Saint-Saëns: L'ancêtre (The Ancestor)

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Adriano.

[BerlinExpat]

Sometimes I wonder where various comments about composers' works come from. There are various reports on the BR Klassik radio podcast or in the press that L'Ancêtre is Saint-Saens last opera whereas in the programme it states it's the penultimate. Another said it's like Mascagni, but I heard no trace of Mascagni. Unless my ears deceived me, there's no dissonance or cracked saucepans in the music either. The opera lasts 90 minutes and is similar in vein to Phrynébut with a more dramatic central act. Even for 90 minutes the story's a bit thin, but the wonderful music makes up for it. Let's hope Hadrianus succeeds with a recording.

[eschiss1]

Déjanire followed (1909-10) L'ancêtre (1905), according to Wikipedia's list, though for all I know there might be something complicating matters. Perhaps they didn't count Déjanire because it's an operatic expansion of 1892 incidental music, though that doesn't seem like a good reason.

[mikehopf]

It's here!

On BR Kassik  Sunday night:

SPECIAL PROGRAM (Starts at 1705/1:05PM): Opernabend
Camille Saint-Saëns: "L'ancêtre"
Drame lyrique in drei Akten In französischer Sprache

Raphaël - Jeong Meen Ahn
Tébaldo - Thomas Kiechle
Bursica - Damien Gastl
Nunciata - Heike Grötzinger
Margarita - Milena Bischoff
Vanina - Céline Akçağ
und andere

Studierende der Theaterakademie
August Everding und der Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Leitung: Matthias Foremny

Aufnahme vom 20. März 2019 im Münchner Prinzregententheater (1 hr., 55 min.)

[adriano]

Will make a recording as usual :-)
The plot is, apparently, a bloody family rivalry affair taking place in Corsica in (his) present times. So no ancient heros and no legendary and historical figures anymore!

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks in advance, Adriano. I'm currently travelling and can't record anything. Very much looking forward to hearing another "unknown"  Saint-Saëns' opera.

[Mark Thomas]

I've at last caught up with this recording, kindly made by Hadrianus. What a lovely piece of work this operas is. I suppose it's the nearest that Saint-Saëns got to writing a verismo work for the stage, and the vendetta plot set in Napoleonic Corsica is certainly verismo-esque, but as BerlinExpat wrote above, there's very little of Mascagni or even Puccini in it. It's really vintage Saint-Saëns: highly lyrical and rather sensuously orchestrated, it's beautifully written for the soloists. My only criticism is that the music is almost too gorgeous for such a tawdry story. Others are lukewarm about Saint-Saëns' operas, I know, but I love 'em and this was a treat to get to know.

[edurban]

The hermit's song to his bees is very touching and calls to mind Saint-Saëns' great love of animals...

[mjmosca]

Another beautiful opera from the pen of Saint-Saens. It is indeed a verismo-eque story, but it seems as if Saint-Saens was illustrating how the tradition of Romanticism could very effectively illustrate even a libretto of this type. Mark Thomas's comment that this opera is vintage Saint-Saens hit the nail on the head! It would certainly be fascinating to see, as well as hear. thank you.