The Prophet
- Tom Richards
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Meyerbeer’s “Le Prophète” premiered in 1849. In the audience were Dickens, Chopin, Verdi and Berlioz. By this time he was the clear ruler of Grand Opera, and of the Paris Opera where they were performed.
The place of The Prophet
Robert le diable (1831) had dominated the 30's, until Les Huguenots (1836), which was even grander and less frivolous than Robert. Le Prophète (1849) was, like The Huguenots, a melodramatic and very dark account of the human cost of religious fanaticism - and another towering success for the composer. Berlioz is said to have remarked that "Meyerbeer had the good luck to be talented and the talent to have good luck, a pithy expression of the mix of admiration and condescension that dogged the composer his whole life." Washington Post. One more grand opera was to follow - L'Africaine: it was posthumously performed in 1865, a year after his death.
Illustrated above is the design by Philippe Chaperon for the final scene in a production of The Prophet in 1897. You can tell the ending won't be jolly, but the scenery is all about drama. Meyerbeer, with his librettist Scribe had led the way not only to melodramatic and very grand plots about large scale human history, but also to the use of scenery and light (and dark!) as well as costume that we have associated with opera ever since.
The story
Scribe's libretto and Meyerbeer's massively orchestrated and demanding dramatic music also led opera's fascination with historical sagas; Italian ones were to follow.
This story of this particular Prophet is loosely based in fact. Tempted by a trio of sinister Anabaptists, and driven by fury at the loss of his girlfriend to the evil Count Oberthal, ruler of Dordrech, the simple innkeeper Jean de Leyde learns the power of populism and finds himself king of Münster, with the evil Count at his mercy. But perils follow,
In a chilling display of charismatic leadership, Jean mobilizes the masses for a religious uprising. But since he's declared the son of god, he finds that ruling requires denouncing his mother, Fidès, and antagonizing his beloved Berthe along the way.
The loving relationship of these two women is central to the drama, and celebrated in beautiful music. Like many of Meyerbeer's operas, this one centres on the women; the music tells their characters and grips us as they are destroyed by their love for Jean.
Doubtless, one reason the opera is rarely performed is the difficulty of casting the roles of Berthe, Jean's girlfriend and Fidès, his mother. It's one of the few operas in which the lead role is sung by a mezzo. Marilyn Horne was one of many mezzos who loved the role. (Verdi is thought to have been inspired by Fidès in creatingthe mother role of Azucena in Il trovatore.)
In the Bard production, as New York Times commented, "For nearly all of Act IV, the mezzo-soprano Jennifer Feinstein held the stage as Fidès, the pious mother of the false prophet Jean (John) and the opera’s richest role. Mad with anguish and thinking her son dead, Feinstein’s Fidès stitches together an unforced, just-hefty-enough sound from a mellow bottom to a ringing top in writing that was vocally gracious and terrifically exciting... Fidès’s Act V scena, with its scales, filigrees, trills and tumbling triplets, is a showcase of technical skill almost cruel in its thoroughness; Feinstein put on an entirely creditable, if not superhuman, display."
Synopsis here in Wiki. Not just a synopsis: there's a thoughtful analysis of the themes in the opera.
A brief reflection from conductor Mark Elder on the opera and its music is on YouTube here. What music! "Meyerbeer’s score is a wealth of gorgeous melodies and stirring musical and instrumental solos. His incorporation of Latin hymn tunes of his own creation, particularly ‘Ad nos ad salutarem’, adds authenticity as well as a sinister sense of the macabre to the drama. The trumpet solos in the Coronation March, like the role of Fidès, also caught Verdi’s attention, as is readily apparent from the Triumphal March in Aida." More here.
Our production
We've a hard choice: despite the paucity of live productions these days, there are two extraordinary recent recordings on YouTube, in full and with English subtitles.
We will play the production I've pictured above; at the Bard Summerfest festival in 2024.
Cast: Robert Watson (Jean de Leyde) Jennifer Feinstein (Fidès) Amina Edris (Berthe) Harold Wilson (Zacharie) Wei Wu (Mathisen) Brian Vu (Jonas) Zachary Altman (Oberthal)
This performance drew strong approval from reviewers, and also thoughtful explorations of the themes and their relevance today. Writing in the Washington Post, Philip Kennicott reflects on melodrama and its uses:
Meyerbeer was inventing what we now call the cinematic, and that scale of visual presentation amplified the melodramatic force of his dramas, including the stark oppositions of good and evil, innocence and corruption that force characters to make terrible decisions and sacrifices. Like the greatest paintings of Delacroix — ...— the visual spectacle is concentrated geometrically, narratively, choreographically, on the agony or ecstasy of single individuals caught up in the whirlwind of history.
Relevant today? Several commentators draw parallels to concern about fanaticism and populism. Of this production, this reviewer says "Räth had a message or two to impart. The dangers of demagoguery are illustrated through historical footage of marching Fascist soldiers. Concerns over a dystopian future are expressed by the women of the chorus dressed as Handmaids, the fertile women turned into breeding stock in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The opera itself speaks to religious fanatics."
Alternatively, you could watch another commanding production filmed in Toulouse, 2017, with Jean de Leyd played by John Osborne, and the extraordinary character of Fidès played by Kate Aldrich. Berthe is played by Sofia Fomina Jonas. And conductor is Mark Elder.
Lyn, 26/3/26
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