Milhaud was no dabbler
when it came to operatic output. His
total operatic catalogue runs to no
fewer than fifteen works: La Brebis
Égarée, 1923; Les
Malheurs d’Orphée, 1926;
Le Pauvre Matelot, 1927; L’Enlèvement
d’Europe (part 1, trilogy), 1927;
L’Abandon d’Ariane (part 2, trilogy),
1928; La Délivrance de Thésée
(part 3, trilogy), 1928; Christophe
Colombe, 1930; Maximilien,
1932; Esther de Carpentras, stage
premiere 1938; Médée,
1939; Bolivar, 1950; David,
stage premiere 1955; Fiesta,
1958; La Mère Coupable,
1966; Saint Louis, Roi de France,
1972 (oratorio-opera).
The two operas presented
on this Accord disc are chamber works
using an orchestra of thirteen instrumentalists
although Le pauvre matelot was
originally laid out for full orchestra.
His other chamber operas include L'abandon
d'Ariane, La déliverance
de Thésée and L'enlèvement
d'Europa. Les malheurs d'Orphée
was premiered on 7 May 1926 at the
Théâtre de la Monnaie,
Brüssels. The libretto is by Armand
Lunel (1892-1977), a childhood friend
of the composer. Le pauvre matelot
was premiered on 16 December 1927
at the Opéra-Comique, Paris.
The libretto in this case was initially
written by Cocteau for an abortive operatic
project by Auric.
Misadventure or tragedy.
Call it what you like these two operas
have plots with a bitter twist in the
tail. In Le pauvre matelot the
dénouement involves the sailor
returning home in disguise and being
killed by the wife because the ‘cock
and bull’ story he has cooked up is
so good that the loving wife needs to
‘do-in’ the stranger to rescue her husband
from debt. In the other Orpheus and
the gypsy Eurydice elope to the mountains.
There Eurydice dies of a mysterious
malady and her body is carried away
by mourning animals. Orpheus, distraught,
returns to his village where Eurydice's
sisters, believing he has killed Eurydice,
kill him and too late realise their
mistake.
As for the music, in
the case of Les malheurs d'Orphée
there is no prelude at track 1. We are
straight into the singing - a complex
ensemble that smacks of Poulenc and
includes chattering Rio-style rhythms.
Track 8 has plenty of Stravinskian skirl
and impact similar to the punchy attack
in Les Noces and in Oedipus
Rex (tr. 15). There is a slight
abrasion on the vibrant women's voices
- an artefact of the passing years.
The animals cortege for Eurydice wails
and ululates. The mourning chorus and
funeral cortège of Eurydice are
sometimes performed as freestanding
concert items.
In Le pauvre matelot
Milhaud weaves together authentic sea
shanties and his own original material.
"Blow the Man Down" puts in a strong
and boozy appearance in the scenes running
up to the killing. However there is
plenty of variety here. For example
at tr. 22 there is some gorgeous folksy
singing from the soprano, Canteloube-style.
The feel of this serenata-style piece
links with Vaughan Williams’ contemporaneous
operas Sir John in Love and Poisoned
Kiss.
Rob Barnett
Solistes de l'Orchestre du Théâtre
National de l'Opéra de Paris/Darius Milhaud
