The Diaries of Giacomo Meyerbeer (review)

During the greater part of the nineteenth century (from about 1837 to Wagner's death in 1883) Meyerbeer was generally considered the leading opera composer in northern Europe (England, France, Germany, Austria, and Russia), while Verdi was the leading composer in Italy and Spain. Wagner had to resign himself to second place until the 1880s, when his disciples were able to start to dethrone Meyerbeer, with Wagnerism soon becoming a near religion. As a result of this and many other factors, Meyerbeer virtually disappeared from the repertory by the 1930s, resulting in a great deal of discussion of what may be described as the strange case of his disappearance and his failure to reappear during the postwar spate of revivals of mid-nineteenth-century works. One such article, by Henry Pleasants, was published some years ago in The Opera Quarterly. ¹

Meyerbeer's life can be sketched briefly. He was born near Berlin, on 5 September 1791, as Yakov (Jakob) Liebmann Beer. Both his parents came from prominent families and were wealthy. Jakob eventually conflated his name to Meyerbeer and probably started using Giacomo as his given name while he was in Italy. He received a thorough education in all the humanities, but soon started specializing in music, distinguishing himself as a pianist while still a child. He became known as a child prodigy, one of the finest pianists in all of Berlin. For several years he studied composition and counterpoint with Abbé Vogler in Darmstadt, where he became friends with Carl Maria von Weber. His first large-scale work was an oratorio, composed in 1811. A biblical opera followed in 1812 and a Singspiel in 1813. He spent some time in both Vienna and Paris. Then, at the suggestion of Antonio Salieri, he made his way to Italy to develop the fine art of composing for the voice. He reached Italy in 1816, at a time when Rossini was in his greatest glory and other composers tended to emulate his style. Meyerbeer's first effort in the peninsula was a cantata for soprano, solo clarinet, chorus, and orchestra, entitled Gli amore di Teolinda, which he composed in Venice. Meyerbeer wrote six Italian operas during a span of seven years, with generally increasing success. He was one of only four major rivals to Rossini while the latter was still in Italy. Thus, the field was wide open, and Meyerbeer took full advantage of the situation with his Il crociato in Egitto (Venice, 1824).

After shuttling back and forth across western Europe for some time, Meyerbeer moved to Paris in 1827. Influenced by the success of Weber's Der Freischütz, he decided to create an opera with the Devil as its central character. By the spring of 1827 he was already working on a three-act opéra comique for the Théâtre Feydeau on the subject of Robert le diable, but the success of Auber's La muette de Portici in 1828, among other factors, caused him to change to a five-act version for the Opéra. Both La muette and William Tell pointed the way toward increased realism in the mise-en-scène and an expanded use of the chorus. The seeds of these principles were already planted in Crociato, and the salesmanship of Louis Véron, the director of the Opéra, gave Meyerbeer the final impetus for the switch to a grand opéra. The world premiere took place at the [End Page...