View source for Sapho (Massenet)

{{short description|Opera by Jules Massenet}}

{{Infobox opera 
| name              = Sapho
| image             = Jean de Paleologu - Jules Massenet - Sapho.jpg
| alt               = 
| caption           = Poster by [[Jean de Paleologu]] for the premiere
| composer          = [[Jules Massenet]]
| type       = ''pièce lyrique''
| librettist        = {{plainlist|
* [[Henri Cain]]
* [[Arthur Bernède]]
}}
| language          = French
| based_on          = {{based on |''[[Sappho (novel)|Sappho]]''|[[Alphonse Daudet]]}}
| premiere_date     = {{Start date|1897|11|27|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[Opéra Comique]], Paris
}}
{{Nowrap|'''''Sapho''''' is a ''pièce lyrique''}} ("lyric play", an [[opera]] in a declamatory style) in five acts. The music was composed by [[Jules Massenet]] to a French [[libretto]] by [[Henri Cain]] and [[Arthur Bernède]], based on [[Sappho (novel)|the novel (1884) of the same name]] by [[Alphonse Daudet]].  It was first performed on 27 November 1897 by the [[Opéra Comique]] at the [[Théâtre de la Ville|Théâtre Lyrique]] on the [[Place du Châtelet]] in Paris with [[Emma Calvé]] as Fanny Legrand. A charming and effective piece, the success of which is highly dependent on the charisma of its lead soprano, it has never earned a place in the standard operatic repertory.<ref>Milnes 1992, pp. 176–177.</ref>

== Performance history ==
In its first production in 1897 ''Sapho'' was presented in a heavily truncated form of four tableaux, due to the limited availability of Calvé, as well as the approaching death of Daudet (who was a close friend of Massenet), and the acting deficiencies of the tenor Leprestre, who was playing the romantic lead role of Jean Gaussin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Giroud |first1=Vincent |editor1-last=Branger |editor1-first=Jean-Christophe |editor2-last=Ramaut |editor2-first=Alban |title=La naturalisme sur la scène lyrique |date=2004 |publisher=Publications de l'Université de Saint-Etienne |page=152}}</ref> In this initial run at the Opéra-Comique, the opera received 42 performances.<ref name=MilnesEtc>Milnes 1992, p. 176; Wolff 1953, p. 161; Wild & Charlton 2005, p. 401; Loewenberg 1978, column 1206.</ref>

[[File:Marguerite Carré - Paul Mejat - Gallica (adjusted).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Marguerite Carré]]]]

A revised version, first performed on 22 January 1909 at the Salle Favart, contained a new, sixth scene, added as a second tableau to Act 3. The confrontation at the Ville d'Avray restaurant between Fanny, Jean and Caoudal, now Act 3 sc 1, was shortened, and elements of that added to a scene where Jean goes through Fanny's letters and discovers her past. This revival  was produced by [[Albert Carré]] with decor by Amable and [[Lucien Jusseaume]] and costumes by [[Félix Fournery]], and featured Carré's wife [[Marguerite Carré]], who carried the show. It was revived again on 17 May 1916 and 23 February 1935 and had received a total of 126 representations by the time of its last performance at the Opéra-Comique in 1936.<ref name=MilnesEtc/>

The opera was first performed outside France on 14 April 1898 in Italian at the [[Teatro Lirico (Milan)|Teatro Lirico]] in Milan. This was followed by performances in 1898 in [[Geneva]] and 1899 in [[Lisbon]], [[Alexandria]], [[Algiers]], [[Buenos Aires]], [[Rio de Janeiro]], and [[Bucharest]]. It was later given in [[Antwerp]] (1901), [[The Hague]] (1903), and [[Brussels]] (1903).<ref>Loewenberg 1978, column 1206.</ref>

[[File:Mary Garden as Sappho - Kobbé 1919 - Google Books.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Mary Garden as Sappho]]

Beginning on 17 November 1909 the opera was presented in New York by [[Oscar Hammerstein I|Oscar Hammerstein]] at his [[Manhattan Center|Manhattan Opera House]]. It was sung in French with the popular [[Mary Garden]] as Fanny Legrand, but her performance was considered a disappointment. It was the third Massenet opera to be presented there within a ten-day period, the other two being ''[[Hérodiade]]'' (also a New York premiere) and ''[[Werther]]''.<ref name=NYTimes1909>''The New York Times'' ([https://www.nytimes.com/1909/11/14/archives/this-week-in-the-world-of-music-and-opera-sapho-another-of.html 14 November] and [https://www.nytimes.com/1909/11/18/archives/massenets-sapho-is-disappointing-specifically-musical-element-of.html 18 November 1909]).</ref>

It was revived in a concert performance at [[Carnegie Hall]] on 23 January 1979 with [[Elisabeth Söderström]] as Fanny Legrand. [[Harold C. Schonberg]], writing in ''[[The New York Times]]'', commented:
<blockquote>
It was fun to hear this dated piece, but the chances are that not many impresarios will be rushing to revive it. "Sapho" is, like so many of Massenet's operas, superbly professional. He wrote well for the voice, orchestrated expertly, knew exactly what he was doing. He well knew how to tickle his audience, and could be outrageously sentimental – as he is in the last act of "Sapho," with the solo violin weeping away in the famous Massenet kind of treacle. "Sapho" is a collation, with its quotes (deliberate) from other operas, its touch of folk music, its in-and-out dances, its opportunities for vocal and histrionic display. It is a "vehicle," ... and sopranos must love it.<ref name=Schonberg>Schonberg 1979.</ref>
</blockquote>

The opera was also performed at [[Wexford Festival Opera]] in 2001<ref name=GramWexford>[http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/March%202004/76/744988/ Review of the Wexford Festival recording] in ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]'' (March 2004).</ref> with [[Ermonela Jaho]], and at the [[Massenet Festival]] in Saint-Étienne in 2003 conducted by [[Laurent Campellone]].<ref name=Etienne>[http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb39501607s/PUBLIC ''Sapho'' at Saint-Étienne 2003-11-07] "Notice de spectacle" at [[BnF]].</ref>

== Roles ==
{| class="wikitable"
! Role
! Voice type
! Premiere Cast,<ref>Wolff 1953, p. 161; {{Almanacco|dmy=27-11-1897|match=Sapho}}</ref><br />27&nbsp;November&nbsp;1897<br />(Conductor:<br />[[Jules&nbsp;Danbé]])
! Revised version<ref>Wolff 1953, p. 161</ref><br />22&nbsp;January&nbsp;1909<br />(Conductor:<br />[[François&nbsp;Ruhlmann]])
|-
| Fanny&nbsp;Legrand, ''an artist's model''
|[[soprano]]
| [[Emma Calvé]]
| Marguerite Carré
|-
| Jean Gaussin, ''a young man''
| [[tenor]]
| [[Julien Leprestre]]
| Thomas Salignac
|-
| Irène, ''his adopted sister''
| soprano
| [[Julia Guiraudon]]
| Geneviève Mathieu-Lutz
|-
| Divonne, ''his mother''
| [[mezzo-soprano]]
| [[Charlotte Wyns]]
| Judith Lassalle
|-
| Césaire, ''his father''
| [[bass (vocal range)|bass]]
| [[André Gresse]]
| [[Jean Delvoye]]
|-
| Caoudal, ''a sculptor''
| [[baritone]]
| Marc-Nohel
| [[Jean Périer]]
|-
| A farmer
| tenor
| [[Maurice Jacquet]]
| Maurice Cazeneuve
|-
| A restaurant owner
| baritone
| Dufour
| [[Hippolyte Belhomme]]
|-
|colspan="4"|''Chorus: Guests, strolling players, artists, gypsies.''
|}

== Synopsis ==


:Place: Paris
:Time: late 19th century

The story concerns the beautiful Sapho, an artist's model of a certain age and notorious life, whose real name is Fanny Legrand. She begins an affair with a young man, Jean Gaussin, but the relationship, as is so often the case in opera, is ill-fated.<ref>The synopsis is partly based on, and quoted from ''The New York Times'' (18 November 1909); however, that review describes a performance which lacks the letter scene of Act 3. The synopsis of Act 3 is therefore based on the short summaries in Macdonald 2001, p. 551, and Milnes 1992.</ref>

===Act 1===
''A fancy ball at Caoudal's studio''

Jean Gaussin is a shy and unsophisticated young man from [[Provence]], who has come to Paris to study. At a costume ball given by the sculptor Caoudal, amid the noisy dance music and the mad whirl, the confused Gaussin withdraws and sings of his native country, in a broad and expressive cantabile, one of the few aria-like passages that the opera contains. Fanny, whose fancy is captured by this young man, so strangely different from her friends, promptly makes his acquaintance, and, as the guests are shouting for her to come to supper, takes him away with her.

===Act 2===
''Rooms of Jean Gaussin''

Jean Gaussin is in his lodgings, where his parents are installing him as a student. He sings a song, "O Magali, ma tant amado", based on a traditional melody, which Gounod had already used in ''[[Mireille (opera)|Mireille]]''.<ref>Harding 1970, p. 128.</ref> It reappears later and adds a bit of Provençal local colour to the piece. Other than this song and a fragment of his aria from the first act, all is conversation in music, rapid and free declamation over a continually varied orchestral accompaniment.

Gaussin's father and mother and Irène, a "jeune fille," adopted by them, and evidently destined as the wife for Jean, say "good-bye". No sooner are they out the door than Fanny comes in, unannounced, immediately takes possession of Jean and the apartment, and drives out all memory of his parents. Here is more of the conversational style, interrupted by a duet between these two that has the accent of passion.

===Act 3===
''Scene 1: The restaurant at [[Ville-d'Avray]]''

The lovers are at a little outdoor restaurant near Paris, and still very happy, as they sing together in another duet. There is an artists' dinner at the place, and as the diners arrive there is more lively chorusing and an imitation of a wandering band. By a chance word from Caoudal, Jean learns for the first time that his adored Fanny is none other than Sapho, the notorious model, and he is told something of her past. He is thunderstruck, and when Fanny reappears to join the party, she at once sees what has happened, as Jean turns upon her with rage and leaves. She sings her own rage in music much more declamatory than lyrical, and the scene is suddenly and violently brought to an end.

''Scene 2: Fanny and Jean's house at Ville-d'Avray''

Jean has returned to their house and finds a box belonging to Fanny containing letters from her past lovers. Fanny has followed him. He forces her to burn the letters after reading them first, learning that she has an illegitimate child whose father is a convicted forger. Finding it increasingly difficult to believe that he is her first and only true love, he brutally rejects her and leaves.

===Act 4===
''At [[Avignon]]''

Jean has gone back to his parents in Provence. The "Magali" air is heard in the prelude, sung at a distance. Jean has come back to ask forgiveness, which he very promptly obtains from his mother, in a duet. This is followed by an affectionate air sung by Irène. Unexpectedly Sapho appears, with the obvious intention of reclaiming Jean. He receives her coldly and reminds her of her past and the impossibility of his rejoining her. Fanny is defeated in an encounter with his mother and goes away without him.

===Act 5===
''The little house at Ville-d'Avray''

The long prelude to this act is titled "Solitude". Fanny is alone in the country lodging they previously shared and is about to leave, when Jean returns. She asks him to go again, but he will not have it, and says he is now ready to sacrifice all that life may hold for him. She promises to stay, but as he falls asleep in his chair, though convinced of his sincerity, she steals away and leaves him.

==Recordings==
In 1903 the composer accompanied (on the piano) [[Georgette Leblanc]] on wax cylinder in an extract "Pendant un an je fus ta femme" from the opera.<ref>Jules Massenet: Sapho. In: Kaminski, Piotr. ''Mille et Un Opéras''. Fayard, 2003, p885.</ref>
There are at least three recordings of the complete opera. A recording of a "live performance, London, September 1973" (released on LP c. 1974 by MRF Records, and on CD in 2005 on the Opera D'Oro label) features Milla Andrew as Sapho. A studio recording (released on LP in 1978 by [[EMI Records|EMI]]/[[Pathé Records|Pathé Marconi]] and distributed in the US under the Peters International label; now available on CD) stars [[Renée Doria]] as Sapho. David L. Kirk, writing in ''[[Fanfare (magazine)|Fanfare]]'' magazine says of the Opera D'Oro recording that "there are no distracting stage or audience noises. I suspect this CD is made from LP records because some [[surface noise]] is faintly audible. It is in stereo and the sound is okay." He also says the quality of the two performances is fairly equal, but the sound of the EMI recording is superior.<ref name=Kirk>Kirk 2005.</ref> The Wexford Festival performance is also available on CD.<ref name=GramWexford/>

* 1973: Milla Andrew (Fanny Legrand); Alexander Oliver (Jean Gaussin); George MacPherson (Césaire); Jenny Hill (Irène); Laura Sarti (Divonne); BBC Orchestra & Chorus; Bernard Keefe (conductor); Opera D’Oro OPD7015 (2 CDs: 125:20 ); recorded live in London in September 1973; released in 2005 at two quality levels: in the higher-priced "Grand Tier" format the packaging includes a booklet with notes and the complete libretto.<ref name=Kirk/> [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=kw%3Aandrew+ti%3Asapho+au%3Amassenet&fq=%28x0%3Asnd+%7C+x0%3Aaudiobook+%7C+x0%3Amusic%29&qt=advanced&dblist=638 Listings] at [[WorldCat]].
* 1978: [[Renée Doria]] (Fanny Legrand); Ginès Sirera (Jean Gaussin); Gisele Ory (Divonne); Adrien Legros (Césaire); Elya Waisman (Irène); René Gamboa (Caoudal); Christian Baudean (La Bordérie); Jean-Jacques Doumene (The restaurant keeper); Orchestre Symphonique de la Garde Républicaine; [[Roger Boutry]] (conductor); CDRG 103 (2 CDs: 129:28); no release date; CD includes booklet with notes, but no libretto. The LP version includes the French libretto. [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=kw%3Asirera+ti%3Asapho+au%3Amassenet&qt=results_page Listings] at WorldCat.
* 2001: Giuseppina Piunti (Fanny Legrand); [[Brandon Jovanovich]] (Jean Gaussin); Agata Bienkowska (Divonne); Massimiliano Gagliardo (Césaire); Ermonela Jaho (Irène); [[Luca Salsi]]i (Caoudal); Angel Pazos (La Bordérie); [[Nicolas Courjal]] (The restaurant keeper); [[Wexford Festival Opera]] Chorus; National Philharmonic Orchestra of Belarus; Jean-Pierre Tingaud (conductor); Fonè CD/SACD 023 (2 CDs: 124 minutes); notes and synopsis included.<ref name=GramWexford/> [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=kw%3Awexford+ti%3Asapho+au%3Amassenet&qt=results_page Listings] at WorldCat.

== List of productions ==
{| class="wikitable"
! Start date
! Location, company, theatre<ref>The information in the list of productions is from Loewenberg 1978, column 1206, except as noted.</ref>
! Language
|-
| align="right"| 27 November 1897
| Paris, {{Nowrap|Opéra-Comique}}, [[Théâtre de la Ville|Théâtre&nbsp;Lyrique]]
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 14 April 1898
| Milan, [[Teatro Lirico (Milan)|Teatro&nbsp;Lirico]]
| align="center"| Italian
|-
| align="right"| 25&nbsp;November&nbsp;1898
| [[Geneva]], Théâtre&nbsp;de&nbsp;Neuve
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| January 1899
| [[Lisbon]],  Teatro de San&nbsp;Carlos
| align="center"| Italian
|-
| align="right"| 13 January 1899
| [[Alexandria]], Zizinia&nbsp;Theatre
| align="center"| Italian
|-
| align="right"| March 1899
| [[Algiers]], Théâtre&nbsp;Municipal
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 4 June 1899
| Buenos-Aires, [[Teatro&nbsp;Colón]]
| align="center"| Italian
|-
| align="right"| 15 August 1899
| [[Rio de Janeiro]], Teatro&nbsp;Lirico
| align="center"| Italian
|-
| align="right"| 21 December 1899
| Bucharest, [[Teatrul Național București|Teatrul&nbsp;Național]]
| align="center"| Italian
|-
| align="right"| 12 November 1901
| [[Antwerp]]
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| February 1903
| [[The Hague]]
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 3 November 1903
| Brussels, [[Théâtre&nbsp;de la&nbsp;Monnaie]]
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 22 January 1909
| Paris, {{Nowrap|Opéra-Comique}}, Salle&nbsp;Favart&nbsp;III
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 17 November 1909
| New&nbsp;York, [[Manhattan Center|Manhattan Opera&nbsp;House]]<ref name=NYTimes1909/>
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| December 1909
| Moscow, [[Bolshoi&nbsp;Theatre]]
| align="center"| Russian
|-
| align="right"| 27 December 1913
| New Orleans, [[French&nbsp;Opera&nbsp;House]]
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 22 February 1919
| Barcelona, [[Liceu]]
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 23 February 1935
| Paris, {{Nowrap|Opéra-Comique}}, Salle&nbsp;Favart&nbsp;III
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 14 March 1967
| London, [[St. Pancras Town Hall]],<ref>Macdonald 2001, p. 550.</ref> Opera Concerts Ltd at the [[Camden Festival]]
| align="center"|
|-
| align="right"| 23 January 1979
| New York, [[Carnegie&nbsp;Hall]] (concert)<ref name=Schonberg/>
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 26 October 2001
| [[Wexford Festival Opera]], Theatre&nbsp;Royal<ref name=GramWexford/>
| align="center"| French
|-
| align="right"| 7 November 2003
| [[Saint-Étienne]], [[Massenet&nbsp;Festival]], Grand&nbsp;Théâtre&nbsp;Massenet<ref name=Etienne/>
| align="center"| French
|-
|}

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist}}
'''Sources'''
* [[James Harding (music writer)|Harding, James]] (1970). ''Massenet''. New York: Saint Martin's Press. [http://www.worldcat.org/title/massenet/oclc/96040/editions?editionsView=true&referer=br Editions and formats] at [[WorldCat]].
* Holden, Amanda, editor (2001). ''The New Penguin Opera Guide''. London: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|9780140514759}} (paperback).
* Kirk, David L. (2005). Review of the recording of Massenet's ''Sapho'' on Opera D'Oro OPD7015 (2 CDs). ''[[Fanfare (magazine)|Fanfare]]'', vol. 29, no. 2 (Nov/Dec 2005). [http://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/29_2/2922280.MASSENET_Sapho.html View online] at FanfareArchive.com; retrieved 30 March 2012, subscription required.
* Loewenberg, Alfred (1978). ''Annals of Opera 1597–1940'' (third edition, revised). Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield. {{ISBN|9780874718515}}.
* Macdonald, Hugh (2001). "Jules Massenet" in Holden 2001, pp.&nbsp;342–354.
* [[Rodney Milnes|Milnes, Rodney]] (1992). "''Sapho'' (ii)" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp.&nbsp;176–177.
* [[Stanley Sadie|Sadie, Stanley]], editor (1992). ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. {{ISBN|9781561592289}}.
* Schonberg, Harold C. (25 January 1979). [https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/25/archives/opera-massenet-sapho-out-of-the-past.html "Opera: Massenet 'Sapho'; Out of the Past"]. ''The New York Times''.
*{{cite book |last=Upton |first=George P. |title=The Standard Opera Guide |author2=Borowski, Felix  |year=1928 |publisher=Blue Ribbon Books |location=New York |pages=198–201}}
* Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). ''Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762–1972''. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. {{ISBN|9782870098981}}.
* Wolff, Stéphane (1953). ''Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (1900–1950).'' Paris: André Bonne. {{OCLC|44733987|2174128|78755097}}

== External links ==
*{{IMSLP2 |work=Sapho (Massenet, Jules) |cname=''Sapho'' (1897 original version and 1909 revision)}}

{{Jules Massenet|state=collapsed}}
{{Sappho (novel)}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Operas by Jules Massenet]]
[[Category:French-language operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:1897 operas]]
[[Category:Opera world premieres at the Opéra-Comique]]
[[Category:Operas based on novels]]
[[Category:Operas set in Paris]]
[[Category:Works based on Sappho (novel)]]