Saint-Saëns and the Stage
Operas, Plays, Pageants, a Ballet and a Film

The first major study of Saint-Saëns's stage music, timed to coincide with revivals of his operas on stage.

Hugh Macdonald (Author)

9781108445092, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 September 2021

448 pages, 17 b/w illus. 186 music examples
24.4 x 16.9 x 2.3 cm, 0.777 kg

'… is Herculean in every sense … with heaps of insightful detail, gleaned from many sources but, in particular, through close and erudite examination of librettos and scores.' Clair Rowden, Fontes Astis Musicae

The stage works of Saint-Saëns range from grand open-air pageants to one-act comic operas, and include the first composed film score. Yet, with the exception of Samson et Dalila, his twelve operas have lain in the shadows since the composer's death in 1921. Widely performed in his lifetime, they vanished from the repertory - never played, never recorded - until now. With four twenty-first-century revivals as a backdrop, this timely book is the first study of Saint-Saëns's operas, demonstrating the presence of the same breadth and versatility as in his better known works. Hugh Macdonald's wide knowledge of French music in the nineteenth century gives a powerful understanding of the different conventions and expectations that governed French opera at the time. The interaction of Saint-Saëns with his contemporaries is a colourful and important part of the story.

1. Preparations for opera, Le Duc de Parme
2. Le Timbre d'argent
3. Samson et Dalila
4. La Princesse jaune
5. Etienne Marcel
6. Henry VIII
7. Proserpine
8. Ascanio
9. La Crampe des écrivains, Phryné
10. Antigone, Frédégonde
11. Javotte, Déjanire
12. Lola, Les Barbares
13. Parysatis, Botriocéphale, Andromaque, Le Roi Apépi, Hélène
14. L'Ancêtre, La Foi
15. L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise, Déjanire, On ne badine pas avec l'amour
16. Saint-Saëns the Dramatist.

Subject Areas: Opera [AVGC9], 20th century & contemporary classical music [AVGC6], Romantic music [c 1830 to c 1900 AVGC5]