Béatrice et Bénédict
| Béatrice et Bénédict | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Hector Berlioz | |
Cover of the first edition vocal score, with illustration by A. Barbizet
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| Description | opéra comique |
| Librettist | Berlioz |
| Language | French |
| Based on |
Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare |
| Premiere | 9 August 1862 Theater der Stadt Baden-Baden |
Béatrice et Bénédict (Beatrice and Benedick) is an opéra comique in two acts by Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based closely on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
Berlioz had been interested in setting Shakespeare's comedy since his return from Italy in 1833, but only composed the score of Béatrice et Bénédict following the completion of Les Troyens in 1858. It was first performed at the Theater der Stadt Baden-Baden on 9 August 1862. Berlioz conducted the first two performances of a German version in Weimar in 1863, where, as he wrote in his memoirs, he was "overwhelmed by all sorts of kind attention."
It is the first notable version of Shakespeare's play in operatic form, and was followed by works by among others Árpád Doppler, Paul Puget and Reynaldo Hahn.
Berlioz biographer David Cairns has written: "Listening to the score's exuberant gaiety, only momentarily touched by sadness, one would never guess that its composer was in pain when he wrote it and impatient for death".
Berlioz described the premiere of Béatrice et Bénédict as a "great success" in a letter to his son Louis; he was particularly taken with the performance of Charton-Demeur (who would create the role of Didon in Paris a year later) and noted that the duo which closes the first half elicited an 'astonishing impact'.
Although it continued to be staged occasionally in German cities in the years after the premiere, the first performance in France only took place on 5 June 1890 at the Théâtre de l’Odéon, promoted by the Société des Grandes auditions musicales de France, conducted by Charles Lamoureux, and with Juliette Bilbaut-Vauchelet and Émile Engel in the lead roles.
Paul Bastide conducted a notable production of Béatrice et Bénédict in Strasbourg in the late 1940s. It was produced at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 1966 conducted by Pierre Dervaux but with recitatives by Tony Aubin, and in February 2010 under Emmanuel Krivine.
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