The Styrous® Viewfinder: 20,000 Vinyl LPs 247: Georges Bizet ~ Les pêcheurs de perles

Georges Bizet ~ Les pêcheurs de perles

vinyl LP box set front cover detail

cover design by Anne Marie Gille

detail photo by Styrous®

October 25 is the birthday of Georges Bizet (French: [ʒɔʁʒ bizɛ], who was born in 1838, with the name Alexandre César Léopold Bizet.

Bizet was a French composer of the Romantic era and is best known for his operas in a career that was cut short by his death on June 3, 1875, at the age of thirty-six. For most of his life, Bizet had suffered from a recurrent throat complaint. A heavy smoker, he may have further undermined his health by overwork during the mid-1860s, when he toiled over publishers' transcriptions for up to 16 hours a day. In 1868, he informed his music student and friend, Edmond Galabert, that he had been very ill with abscesses in the windpipe: "I suffered like a dog". In 1871, and again in 1874, while completing Carmen, he had been disabled by severe bouts of what he described as "throat angina", and suffered a further attack in late March 1875.

Georges Bizet -1875

photo by Étienne Carjat

He achieved very little success before his final work Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire.

However, my very favorite piece of music by him is from his first significant opera, Les pêcheurs de perles. According to musicologist Winton Dean, "Although it has a dull libretto and a laborious plot, the music rises at times "far above the level of contemporary French opera".

Georges Bizet ~ Les pêcheurs de perles

front cover of vinyl LP box set

cover design by Anne Marie Gille

photo by Styrous®

From Wikipedia:

Its many original flourishes include the introduction to the cavatina Comme autrefois dans la nuit sombre played by two French horns over a cello background, an effect which in the words of analyst Hervé Lacombe, "resonates in the memory like a fanfare lost in a distant forest". While the music of Les pêcheurs is atmospheric and deeply evocative of the opera's Eastern setting, in La jolie fille de Perth, Bizet made no attempt to introduce Scottish colour or mood, though the scoring includes highly imaginative touches such as a separate band of woodwind and strings during the opera's Act III seduction scene. (links to background, roles and synopsis below)

Georges Bizet ~ Les pêcheurs de perles

interior of vinyl LP box set with libretto

photo by Styrous®

Georges Bizet ~ Les pêcheurs de perles

vinyl LP libretto illustration

photo of illustration by Styrous®

For me, the duet, (C'est toi!) Au fond du temple saint, sung by Nadir (Nicolai Gedda), a tenor role, and Zurga (Ernest Blanc), a baritone role, has to be the most sublime male duet in the entire operatic repertoire (link below).

The aria occurs in the first act of the opera; Nadir and Zurga have run into each other after many years. They reminisce about their friendship having been derailed because of their love for the same woman, Leila, sung by Janine Micheau, and how they had each renounced their love for this woman and had sworn to remain true to each other. Now reunited, accompanied by music that is intensely dramatic and emotional, they once again affirm that they will be faithful until death. Though nothing is stated (links below), the homo-erotic undertones are astounding!!!

The aria was used in the film Gallipoli, with Roberto Servile singing baritone, (Zurga) and Bruno Lazzaretti singing tenor (Nadir). It is an Australian war drama, directed by Peter Weir, about rural Western Australian young men who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War (link below).

Gallipoli - 1981

Australian film poster

Gallipoli starred Mel Gibson and Mark Lee; Gibson later said that Gallipoli is, "Not really a war movie. That's just the backdrop. It's really the story of two young men." The film studies the concept of Mateship which is regarded as an Australian military virtue.

The Australian Army Recruit Training Centre lists the "soldierly qualities" it seeks to instill as including "a will to win, dedication to duty, honour, compassion and honesty, Mateship and teamwork, loyalty, and physical and moral courage."

Au fond du temple saint, by Bizet, is heard playing on Major Barton's gramophone before the final attack, drawing a parallel between the bond shared by the ill-fated soldiers of the film and the fishermen in Bizet's opera. In spite of Gibson's animosity to the gay community, which is ironic since one of the large fan bases that brought him to stardom was gay, (links below), the aria is the perfect choice for the situation. The film helped to further Gibson's career; he won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role from the Australian Film Institute.

Georges Bizet ~ Les pêcheurs de perles

vinyl LP libretto illustration

photo of illustration by Styrous®

In 1993 another film used music from Les pêcheurs de perles. Opéra imaginaire (translates as "an opera for the imagination"). It is a 1993 French live-action animated musical anthology film, made for television. It has been compared to films like Fantasia and Allegro Non Troppo, and consists of 12 different segments, most of which are based on different popular operas (link below).

The introduction as well as the end credits utilize the Je crois entendre encore from Les pêcheurs de perles while screenshots from each of the 12 segments appear; and segment six uses Au fond du temple saint also from Les pêcheurs de perles which is sung by Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc in the film as well as this recording. It is a wispy, black-and-white, rotoscoped animation depicting a condensed version of the opera's plot to its famous aria. It is directed by Jimmy T. Murakami. Opéra imaginaire was nominated for best production at the CableACE Awards in 1994.

Georges Bizet ~ Les pêcheurs de perles

vinyl LP libretto page

photos by Richard de Grab (top)

& Claude Poirier (bottom)

photo of page by Styrous®

During a brilliant student career at the Conservatoire de Paris, Bizet won many prizes, including the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1857 and he was recognized as an outstanding pianist. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, during which Bizet served in the National Guard, he had little success with his one-act opera Djamileh, though an orchestral suite derived from his incidental music to the Alphonse Daudet play, L'Arlésienne, was instantly popular. This is a brilliant work that will be a topic in a future article.

The production of Bizet's final opera, Carmen, was delayed because of fears that its themes of betrayal and murder would offend audiences. After its premiere on 3 March 1875, Bizet was convinced that the work was a failure; he died of a heart attack three months later, unaware that it would prove a spectacular and enduring success.

Georges Bizet ~ Les pêcheurs de perles

vinyl LP libretto illustration

photo of illustration by Styrous®

After his death, his work, apart from Carmen, was generally neglected. Manuscripts were given away or lost, and published versions of his works were frequently revised and adapted by other hands. After years of neglect, his works began to be performed more frequently in the 20th century. Later commentators have acclaimed him as a composer of brilliance and originality whose premature death was a significant loss to French musical theatre.

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A     Act I (Part 1)

Side 2:

B1     Act I (Conclusion)
B2     Act II (Part 1)

Side 3:

C     Act II (Conclusion)

Side 4:

D1     Act III, First Part
D2     Act III, Second Part

Companies, etc.

    Manufactured By – Capitol Records

Credits:

    Baritone Vocals – Ernest Blanc
    Bass Vocals – Jacques Mars
    Choir – Chorus Of The Théâtre National De L'Opéra-Comique*
    Conductor – Pierre Dervaux (2)
    Libretto By – Cormon*, Carré*
    Orchestra – Orchestra Of The Théâtre National De L'Opéra-Comique*
    Soprano Vocals – Janine Micheau
    Tenor Vocals – Nicolai Gedda

Notes:

Recorded in France. Includes 12-page booklet in French and English.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Other (Label Record 1): SBL 3603-1
    Other (Label Record 2): SBL 3603-2
    Other (Label Record 1): S. 35700
    Other (Label Record 2): S. 35701
    Other (Label Side A): YLX-X-1066
    Other (Label Side B): YLX-X-1067
    Other (Label Side C): YLX-X-1068
    Other (Label Side D): YLX-X-1069
    Matrix / Runout (Runout Side A): YLX-X-1066-B16
    Matrix / Runout (Runout Side B): YLX-1067-B16
    Matrix / Runout (Runout Side C): YLX-1068-B20
    Matrix / Runout (Runout Side D): YLX-1069-B15

Bizet* | Janine Micheau, Nicolai Gedda, Ernest Blanc, Jacques Mars | Chorus* And Orchestra Of The Théâtre National De L'Opéra-Comique* Conducted By Pierre Dervaux (2) ‎– The Pearl Fishers
Label: Angel Records ‎– 3603
Format: Box Set, Album, Stereo 2 × Vinyl, LP, Stereo
Country: US
Released:
Genre: Classical
Style: Opera

Viewfinder links:

Georges Bizet

Ernest Blanc

Étienne Carjat
Nicolai Gedda
Mel Gibson
Janine Micheau

Net links:

Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) ~

Background
Roles

Synopsis

Classical Inquiries ~ Comments on The Pearl Fishers by Bizet

Mel Gibson's Anti-gay History

Hollywood Reporter ~ Mel Gibson's father calls pope homosexual

Huffpost ~ Celebrity Homophobic Rants

Medicine Opera ~ The Pearl Fishers (Duet lyrics)

NY Daily News ~ Ledger Brokeback Mountain role miffed Gibson