Talk:La Esmeralda (opera)

Esméralda vs Esmeralda

On the basis of the conversation copied below from my talk page, I've moved the article over the redirect to La Esmeralda (opera).

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Hi there - I was going to add my ha'p'orth to this but was baulked at the start - can I check why you head it 'Esméralda' wth an e acute?I know of no source which gives this. And in fact I have here (as it happens) the Pléiade edition of the Hugo's 'Théatre complet' (with a lot of info about the background which I was going to fill in) which gives the libretto without the accent. Best, --Smerus (talk) 18:06, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

You know, I wondered about this. It seems to be what we call in linguistics "in free variation". I started out with Esmeralda without the "é". But then I found the spelling at the BnF with the accent [1]. And I saw quite a few French sources (but not all) using it. [2]. On the other hand, the accent doesn't appear in the libretto published in 1836. But by the time I found the link to the full libretto, I had already put it at La Esméralda (opera) and created a re-direct from La Esmeralda (opera). I don't really care one way or another. I can always ask an admin to move it back over the redirect. What do you think? Best, Voceditenore (talk) 19:21, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Well on the authority of the original printed libretto and the Pléiade edition I would go for no accent. Although I appreciate it is tedious having to call the admins in. Best, --Smerus (talk) 19:53, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

You can move it over its redirect yourself if no change has been made to the redirect page. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:21, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

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Voceditenore (talk) 04:33, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Additional info

There is some additional content about the performance history of La Esmeralda in the Louise Bertin wikipedia article which gives a more detailed explanation for the opera's failure. Should that info be incorporated here?4meter4 (talk) 00:18, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Yep, I'm working on the performance history now. Voceditenore (talk) 05:31, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Jawurek

I realize this is a relatively minor point, but the name does not appear to be spelled consistently in the literature or at the Wikipedia. As Voceditenore says, Javoureck is uncommon; K & R seems to be the only source that spells it this way. They don't cite a source. I have several books that spell it Jawureck, rather than Jawurek, including those by Charles Osborne, Herbert Weinstock, Charles Parsons, and W. L. Crosten. It is also spelled this way in the cited libretto and by Fétis [3]. A search of Google Books for Constance Jawureck gave 140 results, and the first two pages (20 results) were all consistent with the source referring to this singer. Among the books I checked at home, only Jean Gourret spells it Jawurek. Do any of the sources cited in this article spell it this way? A search for Constance Jawurek on Google Books gave 17 results, including sources with authors such as Elizabeth Bartlet, Philip Gossett, and Diana Hallman. Nevertheless, based on this survey, perhaps we should spell it Jawureck (since that appears to be the most common) and add the two alternative spellings to the footnote. --Robert.Allen (talk) 22:12, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Gallica has a nice pic [4] with her name spelled Jawurek; and a costume design for Le comte Ory [5] with it spelled Jawureck. [I double checked K&R and they say she was born as Jawureck. Since she spent the last years of her career at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, perhaps she spelled her last name Javoureck while there? Her younger sister appeared at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin under the name Mlle Javooureck,with the double "oo", just to add more spellings to the mix.] --Robert.Allen (talk) 22:25, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

The pics are now at Commons:Category:Constance Jawureck. --Robert.Allen (talk) 00:50, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I've changed the primary spelling to "Jawureck", added a footnote re the alternative spellings and created an article for her at Constance Jawureck. – Voceditenore (talk) 08:54, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Good and fast job! I was much pleased and surprised to see this article when I returned home. I'll try to add some more. You are so good at this, might I suggest an article on Pauline Gueymard-Lauters? (I have some pics ready to load up.) [Maybe it is Guéymard?] (She is not as pretty, however!) --Robert.Allen (talk) 09:06, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Commons:Category:Pauline Guéymard-Lauters --Robert.Allen (talk) 11:29, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Performance history

Sources have varied re the order of performances, and their number, with a great deal of confusion in some contemporary accounts, which then becomes repeated in later reference works. I am basing the performance history on the data from the Archivist of the Paris Opera (Appendix II of Bennett (February 2002)) which also includes the receipts for each performance. It's in French, I reproduce the relevant information below in English:

• Nov 14, 1836 1st perf. Esmeralda (plus the 1st act of Mars et Vénus)
• Nov 16 2nd perf. Esmeralda (plus an act from Naìades)
• Nov 18 3rd perf. Esmeralda (preceded by the 1st act of L'Ile des Pirates)
• Nov 21 4th perf. Esmeralda (and the 3rd act of La Révolte au Serai)
• Dec 6 5th perf. Esmeralda (followed by the 3rd act of L'Il des Pirates)
• Dec 12 6th perf. Esmeralda in three acts (followed by the complete ballet, La Fille du Danube)
• The 1st act only of Esmeralda was presented as a curtain-raiser for ballets twice in March and twice in April, and once in September in 1837; once in January, once in February, twice in May, once in July, once in September, twice in November, and once in December in 1838; once each in March, April, May, June, and October in 1839.

This is mostly consistent with the description of the riot during the 6th and final performance, when the opera had been shortened to 3 acts, to that found in Cairns (2003) although he describes the shortened and final performance as being the 5th and last one. I'm inclined to take the Paris Opera archivist's data as definitive. Voceditenore (talk) 15:32, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Charles-Antoine Cambon - La Esmeralda, Act 3, Scene 2 set.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for November 14, 2021. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2021-11-14. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:49, 27 October 2021 (UTC)

La Esmeralda is a grand opera in four acts composed by Louise Bertin, an adaptation of the French Gothic novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, who also wrote the libretto for the opera. This sketch by Charles-Antoine Cambon shows the set design for act 3, scene 2, of the opera, which premiered at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 14 November 1836.

Set design credit: Charles-Antoine Cambon; restored by Adam Cuerden

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Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Charles-Antoine Cambon - La Esmeralda, Act III, Scene 1 set design (Version 2).jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for November 13, 2022. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2022-11-13. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Adam Cuerden ^(talk)_{Has about 7.9% of all FPs} 15:43, 3 June 2022 (UTC)

La Esmeralda is a grand opera in four acts composed by Louise Bertin, with a French-language libretto written by Victor Hugo, who adapted it from his 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. The opera premiered at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 14 November 1836, with Cornélie Falcon in the title role. There was some disruption at the premiere, as members of the audience who disliked the Bertin family shouted out that the work had been written by Berlioz, an accusation which Berlioz himself denied. La Esmeralda proved to be the last opera composed by Bertin although she lived for another 40 years. This drawing is Charles-Antoine Cambon's set design for act 3, scene 1, of La Esmeralda, in which Phoebus meets with Esmeralda, and Frollo spies on them and eventually stabs Phoebus with his sword.

Illustration credit: Charles-Antoine Cambon; restored by Adam Cuerden

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Did Liszt actually do the vocal score?

I know this probably isn't a common concern with opera editors on WP but it IS mentioned in the article. So here's the info we have:

• The article states, with no citation that Liszt did it, with a re-published version in 2009.
• Liszts's worklist, both here and on ISMLP shows it, under catalog number S 476, in the area specifically for piano transcriptions. The catalog also includes two piano solo (note) exceprts as supposed separate pieces.
• The vocal score scanned on IMSLP does seem to claim Liszt did it, which should theoretically solve the issue; however...
• Leslie Howard in the booklet that comes with the final volume of complete piano music states it's a catalog error and "not by Liszt" (and not for piano), also calling the other two entries an error.

Now this is more my own feeling, but how are 'extracts' from a vocal score for piano when they also represent vocal music? Now, Howard's catalog is from 1999. In 1991 he seemed to think it was genuine (in the notes for volume 10 of the series he mentions it dismissively as having been done by Liszt), but in the eight intervening years he seemed to think it was. In the years that followed he released four volumes of more discs that still don't include anything, last one being from 2018. So I wonder, what's going on here? ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ (talk) 04:51, 30 October 2023 (UTC)