Proserpine (Saint-Saëns)
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| Proserpine | |
|---|---|
| Drame lyrique by Camille Saint-Saëns | |
 The composer in 1880s | |
| Librettist | Louis Gallet |
| Language | French |
Proserpine is an 1887 drame lyrique in four acts by Camille Saint-Saëns to a libretto by Louis Gallet after Auguste Vacquerie.[1] Its run time is 95 minutes.[2]
After the Camille Saint-Saëns became intrigued by August Vacquerie's play (Proserpine, written in 1838) and the Italian aspects of it, Saint-Saëns and Vacquerie agreed on composing Proserpine in the Italian style.[3] The project was never realized as initially intended, but was returned to a few years later after a dinner party brought the pair back together. They, with a third collaborator in librettist Louis Gallet, ended up writing the opera as a drame lyrique, though the story still takes place in Italy.[3][4] A trip to Florence by Saint-Saëns inspired this setting and atmosphere of the opera.[3]
Roles
- Proserpine (soprano)
- Angiola (soprano)
- Sabatino (tenor)
- Squarocca (baritone)
- Renzo (bass)
- Orlando (tenor)
- Ercole (baritone)
- Filippo (tenor)
- Gil (tenor)
- Une religieuse ‘a nun’
- Trois jeunes filles ‘three girls’
- Trois novices ‘three novices’
- Seigneurs, mendiants, religieuses, soldats ‘Lords, mendicants, nuns, soldiers’
Instrumentation and Composition
Along with vocal soloists and an SATB chorus, Proserpine features: an off-stage orchestra (flute, viola, violoncello, harp, organ, bell) and an on-stage orchestra (piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets (A/B♭), 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns (D/F/A/G), 2 cornets (A/B♭), 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (triangle, bass drum, cymbals), harp, strings).[5][4]
Proserpine features no spoken dialogue.[3]
Saint-Saëns used leitmotifs, a compositional technique commonly associated with Wagner, whom he greatly admired.[3]
