Daniel-François-Esprit Auber's operas cover a significant period of French historyfrom the Restoration, through the July Monarchy and the Second Republic, to the Second Empire. With 38 libretti by his lifelong collaborator, the famous dramatist Eugene Scribe, this oeuvre presents a remarkable artistic reflection on many contemporary social and historical issues. These thematic preoccupations fall into several distinct fields that throw light on many of the interests and concerns of the age. The use of recurring concepts, imagery and symbols are resources in exploring the intellectual and musical milieu of this remarkable period of 50 years. Scribe's ideas reflect these matters, a situation adumbrated in the composer's responses to such literary stimuli. Great themes of history echo the political tumult of the times (La Muette de Portici), as do social values and bourgeois rectitude (Le Maçon); the serious implications of the artistic life and its vicissitudes (L'Ambassadrice); the notion of the rebel outlaw (Fra Diavolo); enterprising womanhood; (Le Domino noir) the realms of fairy tale (Le Cheval de bronze); and dance as socially endemic to the age (Gustave III).These various collective themes are investigated in terms of narrative art, musical characterization, genre and social concerns. Musical examples and detailed iconography are integral to the discussion.
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'This is a scholarly and interesting work on the contribution of Auber to opera.'Robert GibsonFormerly Employed by the University of the West of Scotland.
Robert Ignatius Letellier was educated in Grahamstown, Cambridge, Salzburg, Rome, and Jerusalem. He is a member of Trinity College Cambridge, the Maryvale Higher Institute of Religious Studies in Birmingham, and the Institute of Continuing Education at Madingley Hall, Cambridge, UK. His publications number over 100 items, including books and articles on the early and Romantic novel (particularly the Gothic Novel and Sir Walter Scott), the Bible, history, and European culture. He has specialized in the Romantic opera, especially the work of Giacomo Meyerbeer, Fromental Halévy, Daniel François Esprit Auber, Adolphe Adam, the opéra comique, the operetta, Ludwig Minkus and nineteenth century ballet.
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