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L'heure espagnole

March 03, 2023

L'heure espagnole is a French one-act opera from 1911, described as a comédie musicale, with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on Franc-Nohain's 1904 play ('comédie-bouffe') of the same name[1][2] The opera, set in Spain in the 18th century, is about a clockmaker whose unfaithful wife attempts to make love to several different men while he is away, leading to them hiding in, and eventually getting stuck in, her husband's clocks. The title can be translated literally as "The Spanish Hour", but the word "heure" more importantly means "time" – "Spanish Time", with the connotation "How They Keep Time in Spain".

L'heure espagnole
Opera by Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel in 1912
LibrettistFranc-Nohain
LanguageFrench
Based onFranc-Nohain's play
Premiere
19 May 1911 (1911-05-19)
Opéra-Comique, Paris

The original play had first been performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon on 28 October 1904.[1] Ravel began working on the music as early as 1907,[3] and the opera was first performed at the Opéra-Comique on 19 May 1911.[4]

Performance history

Ravel was closely involved in every aspect of the production as it was prepared for its premiere by the Opéra-Comique at the Salle Favart in Paris.[5] The opera was first performed by the Opéra-Comique on 19 May 1911, in a double-bill with Thérèse by Jules Massenet; after the initial nine performances it was not revived.[4] The Paris Opéra presented it on 5 December 1921 with Fanny Heldy as Concepción, and it enjoyed more success.[6] The opera returned to the Opéra-Comique in 1945 where it continued in the repertoire.[4] Outside France, L’heure espagnole was first seen at Covent Garden in 1919, Chicago and New York in 1920, Brussels in 1921, followed by Basel and Rotterdam (1923), Prague (1924), Hamburg, Stockholm (1925), reaching Buenos Aires in 1932 and Cairo in 1934.[7] The opera was performed for the first time in Canada at the 1961 Montreal Festivals.

Musical background

In relation to Ravel's vocal writing in the opera, Roland-Manuel wrote "The language of the music is linked up as naturally as possible with the music of the language".[8] In an interview published two days before the premiere, Ravel explained his approach to his new opera. "I have written an opéra-bouffe. Apart from [Gonzalve] who sings sérénades and cavatines with deliberately exaggerated melodies, the other rôles will give, I think, the impression of being spoken." Ravel also cited Mussorgsky's The Marriage for the effect he was aiming to achieve in the word setting, and underlined the Spanish elements of the score in his use of jotas, habaneras and malagueñas.[9] Kobbé commented that from "the delightful clock noises of the opening to the Habanera quintet of the end, L'Heure Espagnole is full of charming music",[10] while Grove notes that the opera is one of a group of Spanish influenced works that span Ravel’s career and that in it he employed "a virtuouso use of the modern orchestra".[11]

Roles

Role Voice type Premiere Cast,
19 May 1911
(Conductor: François Ruhlmann)
Torquemada, a clockmaker tenor[12] Maurice Cazeneuve
Concepción, Torquemada's wife mezzo-soprano Geneviève Vix
Gonzalve, a student poet tenor Maurice Coulomb
Ramiro, a muleteer baritone Jean Périer
Don Iñigo Gomez, a banker bass Hector Dufranne[13]

Synopsis

Time: 18th century
Place: The workshop of the clockmaker Torquemada in Toledo, Spain.

The opera takes place in 21 scenes, with an introduction.

Torquemada is at work in his shop when the muleteer Ramiro stops by to have his watch fixed, so that he can fulfill his duties at collecting the town's post. It is Thursday, the day that Torquemada goes out to tend the municipal clocks, so Ramiro must wait. Torquemada's wife, Concepción, enters to complain that her husband hasn't yet moved a clock into her bedroom. After Torquemada has left, she takes advantage of his absence to plan assignations with gentleman friends. However, the presence of Ramiro is initially a hindrance. So she asks him to move a grandfather clock to her bedroom, which he agrees to do.

Meanwhile, she waits for Gonzalve, a poet. He arrives, and is inspired to poetry, but not to lovemaking, where Concepción would prefer the latter. When Ramiro is about to return, she sends him back saying that she chose the wrong clock. She then has the idea of having Gonzalve hide in one clock so that Ramiro can carry him upstairs. After Gonzalve is concealed, Don Iñigo, a banker and another of Concepción's gentleman friends, arrives. When Ramiro returns, she persuades him to carry up the clock with Gonzalve concealed in it, and she accompanies him.

On his own, Don Iñigo conceals himself in another clock. Ramiro enters, asked to watch the shop, and musing on how little he understands of women. Concepción then summons him back upstairs, saying that the clock's hands are running backwards. She and Don Iñigo try to communicate, but Ramiro arrives back with the other clock. Don Iñigo has hidden himself again, and Ramiro now carries up the clock with Don Iñigo upstairs.

With Gonzalve now downstairs, Concepción tries to turn him away from poetry towards her, but Gonzalve is too absorbed to follow her lead. Ramiro returns, and Gonzalve must conceal himself again. He offers to take the second clock up again. Impressed by how easily Ramiro carries the clocks (and their load) upstairs, Concepción begins to be physically attracted to him.

With Gonzalve and Don Iñigo now each stuck in clocks, Torquemada returns from his municipal duties. Both Gonzalve and Don Inigo eventually escape their respective clock enclosures, the latter with more difficulty. To save face, they each have to purchase a clock. Concepción is now left without a clock, but she muses that she can wait for the muleteer to appear regularly with his watch repaired. The opera ends with a quintet finale, as the singers step out of character to intone the moral of the tale, paraphrasing Boccaccio:

Dedication

Ravel dedicated L'heure espagnole to Louise Cruppi,[14] whose son he would later commemorate with one of the movements of Le Tombeau de Couperin .

Orchestration

Recordings

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b Stoullig E. Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique, 30eme edition, 1904. Librairie Paul Ollendorff, Paris, 1905.
  2. ^ Roland-Manuel, p. 52: When Franc-Nohain heard Ravel play the work through to him for the first time, he apparently looked at his watch and said to Ravel "56 minutes".
  3. ^ Hill, Edward Burlingame (January 1927). "Maurice Ravel". The Musical Quarterly. 13 (1): 130–146. doi:10.1093/mq/XIII.1.130.
  4. ^ a b c Wolff, Stéphane. Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique 1900–1950. André Bonne, Paris, 1953.
  5. ^ Kilpatrick E. The Carbonne Copy : tracing the première of L’Heure espagnole. Revue de Musicologie, Tome 95/1. Année 2009.
  6. ^ Roland-Manuel, p. ??
  7. ^ L'Avant Scène Opéra. L'Enfant et les sortilèges & L'Heure espagnole. January 1990.
  8. ^ Roland-Manuel, p. 120.
  9. ^ « C’est un opéra-bouffe » nous dit M. Ravel. Rene Bizet, L’Intransigeant, 17 May 1911. Reproduced in L'Avant Scène Opéra. L'Enfant et les sortilèges & L'Heure espagnole. January 1990, p86.
  10. ^ Kobbé, Gustave. Kobbé's Complete Opera Book, ed Harewood. Putnam, London & New York, 1954, p1060.
  11. ^ Nichols R. L'Heure espagnole. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London & New York, 1997.
  12. ^ In fact designated as 'trial' after the singer Antoine Trial
  13. ^ Although Grove lists Dufranne, Stéphane Wolff (Un demi-siècle d’Opéra-Comique, 1953, in both the opera lists and biographical sketches), and the Durand vocal score give Delvoye as the premiere singer. Roland-Manuel lists Delvoye among the premiere cast (Ravel, 1938/47, English edition, Dennis Dobson Ltd, p62). In addition, Vladimir Jankélévitch (Ravel, 1939) reproduces a photo-set of the original performers, including Delvoye as Don Inigo (p51, Evergreen Profile edition) and L'Avant Scène Opera 127 on Ravel's operas has a reproduction of the original playbill with Delvoye (p116).
  14. ^ L'heure espagnole (Ravel, Maurice), imslp.org/wiki, accessed 17 April 2019
  15. ^ Murphy, Duff (1988). "L'heure espagnole. Maurice Ravel". The Opera Quarterly. 6 (2): 135–137. doi:10.1093/oq/6.2.135.
Sources
  • Clifton, Keith E., Maurice Ravel's L'Heure espagnole: Genesis, Sources, Analysis." Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University, 1998.
  • Roland-Manuel, Alexis, Maurice Ravel. Dover Publications, 1972 ISBN 978-0-486-20695-0
  • Warrack, John and West, Ewan, The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 1992. ISBN 0-19-869164-5

External links

March 03, 2023
heure, espagnole, french, opera, from, 1911, described, comédie, musicale, with, music, maurice, ravel, french, libretto, franc, nohain, based, franc, nohain, 1904, play, comédie, bouffe, same, name, opera, spain, 18th, century, about, clockmaker, whose, unfai. L heure espagnole is a French one act opera from 1911 described as a comedie musicale with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc Nohain based on Franc Nohain s 1904 play comedie bouffe of the same name 1 2 The opera set in Spain in the 18th century is about a clockmaker whose unfaithful wife attempts to make love to several different men while he is away leading to them hiding in and eventually getting stuck in her husband s clocks The title can be translated literally as The Spanish Hour but the word heure more importantly means time Spanish Time with the connotation How They Keep Time in Spain L heure espagnoleOpera by Maurice RavelMaurice Ravel in 1912LibrettistFranc NohainLanguageFrenchBased onFranc Nohain s playPremiere19 May 1911 1911 05 19 Opera Comique ParisThe original play had first been performed at the Theatre de l Odeon on 28 October 1904 1 Ravel began working on the music as early as 1907 3 and the opera was first performed at the Opera Comique on 19 May 1911 4 Contents 1 Performance history 2 Musical background 3 Roles 4 Synopsis 5 Dedication 6 Orchestration 7 Recordings 8 References 9 External linksPerformance history EditRavel was closely involved in every aspect of the production as it was prepared for its premiere by the Opera Comique at the Salle Favart in Paris 5 The opera was first performed by the Opera Comique on 19 May 1911 in a double bill with Therese by Jules Massenet after the initial nine performances it was not revived 4 The Paris Opera presented it on 5 December 1921 with Fanny Heldy as Concepcion and it enjoyed more success 6 The opera returned to the Opera Comique in 1945 where it continued in the repertoire 4 Outside France L heure espagnole was first seen at Covent Garden in 1919 Chicago and New York in 1920 Brussels in 1921 followed by Basel and Rotterdam 1923 Prague 1924 Hamburg Stockholm 1925 reaching Buenos Aires in 1932 and Cairo in 1934 7 The opera was performed for the first time in Canada at the 1961 Montreal Festivals Musical background EditIn relation to Ravel s vocal writing in the opera Roland Manuel wrote The language of the music is linked up as naturally as possible with the music of the language 8 In an interview published two days before the premiere Ravel explained his approach to his new opera I have written an opera bouffe Apart from Gonzalve who sings serenades and cavatines with deliberately exaggerated melodies the other roles will give I think the impression of being spoken Ravel also cited Mussorgsky s The Marriage for the effect he was aiming to achieve in the word setting and underlined the Spanish elements of the score in his use of jotas habaneras and malaguenas 9 Kobbe commented that from the delightful clock noises of the opening to the Habanera quintet of the end L Heure Espagnole is full of charming music 10 while Grove notes that the opera is one of a group of Spanish influenced works that span Ravel s career and that in it he employed a virtuouso use of the modern orchestra 11 Roles EditRole Voice type Premiere Cast 19 May 1911 Conductor Francois Ruhlmann Torquemada a clockmaker tenor 12 Maurice CazeneuveConcepcion Torquemada s wife mezzo soprano Genevieve VixGonzalve a student poet tenor Maurice CoulombRamiro a muleteer baritone Jean PerierDon Inigo Gomez a banker bass Hector Dufranne 13 Synopsis EditTime 18th centuryPlace The workshop of the clockmaker Torquemada in Toledo Spain The opera takes place in 21 scenes with an introduction Torquemada is at work in his shop when the muleteer Ramiro stops by to have his watch fixed so that he can fulfill his duties at collecting the town s post It is Thursday the day that Torquemada goes out to tend the municipal clocks so Ramiro must wait Torquemada s wife Concepcion enters to complain that her husband hasn t yet moved a clock into her bedroom After Torquemada has left she takes advantage of his absence to plan assignations with gentleman friends However the presence of Ramiro is initially a hindrance So she asks him to move a grandfather clock to her bedroom which he agrees to do Meanwhile she waits for Gonzalve a poet He arrives and is inspired to poetry but not to lovemaking where Concepcion would prefer the latter When Ramiro is about to return she sends him back saying that she chose the wrong clock She then has the idea of having Gonzalve hide in one clock so that Ramiro can carry him upstairs After Gonzalve is concealed Don Inigo a banker and another of Concepcion s gentleman friends arrives When Ramiro returns she persuades him to carry up the clock with Gonzalve concealed in it and she accompanies him On his own Don Inigo conceals himself in another clock Ramiro enters asked to watch the shop and musing on how little he understands of women Concepcion then summons him back upstairs saying that the clock s hands are running backwards She and Don Inigo try to communicate but Ramiro arrives back with the other clock Don Inigo has hidden himself again and Ramiro now carries up the clock with Don Inigo upstairs With Gonzalve now downstairs Concepcion tries to turn him away from poetry towards her but Gonzalve is too absorbed to follow her lead Ramiro returns and Gonzalve must conceal himself again He offers to take the second clock up again Impressed by how easily Ramiro carries the clocks and their load upstairs Concepcion begins to be physically attracted to him With Gonzalve and Don Inigo now each stuck in clocks Torquemada returns from his municipal duties Both Gonzalve and Don Inigo eventually escape their respective clock enclosures the latter with more difficulty To save face they each have to purchase a clock Concepcion is now left without a clock but she muses that she can wait for the muleteer to appear regularly with his watch repaired The opera ends with a quintet finale as the singers step out of character to intone the moral of the tale paraphrasing Boccaccio Entre tous les amants seul amant efficace Il arrive un moment dans les deduits d amour Ou le muletier a son tour Among all lovers only the efficient succeed The moment arrives in the pursuit of love When the muleteer has his turn Dedication EditRavel dedicated L heure espagnole to Louise Cruppi 14 whose son he would later commemorate with one of the movements of Le Tombeau de Couperin Orchestration EditWoodwinds Piccolo 2 Flutes 2 Oboes English horn 2 Clarinets in A Bass clarinet in B flat 2 Bassoons Sarrusophone Brass 4 Horns in F 2 Trumpets in C 3 Trombones Contrabass Tuba in C Percussion Timpani Snare drum Bass drum Cymbals Spring Ressort Tambourine Tamtam Triangle Castanets Ratchet Crecelle Whip Fouet Sleigh bells Grelots Tubular bells Glockenspiel Xylophone 3 Clock pendulums Keyboard CelestaStrings Violins Violas Cellos Double basses 2 HarpsRecordings EditVAI VAIA CD 1073 Jeanne Krieger Concepcion Louis Arnoult Gonzalve Raoul Gilles Torquemada Jean Aubert Ramiro Hector Dufranne Don Inigo Gomez Orchestra Georges Truc conductor 1929 recorded under the supervision of the composer INA memoire vive CD IMV027 Geori Boue Concepcion Louis Arnoult Gonzalve Jean Planel Torquemada Roger Bourdin Ramiro Charles Paul Don Inigo Gomez Orchestra Manuel Rosenthal conductor 1944 radio broadcast HMV Denise Duval Concepcion Jean Giraudeau Gonzalve Rene Herent Torquemada Jean Vieuille Ramiro Charles Clavensy Don Inigo Gomez Orchestre de l Opera Comique Andre Cluytens conductor 1953 Decca Suzanne Danco Concepcion Paul Derenne Gonzalve Michel Hamel Torquemada Heinz Rehfuss Ramiro Andre Vessieres Don Inigo Gomez Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Ernest Ansermet conductor 1953 Vox PL7880 Janine Linda Concepcion Andre Dran Gonzalve Jean Mollien Torquemada Jean Hoffman Ramiro Lucien Mans Don Inigo Gomez L Orchestre Radio Symphonique de Paris de la Radiodiffusion Francaise Rene Leibowitz conductor 1953 Deutsche Grammophon 138 970 original LP issue Jane Berbie Concepcion Michel Senechal Gonzalve Jean Giraudeau Torquemada Gabriel Bacquier Ramiro Jose van Dam Don Inigo Gomez Orchestre National de l ORTF Paris Lorin Maazel conductor 1963 Erato ECD 75318 Elizabeth Laurence Concepcion Tibere Raffalli Gonzalve Michel Senechal Torquemada Gino Quilico Ramiro Francois Loup Don Inigo Gomez Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique Armin Jordan conductor 1987 15 Deutsche Grammophon 0289 457 5902 9 Kimberly Barber Concepcion John Mark Ainsley Gonzalve Georges Gautier Torquemada Kurt Ollmann Ramiro David Wilson Johnson Don Inigo Gomez London Symphony Orchestra Andre Previn conductor Naxos 8 660337 Isabelle Druet Concepcion Frederic Antoun Gonzalve Luca Lombardo Torquemada Marc Barrard Ramiro Nicolas Courjal Don Inigo Gomez Orchestre National de Lyon Leonard Slatkin conductor SWR Classic SWR19016CD Stephanie d Oustrac Concepcion Yann Beuron Gonzalve Jean Paul Fouchecourt Torquemada Alexandre Duhamel Ramiro Paul Gay Don Inigo Gomez Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra Stephane Deneve conductor BR Klassik 900317 Gaelle Arquez Concepcion Julien Behr Gonzalve Mathias Vidal Torquemada Alexandre Duhamel Ramiro Lionel Lhote Don Inigo Gomez Munich Radio Orchestra Asher Fisch conductor Kultur DVD Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1987 Anna Steiger Concepcion Thierry Dran Gonzalve Remy Corazza Torquemada Francois Le Roux Ramiro Francois Loup Don Inigo Gomez Frank Corsaro stage director London Philharmonic Orchestra Sian Edwards conductor Fra Musica DVD Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2012 Stephanie d Oustrac Concepcion Alek Shrader Gonzalve Francois Piolino Torquemada Elliot Madore Ramiro Paul Gay Don Inigo Gomez Laurent Pelly stage director London Philharmonic Orchestra Kazushi Ono conductorReferences EditNotes a b Stoullig E Les Annales du Theatre et de la Musique 30eme edition 1904 Librairie Paul Ollendorff Paris 1905 Roland Manuel p 52 When Franc Nohain heard Ravel play the work through to him for the first time he apparently looked at his watch and said to Ravel 56 minutes Hill Edward Burlingame January 1927 Maurice Ravel The Musical Quarterly 13 1 130 146 doi 10 1093 mq XIII 1 130 a b c Wolff Stephane Un demi siecle d Opera Comique 1900 1950 Andre Bonne Paris 1953 Kilpatrick E The Carbonne Copy tracing the premiere of L Heure espagnole Revue de Musicologie Tome 95 1 Annee 2009 Roland Manuel p L Avant Scene Opera L Enfant et les sortileges amp L Heure espagnole January 1990 Roland Manuel p 120 C est un opera bouffe nous dit M Ravel Rene Bizet L Intransigeant 17 May 1911 Reproduced in L Avant Scene Opera L Enfant et les sortileges amp L Heure espagnole January 1990 p86 Kobbe Gustave Kobbe s Complete Opera Book ed Harewood Putnam London amp New York 1954 p1060 Nichols R L Heure espagnole In The New Grove Dictionary of Opera Macmillan London amp New York 1997 In fact designated as trial after the singer Antoine Trial Although Grove lists Dufranne Stephane Wolff Un demi siecle d Opera Comique 1953 in both the opera lists and biographical sketches and the Durand vocal score give Delvoye as the premiere singer Roland Manuel lists Delvoye among the premiere cast Ravel 1938 47 English edition Dennis Dobson Ltd p62 In addition Vladimir Jankelevitch Ravel 1939 reproduces a photo set of the original performers including Delvoye as Don Inigo p51 Evergreen Profile edition and L Avant Scene Opera 127 on Ravel s operas has a reproduction of the original playbill with Delvoye p116 L heure espagnole Ravel Maurice imslp org wiki accessed 17 April 2019 Murphy Duff 1988 L heure espagnole Maurice Ravel The Opera Quarterly 6 2 135 137 doi 10 1093 oq 6 2 135 SourcesClifton Keith E Maurice Ravel s L Heure espagnole Genesis Sources Analysis Ph D dissertation Northwestern University 1998 Roland Manuel Alexis Maurice Ravel Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 978 0 486 20695 0 Warrack John and West Ewan The Oxford Dictionary of Opera 1992 ISBN 0 19 869164 5External links EditL heure espagnole Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title L 27heure espagnole amp oldid 1028946008, 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