In 1828 Daniel Auber, a famous French composer of the time, had composed a very popular opera called "La muette de Portici". It was the first French grand opera. Meyerbeer realized he could not become really popular by turning his Italian operas into French grand opera, so he took his comic opera "Robert le Diable" and changed it into a grand opera. Audiences loved it. Within three years it had been performed in 77 theatres in 10 different countries. Many composers made their own arrangements of some of the tunes from the opera. He was given many honours: the Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur, the title of Prussian Hof Kapellmeister (Director of Music at the Royal Court), and was made a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts and a member of the French Institute.
Meyerbeer realized that anything else he wrote would have to be really good. In 1836 he produced another opera "Les Huguenots". This too was extremely popular.
In 1842 he went to Boulogne to improve his health. There he met Wagner who asked him for financial help to stage his operas "Rienzi" and "The Flying Dutchman". Meyerbeer lent him money, but stopped giving him money when he heard that Wagner was secretly criticizing him.
When Spontini died Meyerbeer was made Generalmusikdirektor in Berlin. His opera "Les Huguenots" had at first been forbidden in Germany, but now it was allowed to be performed. As court composer he wrote a grand opera called "Ein Feldschlag in Schlesien" ("A Battle in Silesia"), but it never became internationally famous. The main part in the opera was sung by Jenny Lind.
In 1849 he returned to Paris. He wrote several works together with Scribe, whom Meyerbeer described as the best living librettist, and who was one of his closest friends. His opera "Le prophète" (for which Scribe again wrote the words) earned him a lot of money. The great contralto Pauline Viardot-Garcia sang the main part.
Scribe died in 1861. Meyerbeer worked very hard to try to finish his last opera, "L’Africaine". Napoleon III said he wanted the opera to be ready by the winter of 1862-63, but it was not ready until 1864. The work was being rehearsed for its first performance when Meyerbeer suddenly died, without having had the chance to revise it, the way he revised most of his other pieces.
Meyerbeer’s body was taken to Berlin where it was buried in the Jewish cemetery in a vault that belonged to his family.
Meyerbeer was always more popular in France than in Germany. His operas are about the society of wealthy people. The sounds he made with his orchestra are often deliberately harsh. In this he is like Beethoven in his final years, and Berlioz. Sometimes he used new instruments such as the bass clarinet and the saxophone. He always thought carefully about what his singers were capable of when writing his music. He enjoyed working with different singers, among them Velluti, who was the last of the great operatic castrati. He took great trouble to give his singers rests during the opera so that they would still be in good voice for the climax of the story. He liked scenes with large crowds. He composed his dance music, in particular, very carefully. Often he would throw it away and start again if the dancers were not happy with it.
Besides his operas he also wrote orchestral pieces for special occasions. He also wrote some songs for performance in the salon.
Meyerbeer was one of the richest men in Europe. This is why some people hated him.
Meyerbeer’s operas were very popular in the middle of the 19th century, but by the end of the century they had gone out of fashion. From 1933 to 1945 his music was banned in Germany by the Nazis because he was Jewish. Today there is some interest again, but nothing like the huge popularity he had in his lifetime.
Grand opera
Grand Opera is a term which is used to describe an opera with continuous music. It is a kind of opera that was popular in the 19th-century. Grand operas are usually divided into four or five acts. There have large casts (many singers taking part) and large orchestras. There is a lot of scenery. The story is dramatic. It is usually a story about a hero from history. The term "Grand Opera" has often been used to describe the Paris Opéra from the late 1820s to around 1850, and sometimes to describe the Paris Opéra itself.
In a broader sense "Grand Opera" can be any large-scale opera from European countries. During the 1830s and 1840s Giacomo Meyerbeer was thought to be the greatest composer of Grand Opera.
Lake Lucerne
Lake Lucerne is a lake in central Switzerland. It is the fourth largest lake in the country. The German name is Vierwaldstättersee which means: "Lake of the Four Forested Cantons".
It is possible to travel all the way round the side of the lake by road. There are several tunnels on the way. It is very popular with tourists. There are many hotels by the lake.
Die Feen
Die Feen ("The Fairies") is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. The German libretto was written by the composer. He was adapting a story by Carlo Gozzi called "La donna serpente".
"Die Feen" was the first opera that Wagner finished. However, it was never performed during his lifetime. It has never become popular, although the overture is sometimes played. The music shows the influence of Carl Maria von Weber and other composers of the time. It also shows some musical ideas that Wagner was to develop later in his life in his famous operas. The fairy tale atmosphere in the story is also an idea that he uses in his later operas which deal with fantasy stories. The idea of being saved (redemption) is also an important idea that he used in later operas.
Rienzi
Rienzi is an opera by Richard Wagner. Its full title is Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen ("Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes"). It is one of the earliest operas Wagner wrote. There are five acts. Wagner wrote the libretto himself, using the story from a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. It was composed between 1838 and 1840 It was first performed at the Hofoper, Dresden on 20 October 1842. It was the first time Wagner had a success as an opera composer.
The story of the opera is set in Rome and is based on the life of Cola di Rienzi (1313–1354), a medieval Italian populist figure who manages to trick the nobles and their followers. He helps the people to get power. At first he is very popular, but then he has to use force against the nobles, and the Church turns against him. In the end the ordinary people burn the Capitol where Rienzi and his friends are sheltering.
Chess tournament
A chess tournament is a competition between chess players. It can take one of these forms:
Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become a standard form of competition among regular players.
The Flying Dutchman
Der fliegende Holländer ("The Flying Dutchman") is an opera by Richard Wagner. Wagner wrote the libretto himself. The story comes from the legend of the "Flying Dutchman", which is about the captain of a ship. It is his fate that he has keep sailing the sea, without ever going on to land, until Judgment Day.
The most important idea in the story as told by Wagner is redemption through love. It was a favourite idea of Wagner, who used it a lot in his later operas.
Wagner conducted the first performance at the Semper Oper in Dresden, in 1843. It is an early opera of Wagner, but it shows his mature style. It is very different from the previous opera "Rienzi" which is still quite similar to operas that other composers were writing. In "Der fliegende Holländer" the drama is very important. Wagner uses a number of leitmotifs: musical ideas associated with particular characters and themes in the story. The leitmotifs are all introduced in the overture. We hear the famous leitmotif of the ocean and then those of the Dutchman and of Senta, the girl he falls in love with.