Henry VIII (opera)

Fragment of the sheet music as depicted in Saint-Saëns by Lucien Augé de Lassus

The action covers the period in Henry VIII's life when the king was attempting to divorce Queen Catherine of Aragon in favour of marrying Anne Boleyn, a move rejected by the Church.

In an effort to evoke the historical context, Saint-Saëns researched English music from the period and incorporated several English, Scottish, and Irish folk melodies into his score, as well as an air by William Byrd, contained in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.

Henry VIII was premiered on 5 March 1883 by the Paris Opera at the Palais Garnier in Paris. The choreography was by Louis Mérante, the costumes were designed by Eugène Lacoste, and the settings were by Antoine Lavastre and Eugène Louis Carpezat (Act I), Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (Act II and Act IV, scene 2), and Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon (Act III, scene 2, and Act IV, scene 1).[1] The opera was revived in three acts on 19 July 1889 with the ballet organized by Joseph Hansen. A new production in the original four-act version, directed by Paul Stuart, premiered on 18 June 1909, with choreography by Léo Staats, costumes by Charles Bianchini, and sets by Carpezat, Marcel Jambon and Alexandre Bailly. Henry VIII remained in the repertoire of the Opéra until 1919.[1]

It was also seen at the Royal Opera House, London in 1889 with Maurice Renaud in the title role, Lina Pacary as Catherine d'Aragon, and Meyriane Héglon as Anne Boleyn. It was revived in 1991 at the Théatre Impérial de Compiègne in a production by Pierre Jourdan, with Philippe Rouillon as Henry VIII, Michèle Command as Catherine of Aragon and Lucile Vignon as Anne Boleyn. The production was made into a film.

Performances were given at the Liceu in Barcelona in 2002 where it was staged once again by Pierre Jourdan with Montserrat Caballé as Catherine, Simon Estes as Henry and Nomeda Kazlaus as Anne Boleyn, with José Collado conducting.

The United States premiere was presented by Bel Canto Opera, in New York city, on April 27, 1974 with Jason Byce as Henry VIII, Francesca Lawton-Sherman as Queen Catherine, Katherine Basler as Anne Boleyn under the Musical Direction of Susan Peters.

A concert performance was given at the Bard College Music Festival, Annandale-on-Hudson, on 20 August 2012, with Ellie Dehn as Catherine, Jason Howard as Henry, and Jennifer Holloway as Anne Boleyn. Leon Botstein conducted.[2]

• Philippe Rouillon, baritone (Henry); Michèle Command, soprano (Catherine of Aragon); Lucile Vignon, mezzo-soprano (Anne Boleyn); Alain Gabriel, tenor (Don Gomez), conducted by Alain Guingal. Le Chant Du Monde. 1991 (also available as a DVD, Kultur Films)

Extracts:

• "Ô Cruel Souvenir!" Véronique Gens on Tragediennes 3 Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset

Notes

Sources

• Huebner, Steven (2006). French Opera at the Fin de Siècle: Henry VIII. Oxford Univ. Press, US. pp. 213–230. ISBN 978-0-19-518954-4.
• Upton, George P.; Borowski, Felix (1928). The Standard Opera Guide. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. pp. 320–323.
• Wolff, Stéphane (1962). "Henry VIII", pp. 111–112, in L'Opéra au Palais Garnier (1875–1962). Paris: L'Entr'acte. OCLC 7068320, 460748195. Paris: Slatkine (1983 reprint) ISBN 9782050002142.

• Henry VIII: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Henry VIII: visual documentation of the premiere on Gallica