Daniel François Esprit Auber, genius of opéra-comique, was born in Caen,
Normandy, France, on January 29, 1782. In his youth he lived in London,
where he studied both the business of art, in which he hoped to engage,
and music. There he wrote several songs which were heard at public
entertainments. After returning to France and settling in Paris in 1804,
he gave himself up completely to music. Two minor stage works with music
were privately performed between 1806 and 1811 before his first opera
received its première performance: _Le Séjour militaire_ in 1813. His
first success came seven years after that with _La Bergère châtelaine_.
From then on he was a prolific writer of both light and grand operas,
many to texts by Eugène Scribe. _La Muette de Portici_ in 1828 was a
triumph, and was followed by such other major successes _Fra Diavolo_
(1830), _Le Cheval_ _de bronze_ (1835), _Le Domino noir_ (1837) and _Les
Diamants de la couronne_ (1841). His last opera, _Rêves d’amour_, was
completed when he was eighty-seven. Auber was one of France’s most
highly honored musicians. From 1842 until his death he was director of
the Paris Conservatory, and in 1857 he was made by Napoleon III Imperial
Maître de Chapelle. Auber died in Paris on May 12, 1871.
With Adam and Boieldieu, Auber was one of the founding fathers of the
opéra-comique. He was superior to his two colleagues in the lightness of
his touch, surpassing wit, and grace of lyricism. But Auber’s charm and
gaiety were not bought at the expense of deeper emotional and dramatic
values; for all their lightness of heart, his best comic operas are
filled with pages that have the scope and dimension of grand opera. As
Rossini once said of him, Auber may have produced light music, but he
produced it like a true master.
Overtures to several of his most famous operas are standards in the
light-classical repertory.
_The Black Domino_ (_Le Domino noir_), text by Eugène Scribe, was
introduced in Paris on December 2, 1837. The central character is Lady
Angela, an abbess, who attends a masked ball where she meets and falls
in love with Horatio, a young nobleman. Numerous escapades and
adventures follow before Angela meets up again with her young man. Now
released from her religious vows by the Queen, Angela is free to marry
him.
In the overture, a loud outburst for full orchestra emphasizes a
strongly rhythmic theme. A staccato phrase in the woodwind and a return
of the initial strong subject follow. This leads into a light dancing
motive for the woodwind. Another _forte_ passage is now the bridge to a
melodious episode in the woodwind. A change of key brings on a gay
bolero melody for clarinets and bassoons in octaves. After this idea is
amplified, a jota-like melody is given by the full orchestra. The
closing section is a brilliant presentation of a completely new jota
melody.
_The Crown Diamonds_ (_Les Diamants de la couronne_) was first produced
in Paris on March 6, 1841, when it scored a major success. But it
enjoyed an even greater triumph when it was first performed in England
three years after that; from then on it has remained a great favorite
with English audiences. The text, by Eugène Scribe and Saint-Georges, is
set in 18th-century Portugal where the Queen assumes the identity of the
leader of a gang of counterfeiters and uses the crown diamonds to get
the money she needs to save her throne. When Don Henrique falls into the
unscrupulous hands of these counterfeiters, the Queen saves his life and
falls in love with him. The throne is eventually saved, and the crown
jewels retrieved. The Queen now can choose Don Henrique as her husband.
The overture opens with a sustained melody for the strings that is
dramatized by key changes. A rhythmic passage leads to a martial subject
for the brass. Several other vigorous ideas ensue in the brass and
woodwind. After their development there comes a lyrical string episode
which, in turn, leads into a second climax. Contrast comes with a
lyrical idea in the strings. A loud return of the first martial subject
in full orchestra marks the beginning of a spirited conclusion.
_Fra Diavolo_ was an immediate success when first given in Paris on
January 28, 1830; it has remained Auber’s best known comic opera. It has
even received burlesque treatment on the Hollywood screen in a comedy
starring Laurel and Hardy. The text by Eugène Scribe has for its central
character a bandit chief by the name of Fra Diavolo who disguises
himself as an Italian Marquis. He flirts with a lady of noble birth,
hides in the bedroom of Zerlina, the inn-keeper’s daughter, and is
finally apprehended by Zerlina’s sweetheart, the captain of police.
This popular overture opens with a _pianissimo_ drum roll, the preface
to a march tune for strings. The march music is extended to other
instruments, and as the volume increases it gives the impression of an
advancing army. It attains a _fortissimo_ for full orchestra, then
subsides. The overture ends with several sprightly melodies from the
first act of the opera.
_The Mute of Portici_ (_La Muette de Portici_)—or, as it is sometimes
called, _Masaniello_—is a grand opera that contributed a footnote to the
political history of its times. First performed in Paris on February 29,
1828, it had profound repercussions on the political situation of that
period, and it is regarded by many as a significant influence in
bringing on the July Revolution in Paris in 1830. When first performed
in Brussels the same year, it instigated such riots that the occupying
Dutch were ejected from that country and Belgium now achieved
independence.
The text by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne is based on an episode
from history: a successful Neapolitan revolt against the Duke of Arcos,
headed by Tommaso Anello in 1647. In the opera, Masaniello assumes
Anello’s part, and toward the end of the opera after the insurrection is
smothered, he is assassinated.
The overture begins with stormy music in full orchestra. After the tempo
slackens, a sensitive melody is presented by clarinets and bassoons in
octaves. The main section of the overture now unfolds, its main theme
divided between the strings and the woodwind. After a _fortissimo_
section for full orchestra, a second important melody is heard in the
woodwind and violins. The two main subjects are recalled and developed.
The overture closes with a coda in which percussion instruments are
emphasized.