Céphale et Procris
7 , 9, 10, 11 FEB 2023, 7:30PM
11 FEB 2023, 2:30PM
Céphale et Procris
ELIZABETH-CLAUDE JACQUET DE LA GUERRE
7, 9, 10, 11 FEB 2023, 7:30PM
11 FEB 2023, 2:30PM
The Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone
Kieran White Céphale
Poppy Shotts Procris
Helen May Aurore
Marcio da Silva Arcas
Anna-Luise Wagner Dorine
Jack Lawrence-Jones Borée
Tara Venkatesan Flore
Flávio Lauria Pan/Erictée
Lydia Ward Iphis
Jay Rockwell Jalousie/Nerée
John Twitchen A God of the Sea
Marcio da Silva Music/Stage Director
Heitor Granafei Dramaturg
Predrag Gosta Harpsichord
Cédric Meyer Archlute
Edmund Taylor, Christopher McClain Violin
Nathan Giorgietti Cello
Kate Bingham Oboe/Recorder
Paul Jenkins Recorder
New edition: Marcio da Silva and Cédric Meyer
Libretto translation: Anna-Luise Wagner
We are delighted to have been invited to take this ★★★★ production to the Grimeborn Festival at the Arcola Theatre from August 29th-September 2nd, 2023.
Céphale et Procris is an opera by the French composer Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729). It was the first French opera composed by a woman. This is the UK premiere of the work, and Ensemble OrQuesta would like to extend its grateful thanks to Angel Early Music, The Cavalli Foundation, and The Leche Trust for their support of this production.
Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre.
Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet was born into a family that had been building harpsichords and organs for several generations. Her father was a noted organist and her mother was also from a musical family. Élisabeth was recognised as a prodigy at a young age (quite possibly as young as 5) when she stunned the French court with her improvising, performing, and sight reading on the harpsichord. She was taken to live at court at the age of eight to be raised and trained under the protection of Louis XIV.
Apparently, between 1667 and 1684, Élisabeth's education was supervised by Louis' mistress Madame de Montespan, and then by the royal governess, later the queen, Madame de Maintenon. In 1677, the French journal Mercure Galante refered to the child wonder - 'la petite merveille' - who 'sings at sight the most difficult music, accompanies, composes pieces and plays them in all keys.' In 1678 the same journal called her, 'the marvel of our century'.
Élisabeth's reputation as an inspired virtuoso grew as she advanced in age. She spent many years singing and playing in the king's salon and went on to dedicate most of her compositions to him. Exceptionally, Louis even allowed her to write for the Académie de la Royale de Musique. When the king's court moved to Versailles in 1683, Élisabeth Jacquet remained in Paris, and in 1684, at the age of 17 or 18, she married the organist and harpsichord teacher Marin de la Guerre. However, she always kept her ties to the French court, and she remained a protegé of the king until his death in 1715.
A brilliant character, Jacquet de la Guerre composed and performed at a time when such freedom was still almost unheard of for a woman. As a composer she was prolific, and she proved herself to be flexible in being open to new musical styles and ideas, and innovative in being keen to introduce the new Italian style to France. Having enjoyed a distinguished career at court under Louis' protection, she extended her activities to private music in her own musical salons, and in public she became renowned as both a composer and a harpsichordist. Her principal compositions, the initial outstanding ones being a set of pièces de clavecin published in 1687, and the final triumph being a Te Deum performed in the Louvre in 1721 to celebrate the recovery of the young Louis XV from smallpox, include harpsichord suites, trio sonatas, sonatas for violin and harpsichord, airs, cantatas, a ballet, an opera, and music for the Parisian fair theatres. Céphale et Procris is her only surviving stage work. By the time of her death at the age of 63, Élisabeth was very wealthy and had been accorded both critical and royal recognition, including a medal struck by Louis XV in her honour.
Céphale et Procris.
Céphale et Procris takes the form of a tragédie en musique in five acts with an allegorical prologue. The libretto, by the French playwright Joseph-Francois Duché de Vancy (1668-1704), is loosely based on elements of the myth of Cephalus and Procris as told in Ovid’s narrative poem Metamorphoses, although de Vancy also added some of his own sub-plots. The central myth tells of the fateful destiny of two Greek lovers, who are driven to the blind horror of revenge by the plotting of jealous and amorous gods: Cephalus inadvertently kills Procris, convinced that she is unfaithful to him, and in his infinite sorrow he takes his own life...
Some evidence exists that the opera was written at least by 1691, and possibly as early as 1687 - that is to say when Jacquet de la Guerre was between the ages of 22 and 26. The opera was first performed by the Paris Opéra on the stage of the Académie Royale de Musique at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal on 17 March 1694. There is some suggestion that the delay in performance date might be down to Lully's opera monopoly - that Céphale could only be performed once Lully's virtual stranglehold on the operatic scene in France had been released.
Reception.
At the time of its first presentation, the opera had very limited success; it only ran for five or six performances, before disappearing from the stage until a revival of interest in the work in 1989. This may partly have been due to the poor literary quality of the libretto, with its confused addition of sub-plots that interrupt the story's dramatic tension rather than intensifying it. But it may also have been due to the changing cultural and political climate of Paris in the 1690s, which was generally unfavourable to elaborate fêtes allegorising love - even war had fallen out of favour. Paris was usurping the leading role of Versailles in musical life and audiences who looked to King Louis XIV as their arbiter of taste found that the king had lost interest in opera - the court was directing its repertoire more towards sacred music, undoubtedly under the influence of Louis' religiously conservative new wife, Madame de Maintenon. As Louis directed less attention to opera, theatrical performances gradually declined in quality. To cap it all, in the 1690s France began suffering economic problems and devastating military losses, both contributing to the loss of public morale. (Jacquet de la Guerre's almost excessive paean to the multi-dimensional glories of Louis XIV in the prologue to Céphale et Procris may not have helped in this regard). It is also possible that the Parisian public harboured a certain prejudice against the work of a woman being presented on the city's opera stage, although there is no direct evidence of this. Perhaps what is more to the point, Lully's works continued to enjoy a monopoly for a goodly time after his death in 1687. All this created a generally unsympathetic atmosphere for opera - and perhaps for this opera in particular.
However, Céphale et Procris did find some favour outside Paris. The composer, music theorist, lexicographer, and collector Sébastian de Broussard performed the prologue at Strasbourg's Academie de la Musique, between 1695 and 1698, and the opera won considerable success with the Strasbourg public. Nevertheless, the Paris failure of her opera clearly made an impression, and de la Guerre did not return to dramatic works until the new vogue in dramatic French vocal music tempted her to compose her first book of cantatas in 1708.
The music.
In outline Céphale et Procris opens with a prologue glorifying Louis XIV, and this leads into the first of five acts, the first and last being most crucial to the tragic drama. The opera proceeds through a series of recitatives interspersed by various airs (solos and duets), ensembles, choruses, dances, and instrumental pieces. Significantly, these are all governed by a structure based on a tonal centre, giving rise to a cohesive whole. This tonal organisation is defined at the outset in the prologue, in reality an expansive French rondeau.
Unsurprisingly, Jacquet de la Guerre's music reflects the influence of Jean-Baptiste Lully, the founder of the French genre of tragédie en musique - after all, Lully had been the dominant influence in French music during Élisabeth's formative years. Stylistically and structurally the drama is carried mainly by recitative interspersed with lyrical airs de cours. Choruses (both grand and petit choeur) are assigned an exhortatory or supplicatory role. A small (five-part) orchestra provides overtures, preludes, ritournelles, dramatic symphonies, nature scenes, and dances.
Musicologists agree that there are many beautiful and powerful passages that reveal Jacquet de la Guerre to have been a sensitive musical dramatist, and modern critics propose that the work merits renewed attention. Jacquet de la Guerre creates a drama of imposing psychological depth; the characters' unusually lengthy airs portray overwhelmingly human emotions with perception and power. Through music that is by turns exciting, tense, and poignant, Jacquet de la Guerre paints the violence of Aurora's jealous rage, and the malevolence of her evil scheming, and brings to life the tortured conflict between her passionate desire for revenge and her compassion for her afflicted lover, and, as she focuses on the central lovers, she pulls at the heart strings with music that is achingly beautiful and harmonically adventurous to portray the depths of suffering and despair experienced by Céphale and Procris. Furthermore, Jacquet de la Guerre adds original touches of her own to the Lullian formula. Her unique contribution to the genre lies in incorporating silence for dramatic effect in the opera's poignant final scene, and most notably a quiet conclusion in place of the expected final chorus.
In essence, Act I establishes the plot, which presents the factor of divine intervention leading inevitably to the tragedy resolved in the final act. Act II lays out the critical theme of infidelity instigated by powerful divinities. Procris's deeply expressive air 'Lieux écartez, paisible solitude' (act II, scene 1) an Italianate da capo air (rather than French rondeau form) expresses great suffering, challenging the singer with difficult melodic intervals and unexpected harmonies. In Act III, Céphale's air 'Amour, qui sous tes loix cruelles', which is in rondeau form, is skilfully balanced with a divertissement, ballet, other songs, and dances. Act IV continues the theme of infidelity; Procris sings a moving lament, ('Funeste mort, donnez-moi secours', act IV, scene 3), followed by a chorus of demons set for hautes-contres, tenors and basses, this in turn leading to Céphale reappearing before Procris. Act V can perhaps be seen as a tragic resolution of cruelty as much as of fidelity. Procris expresses this in an impelling recitative 'Et quoyque mon coeur en murmure', as she is overcome by what she believes to be Céphale's unfaithfulness, which dooms her never to be able to see him again.
Synopsis.
Summary
The opera begins with a prologue in which divine entities celebrate the glory of King Louis XIV.
The main opera (Acts I to V) is set in Athens. Cephalus, a warrior, and Procris, the daughter of the King of Athens, are in love but are yet to be married. Boreas, Prince of Thrace, is Cephalus' rival - he too hopes to marry Procris, and the gods help him press his claim, particularly Aurora (the goddess of dawn) who is in love with Cephalus and wants him for herself. When Aurora believes Cephalus has rejected her, she conjures up demons to cast a spell so that Procris will believe Cephalus has been unfaithful to her. The spell works but the goddess has a change of heart and convinces Procris that Cephalus has always been true to her. In the myth, Procris finds Cephalus and Boreas engaged in a fight. When she tries to intervene, Cephalus accidentally wounds her with an arrow and she dies, leaving her lover grief-stricken.
Prologue: Flore, Pan, Chorus, Nereus.
Before daybreak, Flore and Pan gather female and male deities (traditionally nymphs and fauns) to celebrate the mightiest of kings – Louis XIV. The nymphs dance for joy. Then the sea god Nereus appears. He also wants to take part in the celebration. He tells of hostile machinations that have no chance of success. The sea gods sing about love, and dance. Nereus suggests enacting the story of Procris' tragic love.
ACT I.
Scene 1: Boreas and Procris.
The Thracian* prince Boreas begs Procris, daughter of the Athenian king Erectheus, to return his feelings. Procris pretends to despise love in general. However, Boreas knows that she secretly loves Cephalus, the conqueror of the Thracians.
Scene 2: Dorine and Procris.
Procris admits her feelings for Cephalus to her confidante Dorine. Dorine reminds her that Erectheus will choose her husband today.
Scene 3: Arcas and Procris.
Cephalus’ friend Arcas tells Procris about Cephalus' great love for her.
Scene 4: Arcas and Dorine.
Arcas tries in vain to win Dorine's favour. Dorine is not interested in love if it only offers misery. He cannot win her with his sighs. She doesn't want to make a declaration of love as her feelings could change and she might be inconstant. Arcas wants a binding faithful love.
Scene 5: Chorus.
Athenians celebrate Cephalus's victory with dance and song.
Scene 6. The King and Athenians.
The king announces that there is peace again in Greece and that he wants to give Cephalus his daughter in marriage. Everyone celebrates victory and welcomes the prospect of the delights of love to come, until the High Priestess Aurora appears.
Scene 7. The King, Aurora, and Cephalus.
Aurora condemns the king for his decision to arrange the marriage of Cephalus without the approval of the gods. The gods had proclaimed that Procris must marry Boreas if peace was to come from the marriage. Cephalus objects and Erectheus agrees to consult the gods again.
ACT II.
Scene 1: Procris.
In solitude, Procris mourns the loss of her lover. When Cephalus approaches, she hides so that he doesn't see her tears.
Scene 2: Cephalus and Procris.
Cephalus comes to bid Procris final farewell, declaring that his death will appease the gods. He is heartened when he sees how much pain she feels at the thought of this separation. He suggests asking his father for help, but Procris is prepared to sacrifice her love to the will of the gods. Procris has no more hope - the heavens have condemned her to eternal tears. The two sadly say goodbye to each other (duet: ‘Le ciel m'avait flatté’), and Procris leaves him alone.
Scene 3: Cephalus.
Cephalus laments the cruelty of the gods (‘Dieux cruels, dieux impitoyables’). When he sees Boreas coming with his Thracian friends, he hides to overhear them.
Scene 4: Boreas and friends.
Boreas is celebrating his happiness. A Thracian invites the inhabitants of the country to the celebration.
Scene 5: A shepherd and a shepherdess.
A shepherd and a shepherdess sing of the love that animates all nature.
Scene 6: Cephalus and Boreas.
Cephalus emerges from hiding and warns Boreas that he is not yet victorious - fate could turn again. Boreas arrogantly rejects his jealousy and reckless threats. Cephalus swears revenge. Aurora enters.
Scene 7: Aurora and Cephalus.
Aurora seems to offer help to Cephalus. She asks about Procris and their love. Cephalus is confident in their mutual passion, but Aurora suggests that Procris is fickle if she has given in to Boreas so easily. Aurora proclaims her own wondrous attributes and the wisdom of her advice, and she tries to persuade Cephalus that the best way to respond to the unfaithfulness of Procris is to be fickle himself.
But Cephalus struggles to believe that Procris was only pretending to love him; he proclaims that his own love will remain strong onto death. Aurora summons Zephyrs (wind gods) to accompany Cephalus as he leaves, promising to ensure a future full of happiness for him.
Scene 8: Iphis and Aurora.
Iphis queries why Aurora is trying so hard to make Cephalus unfaithful. Aurora confesses the depth of her love for Cephalus. She herself prevented his marriage and even left heaven because of him.
ACT III.
Scene 1: Cephalus.
Cephalus laments the cruel laws of love (‘Amour, que sous tes loix cruelles’).
Scene 2: Iphis and Cephalus.
Iphis offers comfort to Cephalus. She asks the goddess of lust to ease the pain 'D'un trop fidèle amant'.
Scene 3: Lust/Aurora, and Chorus.
Lust/Aurora and her followers dance and sing. They declare that the madness of loving brings the sweetest moments of life. The troubles caused are worth the pain; they should not be forsworn but bravely faced, since the joys make up for the suffering.
Scene 4: Aurora and Cephalus.
Aurora tries once more to convince Cephalus that Procris is fickle and should be treated with contempt. She confesses her passionate love for him. Cephalus is flattered but declares himself unworthy. Aurora is insulted and rages with anger. Cephalus is shocked that her love seems to turn so quickly into cruel hatred.
Having shown her weakness to him Aurora is torn between anguish and outrage. Cephalus declares that he would even welcome death at her hands to end his torment.
But Aurora cannot face punishing him in this way - she is distraught. Her tender passion for him and her grief will remain constant. But he, she declares, will find that he offers 'the generous gift of a constant passion' to the 'deceitful charms' of Procris.
Scene 5: Aurora and Iphis.
Aurora is both anguished and ashamed; her heart is torn between tenderness and anger. She asks Iphis to help her take revenge. Even though Cephalus abandons her, her love is stronger than ever, and her anger fuels her love rather than diminishing it.
ACT IV.
Scene 1: Arcas and Dorine.
Arcas says goodbye to Dorine; he must leave the country in the entourage of Cephalus because Boreas is marrying Procris. He renews his proposal. Dorine is still reluctant to commit to an entanglement; she fears that the fire of his love will abate once he has what he desires.
Arcas is initially disappointed, but reluctantly agrees to move on. Perhaps in the end a more light-hearted love is sweeter; an excess of tenderness can lead to greater sadness.
Scene 2: Aurora and Iphis.
Aurora, in a torment of rage, invokes the God of Jealousy, calling him up from the abyss to disturb the mind of Procris, to make her believe that Cephalus is unfaithful to her and to awaken a cruel hatred in her.
But Aurora is struck down by a fearful pain at the thought that Cephalus will be devastated by this. Iphis reassures her, and she is calmed, seeking to remember, despite her extreme passion, that she must hate him even though she loves him.
Scene 3: Procris.
Procris desperately longs for death (‘Funeste mort, donnez-moi du secours’). An ominous rumbling indicates that the gods are intervening.
Scene 4: Procris.
Procris feels a darkness descend upon her.
Scene 5: Procris, Jealousy, Rage, and Despair.
Jealousy tells Procris that her lover is unfaithful and that she should replace her love with hate and anger (‘Pour calmer vos ennuis’). Procris is overwhelmed. Jealousy, Rage, and Despair summon more demons to exploit her weakness and dominate her mind with their thoughts.
Scene 6: Jealousy and a Chorus of Demons.
Jealousy, and the demons enchant Procris.
Scene 7: Procris and Cephalus.
Procris awakens, agitated by the anger Jealousy has aroused in her. When Cephalus tries to help her, she angrily rejects him and vows to marry his rival, even if she will die because of it. She can no longer trust Cephalus. Cephalus is plunged into despair.
ACT V.
Scene 1: Procris and Dorine.
Procris is now firmly convinced of Cephalus's unfaithfulness – she is torn between anger and despair. Dorine tells her about his tears and pleads with her to be calm, but Procris refuses to believe her, declaring that no hatred is too great for him.
Scene 2: Boreas, Procris, and Chorus.
When Boreas appears with his Thracian and Athenian friends, Procris tearfully declares that she would now like to marry him. Boreas is overjoyed that Love has triumphed over extreme difficulty and his followers dance with joy.
Scene 3: Procris.
Procris doubts her decision – she fears that great unhappiness lies ahead and once again considers death.
Scene 4: Aurora and Procris.
Aurora's anger has now subsided. She reveals to Procris that Cephalus still loves her and that her doubts were caused by a jealous deity. She offers to help Procris, as a reward for her tenderness. She urges Procris to go to Cephalus to renew her love; she need no longer fear the wrath of the gods.
Scene 5.
Scene 6.
Scene 7.
Scene 8: Cephalus and Procris.
Dorine brings the dying Procris to Cephalus so the two can say goodbye. Procris asks Cephalus to continue to love her after her death but not to let his grief overcome him (Accompagnato: ‘Non, vivez’). She dies. Cephalus decides to follow her to the underworld.
* In Ancient History, Thracians inhabited large parts of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey).
Women and music in 17th-century France.
Élisabeth undoubtedly had prodigious talent, but she was also born in fortuitous times. The court's musical activities under Louis XIV are legendary, particularly the ballets and operas by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) in which the king danced, and the theatre productions by Molière (the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin). But the French court was not the only place where music was being composed and performed in Paris in the second half of the 17th-century. Salons were held by wealthy women as early as 1653, and women were known to be among the performers, singing or playing the lute or harpsichord. One of the most famous patrons was Louise de Mollier (1615-1688), who was herself a composer.
Women associated with the court also acted as patrons. Lully's mistress Marie Certain (d.1711) was well known for the musicales over which she presided, and Louis XIV's cousin, the Duchesse de Guise, also held influential salons. Louis' mother maintained her own private musical entourage, and Mesdames de Montespan and de Maintenon organised their own chamber music concerts in Louis' private apartments. The first generation of singers who had been trained by Lully could find opportunities to sing at the Académie de la Royale de Musique - established in 1669 as the Académie d'Opéra for women to learn singing. Thus the French tradition of women making music was well established when Élisabeth first came to the attention of the king.
But undoubtedly, for women instrumentalists, professional opportunities were dependent on impressing members of the court, which de la Guerre did. Of course, it was down to personal initiative that she later went on to establish musical salons in her own home. But she was composing in a period when music patronage was fashionable and opportunities were burgeoning. She lived to see the establishment of the Concerts Spirituels (1725) - one of the first public concerts series in existence. These originially took place in the Salle des Cent Suisses of the Tuileries Palace, but concerts of a similar name were later established in Vienna, London, and elsewhere. These offered a new public forum for choral, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music works during the Easter fortnight and on religious holidays when other spectacles were closed. As for the French court, five years after de la Guerre's death, a woman was appointed as the royal court harpsichordist - she was Francois Couperin's daughter.
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New Opera Editions.
We regularly undertake our own editions of baroque operas, making these available to the public by publishing them online on IMSLP, the International Music Score Project. We also intend to make these editions freely available on our website.