Mireille (opera)
| Mireille | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Charles Gounod | |
Miolan-Carvalho in the title role in the premiere
|
|
| Librettist | Michel Carré |
| Based on |
Mireio by Frédéric Mistral |
| Premiere | 19 March 1864 Théâtre Lyrique, Paris |
Mireille is an 1864 opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Michel Carré after Frédéric Mistral's poem Mireio. The vocal score is dedicated to George V of Hanover.
Mistral had become well known in Paris with the publication of the French prose translation of Mireio in 1859, and Gounod probably knew the work by 1861. He was charmed by its originality, the story being much less contrived than many of those on the operatic stage at the time. The action of the opera is quite faithful to Mistral, although the sequence of events of the Val d’Enfer (Act 3, Scene 1) and Mireille's avowal of her love of Vincent to her father (Act 2 finale) are reversed in the opera. Gounod's biographer James Harding has argued that "what matters in this extended lyric poem is not the story but the rich tapestry or Provençal traditions, beliefs and customs that Mistral unfolds."
During the course of composition Gounod spent much time in Provence (March 12 to the end of May 1863), visiting the sites of the action in the poem/opera, and met Mistral on several occasions at his home in Maillane. Gounod stayed at the Hôtel de la Ville Vert in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, and was treated to a banquet by the townspeople on May 26. Presenting class differences in a rural setting was not usual at the time, and as the musicologist Steven Huebner comments "some early reviewers had difficulty accepting that a 'mere' country girl could sing an aria with heroic cut such as 'En marche'."
A pre-performance run-through of the work at Gounod's house included Georges Bizet on the piano and Camille Saint-Saëns on the harmonium. Gounod and the Vicomtesse de Grandval (a composer herself) sang the solo parts.
The opera premiered at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris on March 19, 1864; the first night was attended by Ivan Turgenev, who in a letter to Pauline Viardot, ridicules part of Act 3.
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