Great French composers have made a huge contribution to masterpieces of world musical scene. Being absolutely different in genre, style and creative manner of their authors, those operas are, nevertheless, united by one characteristic feature. The Frenchmen say: “Cherches la femmes” (“Look for the woman”) and, indeed, she is both the main heroine and the centre of attraction of French operas. Sometimes this “femme fatale” is a dangerous seductress whose love turns out to be fatal not only to a man but also to herself. That is the reason why such parts are given to mezzo-soprano (low female voices) as opposed to traditional heroines with high voices. In this category the palm of victory undoubtedly belongs to Carmen – the gypsy girl from the world’s most popular French opera. The secret of Bizet’s scores attractiveness is ingenious in its simplicity: brilliant catchy melodies and bright sparkling rhythm. Most Carmen’s solo numbers are written in traditional Spanish folk genres (Habanera, Seguidilla), matching the character of this sensual and proud heroine. At the same time, the opera contains a lot of beautiful lyrical scenes, including the aria of Jose’s bride and the entract to Act III, depicting the morning in the mountains and Carmen awakening in the arms of her lover.
In no way inferior to Carmen in terms of its force of impact is the music of feminine charms of Dalila from the opera by Camille Saint-Saens. The duet of the two principal characters in Act II is, virtually, a scene of seduction of the bible hero by the conniving Philistinian princess, culminating in the famous Dalila’s aria My heart opens itself to your voice.
The central character of Hector’s Berlioz’ epic operatic duology Les Troyens based on Virgil’s Aeneid, is the Queen of Carthage Didon – “the queen of beauty, intelligence and grace.” Didon’s tragedy, resulting from her lover Énée’s betrayal, assumes a universal scale of catastrophe and with its pathos brings the final fifth act of the opera closer to high antique buskined tragedy as well as to the great classical works by Corneille and Racine.
One of the most wonderful French male arias – Valentin’s cavatina from Charles Gounod’s opera Faust is also devoted to the theme of idealization of a woman. Its divine cantilena symbolizes the image of a virgin, pure angel personified for the hero by his sister Margaret.
The audience will set on the tour across the best scores of French opera music together with Maestro Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre leading opera soloists and the Symphony Orchestra.
Nadezhda Koulygina
