Henry VIII (opera)

Henry VIII is an opera in four acts by Camille Saint-Saëns, from a libretto by Léonce Détroyat and Armand Silvestre, based on El cisma en Inglaterra (The schism in England) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

Composition history

The action covers the period in Henry VIII's life when the king was discarding Queen Catherine of Aragon in favour of Anne Boleyn, a move rejected by the Church.

In an effort to evoke the historical context, Saint-Saëns researched English music from the period and incorporated several English, Scottish, and Irish folk melodies into his score, as well as an air by William Byrd, contained in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.

Performance history

Setting for the original production, evoking Westminster Hall

Henry VIII received its first performance on 5 March 1883 at the Opéra de Paris, where it remained in the repertoire until 1919. It was seen at the Royal Opera House, London in 1889 with Maurice Renaud in the title role, Lina Pacary as Catherine d'Aragon, and Meyriane Héglon as Anne Boleyn. It was revived in 1991 at the Théatre Impérial de Compiègne in a production by Pierre Jourdan, with Philippe Rouillon as Henry VIII, Michèle Command as Catherine of Aragon and Lucile Vignon as Anne Boleyn. The production was made into a film.

Performances were given at the Liceu in Barcelona in 2002 where it was staged once again by Pierre Jourdan with Montserrat Caballé as Catherine, Simon Estes as Henry and Nomeda Kazlaus as Anne Boleyn, with José Collado conducting.

A concert performance was given at the Bard College Music Festival, Annandale-on-Hudson, on 20 August 2012, with Ellie Dehn as Catherine, Jason Howard as Henry, and Jennifer Holloway as Anne Boleyn. Leon Botstein conducted.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 5 March 1883[1]
Henry VIII	baritone	Jean Lassalle
Catherine d'Aragon	soprano	Gabrielle Krauss
Anne Boleyn	mezzo-soprano	Alphonsine Richard
Lady Clarence	soprano	Mlle Nastorg
Don Gomez de Feria	tenor	Étienne Dereims
Cardinal Campeggio, legatus of the pope	bass	Auguste Boudouresque
Le duc de Norfolk	bass	Eugène Lorrain
Le comte de Surrey	tenor	Étienne Sapin
Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury	bass	M. Gaspard
Garter King of Arms	tenor	M. Malvaut
Un huissier	bass	M. Boutens

Recording

• Philippe Rouillon, Michèle Command, Lucile Vignon, conducted by Alain Guingal. Le Chant Du Monde. (also available as a DVD, Kultur Films)

References

Notes

1. (French) Piotr Kaminski, 1001 opéras, Fayard, 2003, p. 1383

Sources

• Huebner, Steven (2006). French Opera at the Fin de Siècle: Henry VIII. Oxford Univ. Press, US. pp. 213–230. ISBN 978-0-19-518954-4.
• Upton, George P.; Borowski, Felix (1928). The Standard Opera Guide. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. pp. 320–323.

External links