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Giacomo Meyerbeer
The Complete Libretti
in Eleven Volumes
(in the Original and in English
Translations by Richard Arsenty with
Introductions by Robert Ignatius Letellier)
Volume 10
The Meyerbeer Libretti
Opéra Comique 2
Le Pardon de Ploërmel
Edited by
Richard Arsenty (translations)
and Robert Letellier (introductions)
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
The Meyerbeer Libretti: Opéra Comique 2 Le Pardon de Ploërmel, Edited by Richard Arsenty
(translations) and Robert Letellier (introductions)
This book first published 2006 as part of The Complete Libretti of Giacomo Meyerbeer in Five
Volumes. This second edition first published 2008.
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2008 by Richard Arsenty (translations) and Robert Letellier (introductions)
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-84718-969-5, ISBN (13): 9781847189691
As the eleven-volume set: ISBN (10): 1-84718-971-7, ISBN (13): 9781847189714
Photograph by Nadar (Paris, 1859)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ........................................................................................................ ix
Introduction ................................................................................................ xi
The Libretti:
Le Pardon de Ploërmel................................................................................ 1
PREFACE
Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most important and influential opera
composers of the nineteenth century, enjoyed a fame during his lifetime
unrivalled by any of his contemporaries. His four French grand operas
were in the standard repertory of every major opera house of the world
between 1831 and 1914. But his stage works went into an eclipse after
the First World War, and from then until the 1990s were performed only
occasionally. Now a rediscovery and reevaluation of his lyric dramas is
under way. More performances of his operas have taken place since 1993
than occurred during the previous twenty years. This presents a problem
for anyone who wants to study the libretti of his operas. The texts of
his early stage works are held by very few libraries in the world and
are almost impossible to find, and the libretti of his more famous later
operas, when come across, are invariably heavily cut and reflect the
performance practices of a hundred years ago. This eleven-volume set,
following on from the original five-volume edition of 2004, provides
all the operatic texts set by Meyerbeer in one collection. Over half of
the libretti have not appeared in print in any language for more than
150 years, and one of the early German works has never been printed
before. All of the texts are offered in the most complete versions ever
made available, many with supplementary material appearing in addenda.
Each libretto is translated into modern English by Richard Arsenty; and
each work is introduced by Robert Letellier. In this comprehensive
edition of Meyerbeer's libretti, the original text and its translation
are placed on facing pages for ease of use.
INTRODUCTION
Le Pardon de Ploërmel (Dinorah)
WORLD PREMIÈRE
4 April 1859
Paris, Opéra-Comique
Dinorah.........................................................................Marie-Josèphe Cabal
Hoël ............................................................................... Jean-Baptiste Faure
Corentin .................................................................... (Monsieur) Sainte-Foy
Un Chasseur .................................................................. (Monsieur) Bareille
Un Faucheur ........................................................... Victor-Alexandre Warot
Deux Pâtres..............................................................(Mlles) Bélia et Breuillé
Deux Chevrières ................................................... (Mlles) Decroix et Dupuy
The Shadow Dance in Act 2.
xii
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Once again, as soon as Meyerbeer had successfully completed one
work, his thoughts turned to a new project, another opéra comique. One of
the keys to a proper understanding of Meyerbeer's work is genre, the
contours and characteristics demanded by the conscious adaptation of
creativity to the expectations of an established type with its modes of
procedure. The element of genius lies in the provision of something
unexpected or novel within the given delineation. The role of the pastoral
is very strong in Meyerbeer's work, from Jephthas Gelübde on, and it
seems that the impulse towards a fuller expression of this mode had
become a compulsion the composer could no longer resist. For undisclosed
reasons he turned not to his usual collaborator, the fecund and ingenious
Scribe, but to the working partnership of the newly emerging talents of
Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. They were already making a name for
themselves as gifted adaptors of classic works of literature for the operatic
stage.
That the composer was not totally happy with the book presented to
him is evident from the further work on the libretto he records in his diary.
He sought the advice of Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer during April and May
1855 (seven meetings). (This is of particular interest as her recent play
Die Grille [1856] had been based on Georges Sand’s La Petite Fadette
[1848], a novel based on the customs and traditions of the region of
Berry.) In May and June the composer also sought the help of his secretary
Georges-Frédéric Burguis (1823-1866), presumably to translate some of
Birch's new words into French.
Further German emendations and additions by the composer himself
were made in August and September 1855, and were translated by the
littérateur and historian Joseph Duesberg in September and October. Birch
was consulted again about the finale on 4 May 1857, and Meyerbeer
records completing the opera on 6 May, observing that the soprano scene
needed to be developed. Later, on 12 August, Carré met with Meyerbeer,
presumably to hand over the text of what was to become the most famous
moment in the opera, the Shadow Scene, where the demented heroine
dances in the moonlight with her own reflection. The composer worked on
this during late October and early November, and declared the opera
completed on 18 November 1857. All preparation was put on hold for
months because of his prolonged visit to Nice with his family from
December 1857 to April 1858. He drew up the contract with the Opéra
Comique during October and November 1858, while beginning a
punishing schedule of rehearsals on 26 October. These were to continue
without much interruption until the final dress rehearsal on 2 April 1859.
The première on 4 April was another of Meyerbeer's great triumphs.
xiii
Dinorah is the product of a composer's most mature gifts. Meyerbeer's
determination to compose this opera, its themes and technical perfection,
suggest its closeness to his heart, to something vital in his artistic
imagination. While on the surface of things it appears merely as the whim
of an old man, a slight tale about a peasant girl, a goatherd and a hidden
treasure, the simplicity belies a rather more complex subtext. The Breton
tale and its milieu provided an excellent opportunity for Meyerbeer's
penchant for couleur locale. The French title Le Pardon de Ploërmel
immediately combines the pastoral location with a strongly religious
intention, the Breton custom of an annual pilgrimage of grace to a local
shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The original title had been Le
Chercheur des trésors (20 May 1854), and the combination of remote
country place, religious belief and the seeking of treasure provide the
essential contours of the symbolic concerns of the story.
The scenario begins with a state of disruption: the pre-story described
tonally in the extended overture describes how Dinorah's marriage to Hoël
is disrupted by a terrific storm which also destroys Dinorah's home. Her
fiancé decides to seek out a legendary lost treasure to make good all the
loss, but has been gone so long that Dinorah, feeling herself abandoned,
wanders dementedly about the countryside in the company of her goat.
All three of the characters are in various states of mental discord:
Dinorah is mad; Hoël is maniacally obsessed with the treasure he can
never find; and the bagpiper Corentin, a type of the holy fool, is a nervous
wreck because of his fears of the local superstitions (fueled by sightings of
the 'Queen of the Korigans', in fact the fey Dinorah). The violence of
nature and the destructive power of greed and superstition seem to flow
symbolically into the notion of the mysterious treasure that is never found
or even glimpsed, but negatively affects the actions and intentions of all
the characters. The evil legends surrounding it, its location in a haunted
valley, the death assured to its first finder, its association with the local
wizard Tonic, turn it into a destructive talisman. Hoël's love for Dinorah is
clouded while he is held enthralled by the riches he dreams will be his; he
is so obsessed as to be prepared to sacrifice the life of the gullible Corentin
in pursuit of his quest. Dinorah remains locked in her madness, dancing in
the moonlight like an elemental emanation of nature, warning of the
deadly legend of the treasure.
The dramaturgical device of the times of day and weather are used
here, as in earlier operas, to underpin the unfolding of the moral drama.
Act 1 (afternoon) is the exposition of the situation and the gathering clouds
of a storm; act 2 (night) sees the development and complication of the plot,
the stages of delusion are intensified as the storm lours; the dramatic
xiv
Giacomo Meyerbeer
interaction of the three characters reaches a pitch as the tempest breaks and
Dinorah is precipitated into the coursing torrent and Hoël leaps in to save
her. Act 3 (morning) sees the resolution, as the repentant and chastened
Hoël carries Dinorah in his arms. Her life is saved, he is cured of his
delusion, and her reason is restored. All the darkness, confusion and
sadness now seems like a bad dream. As they are caught up in the
procession to Our Lady's shrine, they see her as the patroness of their newfound healing and blessing.
This resolution provides a dichotomy of disruption and wholeness, of
darkness and light, of dark storm and radiant sunshine.1 A whole series of
images of confusion and disruption are dissipated and resolved: memory,
dream, madness, delusion, obsession, superstitious dread and fear. In this
process of transformation from one state to another, nature occupies a
central position, at one moment sinister and destructive, then benign and
uplifting. The most dramatic agent of transformation here is Dinorah's
famous white goat, at once a symbol of demonic agency and pastoral
simplicity. The goat shows the way to the most important of earthly
treasures: deepest nature, which Goethe's Mephistopheles identifies as
gold and the female womb (true womanhood). This, ironically, becomes
true since the goat leads Dinorah, and also the pursuing Hoël, to the torrent
that becomes the entry into regeneration. The flood in fact becomes a type
of new baptism, which in turns connects with the other sacramental images
of confession and communion. These open into the ultimate crown of
integration, marriage to Dinorah, under the patronage of the ultimate
embodiment of the highest female principle, the Blessed Virgin. The goat
has lead Hoël to his true treasure, the restored Dinorah, and over and
above her, the Virgin in the grace of Ploërmel. So the slight pastoral tale in
fact turns out to be a little parable of redemption.
The tale can be seen in terms of various thematico-dramatic nuclei: 1)
an archetypal conflict between good and evil: 2) adumbration of the idyll,
realized in the imagery of a Breton folktale: 3) the schizophrenia of the
hero/antihero Hoël, divided between selfless love and demonic obsession;
4) the madness of the heroine Dinorah, the victim of human betrayal, and
an elemental emanation of nature, the alter ego of Giselle, and a cousin of
Lucia di Lammermoor, a quintessentially Romantic figure.
It is important to bear in mind the role of genre in this refined and
specialized work. The pastoral tradition, so often a vital ingredient in
Meyerbeer's operatic scenarios, is here given central treatment. Each of the
acts begins with a rustic chorus that sets the mood—the peasants returning
1
LETELLIER, Robert Ignatius. "Meyerbeer and the comic spirit: miniature
variations on grand themes". See BRISTOL SYMPOSIUM 1998.
xv
home in the dusk, wary and cautious, their folk superstitions mingling
uneasily with their faith in the Virgin of the Heather; act 2 depicts a merry
group making its way home after a drink in the local tavern; the last act
opens with a sustained aubade to the new day. There is a remote,
otherworldliness about the story, the setting and the stock types; and this is
nowhere more evident than in the intermezzo that opens act 3, where the
rustic types of the traditional pastoral, hunter, poacher, reaper, and
goatherd, all appear to offer a matinale greeting the fresh new day after the
storm, each singing a genre piece about their rustic pursuits. Meyerbeer
deliberately uses antique forms, like the villanelle, a musical setting of a
rustic poem of five three-line stanzas, to characterize this appropriation of
an ancient genre. The fact that the intermezzo concludes with a three-voice
setting of the Pater Noster emphasizes the intertwining of the pastoral and
religious elements of the story. Only when the two strands come together
is resolution possible.
The quaintness of the country types with their superstitious folklore
and simple faith is used to investigate a series of ironies. Escape from
miserable mundaneness is explored in the motifs of delusion and the
distorted apprehension of the world: where does reality end and dream
begin? How stable is our core of perception? Madness, somnambulism,
night and dreams were recurrent Romantic vectors for exploring these
issues, as they are here. The theory of the grotesque underlies the
psychological implications as darkness and fear give way to light and
reason. The bogey of superstition is stripped of its potency as magic is
shown to be an appurtenance of distorted perception.
Meyerbeer's use of the pastoral is part of the reinvesting of old forms
with new meaning which is so characteristic of this opera. Dinorah's role,
with its brilliant vocal writing, is in the mainstream of the traditions of bel
canto. As in L'Étoile du Nord, he revisits the conventions of the coloratura
soprano and the mad scene. Dinorah's soliloquy in the moonlight is
actually a complex scena of romance, bravura aria, and legend that stands
at the center of the action and the heart of the opera. Here her pathetic
plight, enchanted delirium and prophetic admonitions explore aspects of
her 'madness': she 'becomes' part of nature itself, the very spirit of romance
and folklore, an eerily detached seer unconsciously controlling the course
of action. Hoël's great treasure aria in act 1, full of complex variety and
surging power, is also a type of mad scene, as he discusses the 'powerful
magic' that keeps him enthralled. In spite of his lucid moment of
commitment to the ideal of his love for Dinorah, the talisman of the
treasure bewitches him into psychological obsession. He is prepared to
sacrifice the life of the gullible Corentin, if necessary, to achieve his ends.
xvi
Giacomo Meyerbeer
The sinister ritual of the ‘conjuration’, the spell he induces the frighened
boy to mutter, is in fact an evocation of the powers of darkness and an
invitation to rupture the ties of loving-kindness:
Si tu crois revoir ton père expirant,
Si ta mère en deuil t’appelle en pleurant,
Si ta belle enfin passe en soupirant
Infernal mensonge.
Prestige trompeur
Folle erreur,
Vain songe
Qui fuit
Dans la nuit.
Only when Hoël can break the hold of this mania in a pure act of love
is he open to change of heart: his 'remorse' becomes a kind of confession, a
sacramental emotional cleansing and healing of mind and heart. The tonal
purity and simple pathos of his act 3 romance is the musical embodiment
of this cleansing.
The symbolic implications of this scenario brought out all the richness
of Meyerbeer's mature mastery. The score is his most virtuoso orchestral
accomplishment: the huge overture, really a tone poem, the atmospheric
entr’actes, and the overall imagination of his instrumentation, create an
extraordinary tapestry of sound. He also continues the pattern of revisiting
old genres and reinvesting them with fresh insights. The score is held in
tension between extreme musical forms. On the one hand is the solemn
dignity of the marche religieuse and the hymn to Our Lady of the Heather,
heard first in the overture, and then at the climax of act 3, is the motif of
the 'Pardon', of the spirit of grace and healing forgiveness.
Salve! Sainte Marie,
Notre Dame des bruyères,
Daigne exaucer nos voeux!
Nous t’apportons pour offrandes
Des simples guirlandes,
Des coeurs pieux!
Sainte Marie,
Notre Dame des bruyères
Daigne exaucer nos voeux!
Sainte Marie! Sainte Marie!
The fluent, rushing motif of the mad Dinorah which begins the
overture and marks her demented entries, represents the other pole, the
world of enchanted superstition and delusion. Dance rhythms of every
xvii
kind predominate in the arias and ensembles of the first two acts (galop,
tarantella, bolero and waltz), capturing the fleeting moods, the chiaroscuro
landscapes and fickle emotional worlds of the action.
Hector Berlioz referred to the “ingenious, subtle, piquant and often
poetic” qualities of this refined opera,2 while for Hans von Bülow it was
“...an admirable, clean, elegant, clever buon-gustajo score, singularly
adapted to polish the orchestra” (3 October 1879, writing to Alois Schmitt).3
Meyerbeer's second opéra comique enjoyed great success, and was
performed over 200 times in Paris until 1900. While it never attained the
popularity of the grands opéras, it nevertheless spread throughout Europe
and the world, as with all Meyerbeer's French works (e.g. Havana 1872,
Buenos Aires 1872, Santiago 1883). It was a particular favourite in
London and given at Covent Garden 121 times until 1869, 77 times in
Vienna until 1875, and 28 times in Parma. It remained a favourite work of
singers like Patti and Galli-Curci who performed it into the 20th century
(Milan 1904, Chicago 1917, New York 1918 and 1925). Modern revivals
have been in Brussels 1953, a recording by Opera Rara 1980, and further
productions in Trieste 1983, Dortmund 2000, Parma 2000, and Compiègne
2002.
The Procession of the Pardon in Act 3.
2
Hector BERLIOZ, Journal des Débats, 10 April 1859.
BÜLOW, Hans von. Briefe und Schriften. Ed. Marie von BÜLOW. 8 vols.
Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1895-1936.
3
xviii
Giacomo Meyerbeer
The Librettists
Jules Barbier (b. Paris, 8 Mar. 1822; d. Paris, 16 Jan. 1901) and Michel
Carré (b. Paris, 1819; d. Argenteuil, 27 June 1872). They collaborated on
many libretti, providing texts derived from many authors, including
Goethe, Shakespeare, Dante and E. T. A. Hoffmann. They regularly
transformed the subjects in a conventionalized, often sentimentalized,
version of the original in a formula that was extremely effective in terms
of contemporary French opera. Their libretti include: Gounod (Faust,
Philémon et Baucis, Roméo et Juliette, Polyeucte); Meyerbeer (Dinorah);
Thomas (Hamlet, Mignon, Francesca de Rimini); Offenbach (Les Contes
d'Hoffmann), and on the lighter side Massé (Les Noces de Jeannette).
Johann Christoph Grünbaum (b. Haslau bei Eger, 18 Oct. 1785;
d.Berlin, 10 Jan. 1870). He won fame as a tenor, singing in Prague (180711) and then at the Court Opera in Vienna until 1832. He then moved to
Berlin where he was active as a singing teacher and translator. For
Meyerbeer, he provided the German version of Dinorah and the German
versions of several of his songs.
Jules Barbier.
LE PARDON DE PLOËRMEL
OPÉRA-COMIQUE EN TROIS ACTES
Paroles de
Jules Barbier et Michel Carré
Musique de
Giacomo Meyerbeer
THE PILGRIMAGE TO PLOËRMEL
OPÉRA-COMIQUE IN THREE ACTS
Libretto by
Jules Barbier and Michel Carré
[with additional German words by Giacomo
Meyerbeer and Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer, translated into French by Georges-Frédéric Burguis
and Joseph Duesburg respectively]
Music by
Giacomo Meyerbeer
2
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Personnages (Dramatis personae):
Dinorah (Dinorah)
Hoël (Hoël)
Corentin (Corentin)
Un Chasseur (A Huntsman)
Un Faucheur (A Reaper)
Deux Pâtres (Two Shepherds)
Deux Chevrières (Two Goatgirls)
Loïc (Loïc)
Claude (Claude)
La scène se passe en Bretagne.
The action takes place in Brittany.
WORLD PREMIÈRE
4 April 1859
Paris, Opéra-Comique
Dinorah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marie-Josèphe Cabal
Hoël . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jean-Baptiste Faure
Corentin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Monsieur) Sainte-Foy
Un Chasseur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Monsieur) Bareille
Un Faucheur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victor-Alexandre Warot
Deux Pâtres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Mlles) Bélia et Breuillé
Deux Chevrières . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Mlles) Decroix et Dupuy
SOURCES CONSULTED FOR TRANSLATION
Le Pardon de Ploërmel; opéra-comique en trois actes. Jules Barbier et
Michel Carré (paroles), Giacomo Meyerbeer (musique).
Paris: Brandus & Dufour, 1859.
3
[First edition of the full orchestral score with spoken dialogue. The
composer’s manuscript score is missing.]
Le Pardon de Ploërmel; opéra en trois actes. “Edition contenant les
récitatifs et les morceaux ajoutés par l’auteur.” Jules Barbier et
Paris: Benoit, 1885.
[A later edition of the score with sung recitatives replacing the spoken
dialogue.]
Le Pardon de Ploërmel; opéra-comique en trois actes. Jules Barbier et
Paris: Michel Lévy Frères, 1859.
[Second edition of the published libretto; used for additional stage
directions and scenic descriptions.]
4
Giacomo Meyerbeer
TABLE OF MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACTE I
Ouverture
1a. Choeur Villageois . . . . . . . . . .. Le jour radieux — Se voile à nos yeux
2. Récitatif et Berceuse de Dinorah . . . Bellah, ma chèvre chérie
2bis. Air de Cornemuse
3. Couplets de Corentin . . . . Dieu nous donne à chacun en partage
4a. Duo de Dinorah et Corentin, 1er partie . . . Encor, encor, encor
4b. Duo de Dinorah et Corentin, 2me partie . . . Sonne, sonne, gai sonneur
5. Grand Air d’Hoël . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ô puissante magie
6. Scène et Conjuration d’Hoël et Corentin . . . . . . . Si tu crois revoir ton
père expirant
7. Duo Bouffe d’Hoël et de Corentin . . . . . . Un trésor, bois encor
8. Terzettino de la Clochette . . . . . . . . Ce tintement que l’on entend
ACTE II
Entr’acte
9. Choeur (le Retour du cabaret) . . . . . . .Qu’il est bon, le vin
10a. Récitatif et Romance de Dinorah . . . . . . . . Me voici, Hoël doit
m’attendre ici
10b. Le vieux sorcier de la montagne
11a. Scène et Air de Dinorah . . . . . . . . . . Allons vite, prends ta leçon
11b. Ombre légère qui suis mes pas
12. Chanson de Corentin . . . . . . . . . Ah! que j’ai froid! ah! que j’ai peur!
13. Légende de Dinorah. . . . . . . . . Sombre destinée, âme condamnée
14. Duo d’Hoël et de Corentin . . . . . . . . . .Quand l’heure sonnera
15. Grand Trio Final . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taisez-vous! — Pauvre victime
ACTE III
Entr’acte
16a. Récitatif . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . En chasse, piqueurs adroits
16b. Chant du Chasseur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Le jour est levé
5
17. Chant du Faucheur . . . . . . . . . . . Les blés sont bons à faucher
18. Villanelle des deux Pâtres . . . . . . . . . . Sous les genévriers
19a. Scène . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bonjour, bergers
19b. Pater Noster, à quatre voix . . . . . . . . . . . Mon Dieu, notre père
20a. Mélodrame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comment, encor vivante!
20b. Romance d’Hoël . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ah! mon remords te venge
21a. Récitatif et Duo de Dinorah et Hoël . . . . Un songe, ô Dieu!
21b. Choeur du Pardon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sainte Marie
21c. Morceau d’Ensemble
6
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Ouverture
[Au cours de l’ouverture, et avant que le rideau se
lève, on entend un choeur de très loin.]
CHOEUR
Salve! Sainte Marie,
Daigne exaucer nos voeux!...
Nous t’apportons pour offrandes
Des simples guirlandes,
Des coeurs pieux!
Sainte Vierge,
Daigne exaucer nos voeux!...
Sainte Marie!... Sainte Marie!...
ACTE PREMIER
“Le Soir”
Un site accidenté et sauvage éclairé par les
derniers rayons du soleil couchant. Sur le premier
plan, la chaumière de Corentin. Porte à droite. Au
fond, une fenêtre basse. À gauche, un vieux fauteuil;
table et buffet rustiques. Plusieurs sentiers se croisent
aux flancs de la colline qui domine la cabane. Çà et
là des touffes de bruyère, quelques arbres tordus par
le vent, etc. De larges bandes lumineuses sillonnent
l’horizon.
Des chevriers traversent le fond de la scène et
se rencontrent avec d’autres paysans qui descendent
la colline.
CHOEUR VILLAGEOIS
Le jour radieux
Se voile à nos yeux,
La fleur de lavande
Parfume la lande;
Chevreaux noirs et blancs,
Overture
[During the overture, and before the curtain rises, a
distant chorus is heard.]
CHORUS
Hail! Holy Mary,
Our Lady of the Heather,
Deign to grant our prayers!...
We bring you simple garlands
And pious hearts
As offerings!
Holy Virgin,
Our Lady of the Heather,
Deign to grant our prayers!...
Holy Mary!... Holy Mary!...
ACT ONE
“Evening”
A wild, hilly place lit by the last rays of the setting sun. In the foreground, Corentin’s hut. A door on
the right, a low window at the back. On the left is an
old armchair, a rustic table and dresser. Several paths
cross on the side of the hill that rises behind the cabin.
Here and there are clumps of heather, some trees bent
by the wind, etc. Broad bands of light streak the horizon.
Some goatherds cross the back of the scene and
meet other peasants who are descending the hill.
PASTORAL CHORUS
The radiant day
Has clouded over;
The scent of lavender
Perfumes the heath;
Black and white goats,
7
8
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Agnelets bêlants,
Suivez qui vous mène!...
Hâtons le pas, hâtons le pas,
Quittons la plaine...
(d’une voix mystérieuse)
Car déjà là-bas
Nains et korrigans
Prennent leurs ébats!...
Le jour radieux, etc.
(Tous se mettent en route pour partir, mais au côté
opposé vient deux jeunes chevrières, alors ils s’arrêtent.)
DEUX JEUNES CHEVRIÈRES
Gui, lon, la,
Suivons le vert sentier,
Gui, lon, la,
Où fleurit l’églantier!
La cloche du hameau
Mêle ses sons pieux
Au tintement joyeux
Des clochettes de mon troupeau!
Gui, lon, la, lon la,
Suivons le vert sentier, etc.
CHOEUR VILLAGEOIS (frappant les mains)
La!... la!... la!... la!...
Lon la!... lon la!... gui, lon, la!...
Le jour radieux, etc.
LES DEUX CHEVRIÈRES
Gui, lon, la!... gui, lon, la!... etc.
(Les paysans s’éloignent.)
Bleating lambs,
Follow your bellwether!...
Let’s hurry, let’s hurry,
Let’s leave the plain...
(in a mysterious voice)
For dwarfs and elves
Are already holding
Their revels down there!...
The radiant day, etc.
(They all start to leave, but when two young goatherds
enter from the opposite direction, they stop.)
TWO YOUNG GOATHERDS
Gui, lon, la,
Let’s follow the green path,
Gui, lon, la,
Where the sweetbriar blooms!
The village bell
Blends its pious tones
With the merry jingling
Of my flock’s bells!
Gui, lon, la, lon la,
Let’s follow the green path, etc.
PASTORAL CHORUS (clapping their hands)
La!... la!... la!... la!...
Lon la!... lon la!... gui, lon, la!...
The radiant day, etc.
THE TWO GOATHERDS
Gui, lon, la!... Gui, lon, la!... etc.
(The peasants depart.)
9
10
Giacomo Meyerbeer
UNE CHEVRIÈRE (parlant à ses compagnes)
Regardez donc! c’est la folle qui court après sa
chèvre!
(Les dernières notes du choeur se perdent dans l’éloignement; une chèvre blanche traverse le fond du
théâtre et disparaît en bondissant. Dinorah traverse le théâtre en cherchant sa chèvre, et disparaît. Le
chèvre paraît sur la hauteur du chemin, puis quitte
la scène. Dinorah reparaît; elle s’arrête et écoute.
Elle porte l’élégant costume d’une mariée bretonne.)
DINORAH (appelant)
Bellah! ma chèvre chérie!
(s’impatientant)
Bellah! Bellah! cesse de te cacher!
Je suis lasse de te chercher!
(passant à une autre idée)
J’avais une chèvre blanche,
Au front étoilé de noir...
Dans l’ombre en vain je me penche!
Reviens, Bellah! voici le soir...
On nous croit folles l’une et l’autre,
Mais tu sais bien
Qu’il n’en est rien...
Leur bonheur ne vaut pas le nôtre!
(s’approchant d’une touffe de bruyère qu’elle écarte
avec précaution)
Ah! la voici! oui, la voici!
Chut! elle dort!
(Elle va vers l’endroit où elle s’imagine voir la chèvre, et fait semblant de la prendre dans ses bras.)
A GOATHERD (speaking to her companions)
Look there! It’s the mad girl chasing after her goat!
(The last notes of the chorus fade away in the distance; a white goat crosses the back of the scene and
scampers away. Dinorah crosses the scene looking
for her goat, then vanishes. The goat appears on top
of the hill, then leaves. Dinorah reappears; she stops
and listens. She is wearing an elegant Breton wedding dress.)
DINORAH (calling out)
Bellah! My dear little goat!
(growing impatient)
Bellah! Bellah! Stop hiding!
I’m tired of searching for you!
(Her mind passes to another thought.)
I had a little white goat,
A black star on its forehead...
I’m searching in vain in the darkness!
Come back, Bellah! Night is falling...
People think the two of us are mad,
But you well know
That isn’t true...
Their happines doesn’t compare to ours!
(approaching a clump of heather which she pushes aside cautiously)
Ah, there she is! Yes, there she is!
Hush! She’s sleeping!
(She goes to the spot where she imagines she sees her
goat and seems to pick it up in her arms.)
11
12
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Que ma voix légère berce ton sommeil,
Ne t’éveille pas!
(Elle fait avec les mains le mouvement de bercer un
enfant.)
Dors, petite, dors tranquille,
Dors, ma mignonne, dors!...
La brise du soir est douce...
Ma mignonne, dors!
Et sous cet ombrage épais
Un ruisseau l’impide et frais
Fuit dans les fleurs et la mousse...
Dors, ma mignonne, dors!...
(d’un ton chagrin)
Hélas! voici tantôt huit jours
Que tu cours,
Seule, au hasard, dans les bruyères,
Parmi les ronces et les pierres!
Bellah! Bellah! pauvre Bellah!
(sanglottant)
Ah!... ah!... ah!...
(riant aux éclats)
Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!...
(gaîment)
Maître loup voudrait te surprendre,
Mais je suis là pour te defendre;
Ne crains rien, Bellah!

View Extract - Cambridge Scholars Publishing

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