Andrea Chénier (concertante)

Hofstallgasse 1

5020 Salzburg

 

Leading Team
Marco Armiliato Musical Director

Cast

-Piotr BeczalaAndrea Chénier
-Luca SalsiCarlo Gérard
-Elena StikhinaMaddalena di Coigny
-Seray PinarBersi
-Noa BeinartMadelon
-Armand RabotRoucher
-and participants of the Young Singers Project

Ensembles

-Concert Association Vienna State Opera Choir
-Alan WoodbridgeChoir Rehearsal
-Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg

In his libretto for Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, Luigi Illica put a sentence into the mouth of the character Carlo Gérard — once a lackey, now a revolutionary hero — that comes from the Girondist Vergniaud, who was executed in 1793: “The revolution devours its own children.” The prominent quote reflects the core of the plot of the opera, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1896: In a powerful historical picture book, they see how the French Revolution, in the course of its radicalization, also turned against people who had supported its ideals. One of them is the poet André Chénier (1762—1794), who is introduced in the opera as a guest at a nobleman's party in 1789. In this decadent atmosphere, evoked musically by Rococo allusions, Chénier dares to denounce the social injustices of the Ancien Régime, causing outrage but impressing the hostess's daughter - Maddalena - and the rebellious servant Carlo Gérard. After a time jump of five years, we meet these three characters again under completely different circumstances. In her famous aria "La mamma morta", Maddalena describes how her family and possessions were taken away from her and only her belief in love, to which Chénier had once opened her eyes, kept her alive. However, Chénier cannot offer her the protection she seeks from him, because as a critic of Robespierre's reign of terror, he is also under acute threat. Even Gérard appears to be a victim of the political situation: after he shied away at the last moment from using his current position of power to make the passionately desired Maddalena submissive, he remorsefully tries to save the imprisoned Chénier from the guillotine - in vain.

Giordano brought the revolution, the real driving force of the plot, to life in large tableaux, which he gave a touch of historical authenticity by inserting revolutionary songs. Andrea Chénier made the young composer one of the leading representatives of musical verismo; the work was to remain his most successful opera.
(Source: salzburgerfestspiele.at)