who pretends to be the son of God and who leads armies responsible for many crimes. Finally, Fidès seems ready to forgive the faults of her son, while wishing that death should come to free her from all her ills (Aria: Ô prêtres de Baal). A soldier announces to Fidès the visit of the prophet. She then regains a little hope and prays for her son to repent and take the right way. Jean finally arrives and asks his mother to forgive him. Fidès reproaches her son for his behavior. Jean tries to justify himself by recalling that he wished to avenge himself for the oppressions of the earl of Oberthal. The only way for Jean to obtain pardon from his mother is to give up his power and wealth and no longer claim to be a prophet. At first reluctant to abandon all those who trusted him, Jean is gradually convinced. He agrees to follow his mother who forgives all his faults (Grand duet: Mon fils ? je n'en ai plus !) Informed by a member of her family about the existence of secret passages, Berthe enters the vault in order to access the powder magazine and blow up the palace and all its inhabitants. As soon as she sees Jean, she throws herself into his arms and is about to flee with him and Fidès, abandoning her avenging mission. Jean, Berthe and Fidès, finally united, dream of their future life, peaceful and full of bliss. (Trio: Loin de la ville). A soldier, however, enters and warns Jean that the Imperial troops, assisted by the three Anabaptists, have invaded the city and entered the palace. Berthe realizes suddenly that Jean and the prophet are one and the same person. Shocked, she curses her fiancé and then stabs herself to death. Having lost forever the one he loved, Jean decides to die as well and to drag all his enemies to death.

The great hall of the Münster palace. A table placed on a platform rises in the middle of the stage

The Anabaptist soldiers feast and sing of the glory of their prophet at the banquet to celebrate his coronation. Young girls dance for them while others bring them wine and food (Bacchanale (Choral dance: Gloire, gloire au prophète) The three Anabaptists are watching Jean hoping that he will be drunk enough to be easily captured. Jean, for his part, warns his soldiers that they must be ready to close all the doors of the palace as soon as they receive his order. Jean encourages all to get drunk and asks the three Anabaptists to stand by his side as a reward for their fidelity (Drinking song: Versez, que tout respire l'ivresse). Suddenly, Oberthal at the head of imperial soldiers appears in the hall. He demands that the false prophet be executed without delay, a request which the three Anabaptists eagerly approve. In the confusion, nobody realizes that the doors of the palace have all been closed. A huge explosion then occurs and the flames grow from all sides. A wall collapses, allowing Fidès to join her son. Jean and his mother throw themselves into each other's arms for a last farewell, while all try in vain to escape from the conflagration that spreads more and more. The palace collapses in smoke and flames, killing all within (Final duet with chorus: Ah ! viens, divine flamme).

The richness and complexity of the libretto particularly impressed contemporaries at the creation of the work. Noted writer and literary critic Théophile Gautier began his review of the premiere in La Presse by noting that "the choice of the libretto is for Meyerbeer of major importance" and that "Meyerbeer is the most dramatic composer ever heard at the Opera: he has the highest level of theatrical understanding, and that is, in our opinion, the distinctive quality of his genius." Many of the critics of the time are struck by the correspondence between the libretto of Le prophète and the post revolutionary period of the years 1848 to 1849 in France. T. Gautier notes that "the Anabaptists and the peasants have dialogue that might be taken from the pages of the Communist newspapers". The view of the world conveyed by the opera is particularly pessimistic: the three Anabaptists advocate revolution only in their own interest; too cowardly to expose themselves directly, they seek a charismatic leader whom they will not hesitate to betray when they feel the wind turn. But the old system against which the Anabaptists rise is far from being presented in a favorable manner: it is even, in the person of the Count of Oberthal, very clearly condemned for his arbitrariness, his injustice and the abuses of power which are inherent. As for the people, they are characterized successively by their cowardice (in the first act) and their bloody brutality (at the beginning of the third). Of the vocal music, the trio in the second scene of act 3 is particularly notable for the original way in which a serious situation is set by Meyerbeer to a comic trio. Count Oberthal has come in the dark to the Anabaptist camp hoping to infiltrate their group and disrupt their plans. The Anabaptists Zacharie and Jonas at first do not recognise him, and in the trio Oberthal swears, to a catchy tune, that he wants to execute as many aristocrats as he can while the Anabaptists gaily add "tra la las". But, holding a lamp to Oberthal's face, Jonas recognises his enemy and the same seemingly jolly music is repeated, to sardonic effect,as the two Anabaptists swear to kill him and Oberthal expresses his hatred of them.

The musical and theatrical influences of the opera can be felt in, amongst others, Liszt's monumental Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos, ad salutarem undam" for organ which is based on the Anabaptists' chorale, the duet between mother and lost child in Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore, and the catastrophic finale of Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung. The tremendous success of Le prophète at its Paris première also provoked Wagner's anti Jewish attack on Meyerbeer, Das Judenthum in der Musik.

The first scene of act 3 of Le prophète contains a ballet, titled "Les Patineurs", in which the dancers mimic ice skaters. In this opera's premiere in 1849, the dancers wore a type of primitive inline roller skates, which had been invented in Europe in the previous century, to more convincingly look like they were ice skating (quad roller skates had not yet been invented). In 1937 Constant Lambert arranged the ballet music of this opera and excerpts from the ballet music of L'étoile du nord into the ballet Les Patineurs, choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton, in which the dancers mimic ice skaters.

James McCracken (Jean de Leyde), Marilyn Horne (Fidès), Renata Scotto (Berthe), Jean Dupouy (Jonas), Christian Du Plessis (Mathisen), Jerome Hines (Zacharie), Jules Bastin (Oberthal); Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Henry Lewis, conductor. Recorded 1976. Sony CD Cat:88875194782. First recording of the new critical edition: John Osborn (Jean), Marianne Cornetti (Fides), Lynette Tapia (Berthe), Albrecht Kludszuweit (Jonas), Pierre Doyen (Mathisen), Tijl Faveyts (Zacharie), Karel Martin Ludvik, (Oberthal). Essener Philharmoniker, Giuliano Carella, conductor. Recorded 2017. Oehms CD Cat:OC971.