OperaRara: FAURÉ: Pénélope (Norman, Vanzo)

Pénélope is an opera in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré. The libretto, by René Fauchois, is based on Homer's Odyssey. It was first performed at the Salle Garnier, Monte Carlo on 4 March 1913.
Fauré was inspired to write the opera after a meeting with the soprano Lucienne Bréval in 1907. She also recommended Fauchois as a librettist. Work on the score was slow due to Fauré's teaching commitments at the Paris Conservatoire. For this reason, composer asked Fauchois to reduce the libretto from five to three acts and to cut the character of Ulysses's son Telemachus. Fauré completed the opera at Lugano on August 31, 1912.
The premiere at Monte Carlo was not a great success, partly because the director of the theatre, Raoul Gunsbourg, was more concerned with promoting his own opera, Vénise, which made its debut four days later. But Pénélope was rapturously received when it appeared at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris on May 10, 1913. Unfortunately for Fauré, the theatre soon went bankrupt. Despite critics holding the music in high esteem, revivals of the opera have been rare.
The Opéra-Comique took Pénélope into its repertoire on 20 January 1919, with a cast including Germaine Lubin in the title role and Charles Rousselière as Ulysse and Félix Vieuille as Eumée, conducted by François Ruhlmann. Later revivals were conducted by Albert Wolff (1922), Inghelbrecht (1924, with Claire Croiza in the title role), and Wolff again in 1927 and 1931, totalling 63 performances.^[1] On 14 March 1943 the Paris Opera staged Pénélope, conducted by Ruhlmann, with Lubin in the title role.^[1]

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast Conductor: Léon Jehin
Pénélope (Penelope)	soprano	Lucienne Bréval
Ulysse (Ulysses)	tenor	Charles Rousselière
Eumée (Eumaeus)	baritone	Jean Bourbon
Euryclée (Euryclea)	mezzo-soprano	Alice Raveau
Antinoüs	tenor	Charles Delmas
Alkandre	mezzo-soprano	Criticos
Mélantho	soprano	Cécile Malraison
Phylo	mezzo-soprano	Gabrielle Gilson
Ctésippe	tenor	Robert Couzinou
Pisandre	tenor	Bindo Gasparini
Eurymache	baritone	André Allard
Cléone	mezzo-soprano	Durand-Servière
Leodès	tenor	Sorret
Lydie	soprano	Florentz
Une suivante (a follower)	soprano	Nelly Courcelle

Act One

Penelope has been waiting for ten years for the return of her husband, Ulysses, King of Ithaca. In the mean time she has been besieged by suitors for her hand in marriage. She promises she will choose between them once she has finishing weaving a shroud for her father-in-law Laertes, but every night she unpicks the day's work. Ulysses arrives at the palace disguised as a beggar and is recognised by his old nurse Euryclea.

Act Two

That night, as ever, Penelope keeps watch for Ulysses's ship on a hill-top overlooking the sea. She talks nostalgically to the shepherd Eumaeus. The beggar offers to help Penelope defeat the suitors. He claims to be a fugitive Cretan king who has seen Ulysses alive at his court. After Penelope leaves, Ulysses reveals his true identity to the overjoyed shepherds.

Act Three

The suitors have arranged Penelope's wedding in the palace hall. She tells them that they must decide which one will win her hand by holding a competition to see who can draw Ulysses's bow. Not one of them succeeds. The beggar steps forward and draws the bow with ease, before turning to shoot the suitors. The shepherds join in the killing with their knives. Finally, Ulysses and Penelope are happily reunited.


Pénélope - Jessye Norman
Euryclée - Jocelyne Taillon
Cléone - Norma Lerer
Alkandre - Colette Alliot-Lugaz
Eurymaque - Philippe Huttenlocher
Ctésippe - Paul Guigue
Ulysse - Alain Vanzo
Eumée - José van Dam
Mélantho - Michèle Command
Phylo - Christine Barbaux
Antinoüs - Jean Dupouy
Léodès - Gérard Friedmann
Pisandre - François Le Roux
Lydie - Danielle Borst

Orchestre Philharmonique de Montecarlo
Ensemble Choral Jean Laforge
Charles Dutoit, 1980

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