Les cloches de Corneville
Les cloches de Corneville (The Bells of Corneville, sometimes known in English as The Chimes of Normandy) is an opéra-comique in three acts, composed by Robert Planquette to a libretto by Louis Clairville and Charles Gabet.
This article is about the opéra-comique. For the silent film, see Les cloches de Corneville (film).
The story, set at the turn of the 18th century, depicts the return of an exiled aristocrat to his ancestral castle, the machinations of the miserly steward to secure the family's fortune for himself, and the changing amorous pairings of the four juvenile leads. Aspects of the plot were criticised by contemporary critics as derivative of earlier operas.
The opera was Planquette's first full-length stage work, and although he later wrote twelve more, including Rip Van Winkle, which was a hit in London, he never equalled the international success of this first venture. It broke box-office records in Paris and London, where it set a new long-run record for musical theatre worldwide, and was continually revived in Europe and the US during the rest of the 19th century. Since then it has remained in the repertoire for occasional productions in France.
First production[edit]
The opera was first presented at the Fantaisies-Parisiennes on 19 April 1877, and ran for 596 performances,[6] taking in more than 1.6 million francs at the box office,[7] equal to about 6,700,000 euros in 2015 terms.[8] It was clear well before the final curtain that the piece was a success. Several numbers were repeatedly encored, and the cast were widely praised for their acting and, on the whole, their singing.[9]
Critical reception[edit]
The contemporary reviews were mixed. Les Annales du théâtre et de la musique commented, "M. Planquette probably thinks he has written music … but 'musiqette' would be an appropriate term. His score is a collection of derivative polkas, waltzes and rondos." The same critic praised the performers, who, he said were good enough to stop him collecting his hat and cane and leaving.[18] The critic Alfred Mortier suggested that the piece might be called "The Elderly Dame Blanche" or the "Gioconda of Quillebeuf".[2] Félix Clément, in his Dictionnaire des opéras (1880), called the piece a plagiarism of Martha and La dame blanche adapted for the benefit of lovers of the suggestive. He thought the popularity of the work worrying and "harmful to the interests of real composers".[2] The Paris correspondent of The Era found the score "agreeable, not very original, but melodious" and commended the excellent taste of the orchestrations.[9] Reviewing the London production, The Theatre thought the composer gifted, although stronger in writing melodies than in harmony or orchestration; he found "his sparkling music has the effervescence of champagne".[19] When the piece opened in Vienna a reviewer commented on the resemblance of the plot to La dame blanche and Martha, and found the music unoriginal but natural and pleasing.[20]
In Operetta: A Theatrical History (2016), Richard Traubner considers Planquette had a gift for "rhythmic variety and the pulsations that keep songs alive" but was less outstanding as a melodist, and deficient in the areas of harmony and orchestration.[n 4] Reviewing a CD release of a recording of the work, Raymond Walker wrote, "The score just flowed with sparkling melodies, variety of rhythm, novel orchestral texture and bright colour. Throughout lovely motifs like the one representing the Bells weave in and out of the music."[16]
Recordings and films[edit]
There have been two recordings of the complete score. The first, a mono set in 1955, featured Huguette Boulangeot (Germaine), Ernest Blanc (Henri); Jean Giraudeau (Grenicheux); Colette Riedinger (Serpolette), André Balbon (bailiff) and Louis Musy (Gaspard), with an unnamed chorus and orchestra conducted by Pierre Dervaux.[22] A stereo set from 1973 featured Mady Mesplé (Germaine), Bernard Sinclair (Henri), Charles Burles (Grenicheux), Christiane Stutzmann (Serpolette), Jean Giraudeau (bailiff), and Jean-Christophe Benoît (Gaspard), with the chorus and orchestra of the Théâtre national de l'opéra de Paris, conducted by Jean Doussard.[23]
The first experiment in synchronising sound and motion pictures in 1894 featured one of the songs from Les cloches de Corneville. In what is now called The Dickson Experimental Sound Film, William Kennedy Dickson was filmed and recorded playing the "Chanson du mousse" on the violin, while two of his colleagues danced to it.[24] In 1917 Thomas Bentley directed a silent film of the opera.[25]