Святой Франциск Ассизский: Опера Оливье Мессиана

Opera by Olivier Messiaen

Saint François d'Assise : Scènes Franciscaines (English: Franciscan Scenes of Saint Francis of Assisi), or simply Saint François d'Assise, is an opera in three acts and eight scenes by French composer Olivier Messiaen, who was also its librettist; written from 1975 to 1979, with orchestration and copying from 1979 to 1983. It concerns Saint Francis of Assisi, the titular character, and displays Messiaen's devout Catholicism. The premiere was given by the Paris Opera at the Palais Garnier on 28 November 1983. The work was published eight years later in 1991. Messiaen's only opera, it is considered his magnum opus.

Despite his studies of Mozart and Wagner operas and his famous fascination with Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Messiaen thought he would never compose an opera. When Rolf Liebermann, general manager of the Paris Opera, commissioned an opera from Messiaen in 1971 the composer refused. Messiaen changed his mind when Liebermann arranged that he be a guest at a dinner at the Elysée Palace, hosted by then French President Georges Pompidou; at the end of the dinner Pompidou said: "Messiaen, you will write an opera for the Opéra de Paris!". In searching for subject matter, Messiaen pondered dramatizing either Christ's Passion or his Resurrection. Feeling unworthy of either subject, he eventually chose to dramatize the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, which paralleled Christ's chastity, humility, poverty, and suffering. Messiaen commented that Francis's life "resembled Christ's life the most" and that Francis, like Christ, was "a friend of the birds". The process of writing the opera took its toll on the composer. Initially, Messiaen made rapid progress as the opera became the sole object of his musical attention. In search of inspiration, he had traveled to Italy, where he examined paintings and frescoes and paid his respects at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. By 1977, he contacted the general manager of the Paris National Opera to say he was ready to play through an unorchestrated version of the opera. Messiaen could not envisage orchestrating the opera by 1980. Adding to the pressure on Messiaen was a leak on the radio that he was writing an opera about Saint Francis. This revelation transgressed Messiaen's normal practice of secrecy when composing. Messiaen appealed for a deadline extension in 1979. The new date was agreed to be 1983; however, Messiaen's health was beginning to deteriorate. In 1981 he had several periods of ill health, and Messiaen once again doubted that he would finish according to plan. Messiaen began to suffer from depression, and by December 1981 he felt unable to go on. However, his doctor advised him to take daily walks to increase his well being and he began to attend evening mass at the Sacre Coeur. This encouraged Messiaen to go on to complete the work. Completing it had left its mark on him, and he was convinced it would be his last composition.

For maximum artistic freedom, Messiaen penned both libretto and score. The opera's eight scenes, divided into three acts, delineate Francis's spiritual development. Act One contains scenes in which he realizes his goals: "La Croix" (The Cross), "Les Laudes" (Lauds) and "Le Baiser au Lépreux" (The Kissing of the Leper). Act Two shows Francis's journey towards enlightenment, ministry, and divinity: "L’Ange voyageur" (The Journeying Angel), "L’Ange musicien" (The Angel Musician) and "Le Prêche aux oiseaux" (The Sermon to the Birds). The scenes of Act Three explore the saint's approach to divinity and his entrance into eternity: "Les Stigmates" (The Stigmata) and "La Mort et la Nouvelle Vie" (Death and the New Life).

After the premiere, Saint François was not staged for almost a decade. It was presented on stage again by the 1992 Salzburg Festival (at the Felsenreitschule), directed by Peter Sellars with Esa Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. That production was revived in 1998, again at the Salzburg Festival. Productions followed at Oper Leipzig (1998) and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (2002). The American premiere took place at the San Francisco Opera in 2002. Since then, the opera was presented in staged productions by the RuhrTriennale at the Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum (2003, also shown in the Madrid Arena in Spain in 2011), by the Opéra National de Paris at the Opéra Bastille (2004), by the Muziektheater in Amsterdam (2008), by the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (2011, directed by Hermann Nitsch), and by Staatstheater Darmstadt (2018).

Place: Italy. Time: 13th century. The subject of each scene is borrowed from the Fioretti and the Reflexions on the Stigmata, books written by anonymous Franciscans of the 14th century. There are seven characters: Saint Francis, the Leper, the Angel, Brother Elias, and three Brothers especially beloved of Saint Francis—Brother Leo, Brother Masseo, and Brother Bernard. Throughout the work one can see the progress of grace in the soul of Saint Francis.

Messiaen's wealth of experience as an orchestral composer manifests itself in Saint François d’Assise. In fact, Messiaen devotes a great majority of the opera's running time to orchestral music, though not to the detriment of character development. The composer reflects the characters' psychological and emotional state through the use of leitmotif and birdsong.

The opera requires a ten part, 150 voice choir, which serves a twofold role: Greek chorus and divine presence. Throughout the piece, the chorus comments on Francis' spiritual journey. The first three scenes include a commentary on the preceding plot action with a "moral." For example, after Francis' conversation with Leo on "perfect joy", the chorus sings the text "He who would walk in my steps, let him renounce himself, take up his Cross and follow me." One could say that this text carries a double purpose—the moral is not only sung, but comes from the mouth of Christ. In the latter scenes of the opera, especially The Stigmata, the chorus perpetuates its image as Christ speaking directly to Francis as He bestows the wounds onto the saint. Messiaen's choral writing, especially the violent, wordless chants during The Stigmata, suggests a mystical, otherworldly presence.

Messiaen's synesthesia caused a perception of colors associated with particular harmonies or musical scale degrees. For instance, when hearing a C natural on the piano, the composer saw "white" before his eyes. In the opera, Messiaen underscores the final moments (Francis' death and ascent into heaven) on a C major chord structure, providing a musical burst of white light. It is unclear whether this final chord structure was coincidental or intentional.

Messiaen traveled to Italy not merely for birdcall research. In Assisi, he visited the Basilica of Saint Francis to study the Giotto frescoes. During rehearsal for the premiere production, the composer coached baritone José van Dam (creator of the title role) in some of the gestures and attitudes evoked on the Giotto masterpieces. Messiaen also made a side trip to Florence. While in the monastery of San Marco, he found inspiration for the Angel's costume in one of several paintings of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico. As a result, the libretto includes a costume note on the exact shade of the Angel's robe (as dictated by the original artwork): a pinkish mauve between lilac and salmon.