Learn more about this artwork. The ballet opens with Bertram, Robert le Diable's father, entering the ruined cloister of Sainte-Rosalie. (Robert, 1 Knight, Bertram, Knights)Act I Scene 7: Malheur sans egal (Robert, Knights, Bertram)Act II Scene 1: Que je hais la grandeur don't l'eclat m'environne! You are hearing the score from one of the most electrifying moments in the opera, the “Ballet of the Nuns.” Curator Kimberly Jones. Details. Details. Robert le Diable (1831), a grand-opéra in 5 acts, is one of the masterpieces of Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) and one of the most popular and frequently performed operatic works of the 19th century. History. She expresses her love for him and implores him to repent (A group of monks extol the power of the Church. Véron had recently been awarded the Paris Opéra as a private enterprise.

Now, [ballet] clarified matters of the soul. "Both cited in Conway (2012), pp. Warren Mok (Robert), Patrizia Ciofi (Isabelle), Giorgio Surian (Bertram), Annalisa Raspagliosi (Alice), Alessandro Codeluppi (Raimbaut), Domenico Colaianni (Albert)Act I Scene 1: Versez a tasse pleine (Chorus, First Knight, Alberti, Robert) - Scene 2: J'amene devant vous un joyeux pelerin (Alberti Robert, Bertram, Raimbaut)Act I Scene 2: Jadis regnait en Normandie (Raimbaut, Chorus)Act I Scene 2: C'est en trop! The ballerina assured everyone she was unharmed. Le résultat fut un véritable carnage. The initial cast contained leading singers of the period and, as it changed, equally brilliant stars (e.g.

With its supernatural characters, long white tutus (Alice, Bertram, Robert)Act III Scene 6: Qu'a-t-elle donc? Title: The Ballet from "Robert le Diable" Unsettled by the power he's wielding, he confesses to Isabelle that he is using witchcraft, but begs her not to reject him. Victoria and Albert Museum Bulletin 2 (October 1966), pp. The Abbess lures him towards the talisman in the saint's hand. (Robert)Act IV Scene 1: Noble et belle Isabelle (Female Chorus)Act IV Scene 1: Mais n'est-ce pas cette jeune etrangere (Isabelle, Alice)Act IV Scene 1: Frappez les airs, cris d'allegresse (Chorus, Alberti)Act IV Scene 2: Du magique rameau qui s'abaisse sur eux (Robert)Act IV Scene 2: Ah! He reveals to Robert that he is his true father and Robert decides to sign the oath from filial devotion. 150–52, 155, fig. The curtain rose and the performance continued. Both Veron and Meyerbeer however were later to deny the rumours that the composer had subsidized the production. The choreography for the ballet was elaborated by the ballerina's father, A crowd of mute shades glides through the arches. The audience took prurient delight in the scandalous A crowd of mute shades glides though the arches. The nuns continue their dance,fluttering like white moths. Ballet was a divertissement (an entertainment, a distraction). The curtain rose and the performance continued. The scene is night rather than day, and Opening night was spoiled by a falling gaslight and a trapdoor that would not close properly. The short ballet tells of deceased nuns rising from their tombs in a ruined cloister. The Ballet from "Robert le Diable" Edgar Degas 1871. Nourrit was Robert Levasseur, Bertram (the prototype of Mephistofeles); the women of the cast were Mlle. He orders them to seduce his son Robert into accepting a deadly talisman. Véron had recently been awarded the Paris Opéra as a private enterprise. Ballet was a divertissement (an entertainment, a distraction). This was assisted by the marketing skills of the director Véron and the publisher But undoubtedly the novelty and colour of the music of Meyerbeer deserves major credit.

(Letter from Meyerbeer to Heine of December 1831, cited in Becker (1989), p. 46cited in Crosten (1948), p. 99. 2, states that Hecht was the first owner of this picture after Durand-Ruel; compares it to the London version, noting that in ours the portraits of the orchestra members take precedence over the ballet scene onstage. It became a mystery."

The production of "Robert le Diable" in Paris was such a sensational success that it made the fortune of the Grand Opéra. They all praise wine, women and gambling (Isabelle is sad at Robert's absence and expresses her unease that their marriage will never take place (Bertram meets Raimbaut, who has arrived for an assignation with Alice. A precursor of the genre was Ballet of the Nuns, an episode in act 3 of Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Robert le Diable.The ghosts of cloistered nuns who, in life, were unfaithful to their vows are summoned from their graves to tempt the hero, Robert, with dancing, gambling, drink, and love making. There he studied opera, then dominated by The libretto was fabricated on the basis of old legends about Duke The libretto was originally planned as a three-act The contract for the opera, specifying it as a "grand opera in five acts and seven scenes", was signed by the then director of the Opéra, Émile Lubbert, on 29 December 1829. All these women cast off their nuns' costume, they shake off the cold powder of the grave; suddenly they throw themselves into the delights of their past life; they dance like The set for the ballet was an innovative and striking design by By April 1834 the opera had received over 100 performances in Paris.A succession of representations throughout Europe and in the Americas launched Meyerbeer's international fame. (Alice, Bertram, Robert)Act V Scene 3: Que faut-il faire? Before he can do so, Alice appears with the news that the Prince has been prevented from marrying Isabelle. It became a mystery."

Robert seizes it. The choreography was created by either Filippo Taglioni or Jean Coralli. In spite of their sacred vows, the nuns waltz.

A choir of demons is heard.The theme of the ballet is passion and death, and love beyond the grave. He had great faith in Taglioni. (Isabelle)Act II Scene 1: Cavatine: En vain j'espere (Isabelle) - Scene 2: Approchons sans frayeur! It has only a superficial connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Stone slabs slide into place, covering the dead. (Alice, Chorus of Knights, Robert)Act I Scene 4: Va, dit-elle, va, mon enfant (Alice)Act I Scene 4: Je n'ai pu fermer … (Robert, Alice) - Scene 5: Quel est … (Alice, Robert) - Scene 6: Quoi! The sensational plot and the notoriety of the Nuns' ballet ensured that the opera was a hot topic in journals and reviews. 48–49.