Giralda ou La nouvelle psyché
Giralda ou La nouvelle psyché is an opéra comique with music by Adolphe Adam and a text by Eugène Scribe. It had its first performance at the Opéra-Comique theatre, Paris, on 20 July 1850.[1]
Roles
[edit]| Role | Voice type |
|---|---|
| The Queen of Spain | mezzo-soprano |
| The Prince of Aragon, her husband | bass |
| Don Japhet d'Atocha, a lord | bass |
| Don Manoël, another lord | tenor |
| Rosine, a lady-in-waiting, wife of Don Japhet | speaking part |
| Ginès, a miller | tenor |
| Giralda, his fiancé | soprano |
| Almedo, a farmer | bass |
Synopsis
[edit]
The pious Queen of Spain, accompanied by her husband, is on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. They stop for the night along the way at the cottage of Ginès, a miller, whose wedding day it is. He is to be the bridegroom of Giralda, who however regrets her impending marriage as she has fallen in love with a knight whose name she does not know but who she has seen many times in the vicinity. This is Don Manoël, who bribes Ginès, who really only wants to marry Giralda for her dowry, with twice the sum he is expecting, to take his place at the marriage altar. When he learns that the royal couple has arrived however, Don Manoël, who has committed a political crime and must stay incognito, runs away. While he is gone, Giralda believes herself married in turn to Ginès and an elderly gentleman, Don Japhet. Eventually Don Manoël returns, the Queen pardons his political offence, and he can pronounce himself the happy husband of Giralda.[1][2]
Music
[edit]The overture contains a lively fandango and there is a chorus in the first act accompanied by castanets, giving local Spanish colour.[1] The music throughout the piece is notable for its verve and charm.[1]
Performance history
[edit]The title role was performed at the premiere by Marie Caroline Miolan-Carvalho. The work was a great success at its first performance[3][4] and remained in the repertoire of European theatres for many years. It was presented in English adaptations in London as Giralda, or The Invisible Husband in 1850, in the same year in London as Giralda, or the Miller's Wife and as Giralda, or, Which Is My Husband? also in 1850.[5]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d Letellier, Robert Ignatius (2010). Opéra-comique : a sourcebook. Cambridge Scholars. ISBN 978-1443821407.[page needed]
- ^ Pipers Enzyklopädie des Musiktheaters : Oper, Operette, Musical, Ballet (in German). Piper. 1996. ISBN 978-3492024211.[page needed]
- ^ "Theatre de l'Opéra-Comique". 28 June 1850 – via RIPM.
- ^ Letellier, Robert Ignatius; Fuller, Nicholas Lester (2023). Adolphe Adam, Master of the Opéra-Comique, 1824–1856. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 2. ISBN 9781527590809.
- ^ Adams, William Davenport (2010). A Dictionary of the Drama V1: A Guide to the Plays, Playwrights, Players and Playhouses of the United Kingdom and America, from the Earliest Times to the Present (reprint ed.). Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1163309865.[page needed]
External links
[edit]- Giralda, ou la nouvelle Psyché, opéra comique, 3 acts, 1850 publication, French, digitized by Brigham Young University – via Internet Archive
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