Two French Men: Berlioz and Bizet in Opera

            Hector Berlioz represents an idealized mythological figure when it comes to Romantic music. In the world of symphonic literature, his autobiographical work Symphonie Fantastique stands as a monument in tone-painting, and his introduction of the “fixed idea” would go a long way in influencing the likes of Wagner in his Lietmotifs as well as Mahler’s reoccurring symphonic themes.  When it came to opera, however; Berlioz did not enjoy the same success as noted by Dr. Margaret Hanning “The dramatic works of Hector Berlioz tend to blur the categories discussed above – one reason, perhaps, that they found little success with the public and have only recently been recognized as important contributions to French Romantic opera.”  His first opera was Benvenuto Cellini which was really more a musical array of scenes without a “well-developed plot” it combined aspects of serious and comic opera and had a vibrant score but was considered too esoteric for the Paris opera-goers.  Berlioz also had a deep fascination with the writings of William Shakespeare and frequently paid homage to the Bard in his compositions (such as the Romeo and Juliet symphony,) it stands to reason that a work for the stage would be at least influence by Shakespeare which is what we see from the opera Beatrice e Benedict, an operatic adaptation of the play Much ado about Nothing.  Berlioz’s major achievement in opera, however; was Les Troyens, which was an adaptation of The Aneid by Virgil; this was an opera in five acts with a profound literary libretto (adapted by Berlioz himself). Only the second part of the opera was staged in the lifetime of the composer, the first part would not be performed until 1890. Les Troyens is nonetheless a powerful contribution to the dramatic landscape of French opera.

            Georges Bizet is probably best known among modern opera fans for his comic opera Carmen (although it was categorized as a comic opera only because it contained spoken dialogue instead of recitative which has since been added to the piece).  Carmen was an incredibly influential piece mostly for its borrowing of Spanish and Romany (Gypsy) melody. These aspects are punctuated by Bizet’s heavy reliance on augmented intervals and chromatic melodicism. There is also heavy reliance in the 7^th and 9^th chords which were frequently in use by Chopin and Liszt whose music Bizet greatly admired. On a more personal note, the first opera I had ever seen was the piece Les Pecheurs de Peles with a dynamic stage and a forty foot statue of a sleeping Vishnu. I remember it mostly for the famous duet between the two principal male characters, that particular scene was fantastically climactic. As I understand it (from watching an interview with Jerry Hadley) “The Pearl Fishers” was a very successful work whereas “Carmen” didn’t fare as well initially. Bizet was also a composer of symphonies, songs and works for solo piano though he is primarily known as a composer of French opera.