Melodramas

Opera with a Prologue and four Acts (First version) / Opera in five Acts (Second version) Dialogue versions. Par GOUNOD CHARLES. Charles Gounod’s “Faust” secured its international recognition in the version as an entirely sung opera, which from thenceforth has largely obscured the fact that the work was originally composed with spoken dialogues. The early versions staged prior to the 1869 performance at the Paris Opéra containing substantial unknown material and with dialogues and melodramas are the subject of this new edition. (The third version “version opera” was published in a separate edition BA 8713 in 2016.) Even as the rehearsals were taking place at the Théâtre-Lyrique in 1858, during the first series of performances at the theatre in 1859, furthermore as the 1862 revival was approaching and during the performances on the smaller stage at the Place du Châtelet, there were constant changes and revisions. It is, thus, impossible to identify manifestly definitive versions. Nevertheless, by drawing on the entire source material now at hand (including fascinating material only recently discovered) and on the whole gamut of aspects communicated by the reception, Paul Prévost systematically presents us with a score laid out in two main versions in whose chronology constancy and change become transparent. With all the musical changes having been documented, the result is a practicable score for performances which reveals a still far too unknown “Faust” – a “Faust” that is rooted in the tradition of the opéra comique. Quite a few musical numbers are published as a score for the first time in this edition: the trio for Faust, Wagner and Siebel “À l’étude ô mon maître”, the duet of Valentin and Marguerite “Adieu, mon bon frère!”, Méphistophélès’ air “Maître Scarabée”, Siebel’s romance “Versez vos chagrins dans mon âme!”, Valentin’s air with chorus “Chaque jour, nouvelle affaire”, the chorus of witches “Un deux et trois”, and also seven melodramas whose missing or incomplete orchestration has been written for our edition. It was only recently that the long-lost second part of Faust’s original cavatina “Salut! demeure chaste et pure” was unearthed. Only in details of orchestration do other numbers differ from the well-known pieces./ Répertoire / Opéra

The libretto for this work by playwright Henri Meilhac and journalist Philippe Gille is based on L'histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost. Retaining the novel's eighteenth-century setting Massenet's opera offers noisy crowd scenes passionate duets and tense melodramas which certainly pleased the Opera-Comique's patrons - it was an instant popular success. This is the Schirmer edition of the Vocal Score with an English version by George and Phyllis Mead.

The reputation of the Bohemian composer Zdenek Fibich (1850-1900) has always been somewhat overshadowed by that of Bedrich Smetana and Anton n Dvorák. This is a pity for Fibich though he died young made an equally important contribution to the emerging Czech national styl with his wide range of compositions. After starting piano lessons with his mother as his first teacher the boy went on to music school in Prague and then to the Leipzig Conservatoire where he learned his craft as a composer. He spent a few months teaching piano in Paris and then continued his studies with Vinzenz Lachner in Mannheim. Prague was eventually to become the centre for Fibich'smusical activities: as his dream of a post at the Conservatoire remained unfulfilled his main employment was giving private music lessons and as a composer Zdenek Fibich wrote works for many musical genres: vocal and chamber music piano pieces and orchestral works operas stage music and melodramas literary recitals with orchestral accompaniment to which he gave a new lease of life. There are biographical traces to be found in the 376 piano pieces of the collection 'Moods Impressions and Reminiscences' Op. 41 written in 1892-98: this tells of his love for his pupil Anezka Schulzová in the form of a 'piano diary'. Its four volumes were frequently a source of material for other works such as the symphonic poem 'In the Evening' Op. 39 (also known as 'A Summer's Evening' and 'At Twilight') written in 1893. For his second subject in this 'Idyll' Fibich used the minature no. 139 entitled 'Lento' from his collection of piano pieces. The violinst Jan Kubel k played the melody from 1908 onwards with the title 'Poème' and the work is still known today under this title: its easy charm has made it a favourite tune in the classical repertoire. This arrangement is based on the orchestral version from which other material was adapted for the Prelude.