Lalo - Le Roi d’Ys (CD + Book)

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Label: Bru Zane

Cat No: BZ1060

Format: CD + Book

Number of Discs: 2

Genre: Opera

Release Date: 9th May 2025

Works

Lalo, Edouard

Le Roi d'Ys

Artists

Judith van Wanroij (soprano)
Kate Aldrich (mezzo-soprano)
Cyrille Dubois (tenor)
Jerome Boutillier (baritone)
Nicolas Courjal (bass)
Christian Helmer (baritone)
Hungarian National Choir
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor

Gyorgy Vashegyi

Works

Lalo, Edouard

Le Roi d'Ys

Artists

Conductor

Gyorgy Vashegyi

About

In the kingdom of Cornouaille on the Breton coast, the war between Prince Karnac and the inhabitants of the town of Ys is finally coming to an end. The condition of the peace treaty is that Karnac will marry Princess Margared. But her love for Mylio, who is betrothed to her sister Rozenn, will provoke a terrible tidal wave fomented by her thirst for revenge. Édouard Lalo found an inspiring libretto here, which he handled with a sense of theatrical urgency rarely achieved. The characters live out their passions, supported by vehement, colourful orchestration. The role of Margared, in particular, deserves to be numbered among the most successful in French Romantic opera. First performed in Paris in 1888, the work scored a triumph that was repeated at every revival in the provinces and abroad. Though barely two hours long, it teems with dramatic situations: Breton festivals, the supernatural appearance of Saint Corentin, a wedding accompanied by the organ, tidal wave whose tumultuous billows are rendered to great effect. Le Roi d'Ys amply merited an ambitious staging at the Paris Opéra, which it was unfortunately denied in Lalo’s lifetime.

Cast:
- Rozenn: Judith van Wanroij (soprano)
- Margared: Kate Aldrich (mezzo-soprano)
- Mylio: Cyrille Dubois (tenor)
- Karnac: Jérôme Boutillier (baritone)
- Le Roi: Nicolas Courjal (bass)
- Jahel / Saint Corentin: Christian Helmer (baritone)

Sound/Video

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1

Ouverture
2

Acte I : Chœur. Noël ! c’est l’aurore bénie (Jahel, Chœur)
3

Acte I : Chœur. Les guerres sont terminées (Chœur)
4

Acte I : Scène et Chœur. Entendez-vous ce signal (Jahel, Chœur)
5

Acte I : Scène. Margared, ô ma sœur (Rozenn, Margared)
6

Acte I : Duo. En silence pourquoi souffrir ? (Rozenn, Margared)
7

Acte I : Scène. Pour terminer une sanglante guerre (Rozenn, Margared)
8

Acte I : Chœur. Venez, le temps presse (Rozenn, Margared, Chœur)
9

Acte I : Air. Vainement j’ai parlé de l’absence éternelle (Rozenn)
10

Acte I : Duo. Si le ciel est plein de flammes (Mylio, Rozenn)
11

Acte I : Cortège
12

Acte I : Finale. Désireux d’accomplir l’union résolue (Karnac, le Roi, Chœur)
13

Acte I : Finale – suite. Quoi ! Mylio vivant ! (Margared, Rozenn, le Roi, Karnac, Mylio, Chœur)
14

Acte II – 1er tableau: Prélude
15

Acte II – 1er tableau: Air. De tous côtés j’aperçois dans la plaine (Margared)
16

Acte II – 1er tableau: Scène. Que demain au lever de l’aurore (Le Roi, Rozenn, Mylio)
17

Acte II – 1er tableau: Air. Oui, je le sens, je l’atteste (Mylio)
18

Acte II – 1er tableau: Quatuor et Scène. Hélas, pourrais-je (Margared, /rozenn, Mylio, le Roi)
19

Acte II – 1er tableau: Scène. Va ! demain, c’est l’éternelle ivresse ! (Rozenn, Margared)
20

Acte II – 1er tableau: Récit. Tais-toi ! Tais-toi ! Margared ! (Rozenn)
21

Acte II – 1er tableau: Arioso. Que ta justice fasse taire (Rozenn)
22

Acte II – 1er tableau: Scène finale. Soyez maudits ! (Margared, Rozenn)
23

Acte II – 2ème tableau: Chœur. Victoire ! Honneur à Mylio ! (Mylio, Chœur)
24

Acte II – 2ème tableau: Scène. Perdu ! Je suis perdu ! (Karnac)
25

Acte II – 2ème tableau: Scène. L’enfer t’écoute ! (Margared, Karnac)
26

Acte II – 2ème tableau: Apparition. Je succombe sous l’effroi ! (Margared, Saint Corentin, Chœur, Voix d’en haut)
27

Acte III – 1er tableau: Noce bretonne
28

Acte III – 1er tableau: Scène. Vous qui venez ici (Jahel)
29

Acte III – 1er tableau: Chœur. Ouvrez cette porte à la fiancée (Chœur)
30

Acte III – 1er tableau: Aubade. Puisqu’on ne peut fléchir (Mylio, Chœur)
31

Acte III – 1er tableau: Chœur et Chant breton. Salut à l’époux (Rozenn, Chœur)
32

Acte III – 1er tableau: Cortège et Te Deum. Te Deum (Margared, Karnac, Chœur)
33

Acte III – 1er tableau: Duo. Allons, pas de l’âche faiblesse ! (Karnac, Margared, Chœur)
34

Acte III – 1er tableau: Duo – suite. Ils vont sortir de la chapelle (Karnac, Margared)
35

Acte III – 1er tableau: Sortie. Salut à l’époux comme à l’épousée ! (Rozenn, Mylio, Chœur)
36

Acte III – 1er tableau: Duo. À l’autel j’allais rayonnant (Rozenn, Mylio)
37

Acte III – 1er tableau: Scène et Trio. Je reviendrai bientôt (Rozenn, Margared, le Roi)
38

Acte III – 1er tableau: Finale. Ces rumeurs (Le Roi, Rozenn, Margared, Mylio, Chœur)
39

Acte III – 2ème tableau: Inondation. Ô Puissance infinie (Le Roi, Mylio, Chœur)
40

Acte III – 2ème tableau: Finale. Allant où le maître l’envoie (Margared, le Roi, Rozenn, Mylio, Chœur)
41

Acte III – 2ème tableau: Chœur. Mort à l’infâme ! (Rozenn, Mylio, le Roi, Chœur)
42

Acte III – 2ème tableau: Scène finale. L’eau monte encor ! (Le Roi, Margared, Chœur)
43

Acte III – 2ème tableau: Apothéose. Ô justice, ô terreur ! (Chœur, Voix d’en haut)

Europadisc Review

Although best-known to international audiences for his Symphonie espagnole and Cello Concerto, there is much more to Édouard Lalo (1823–1892) and his music than is normally given credit. More familiar to French audiences, but still hardly a standard repertoire work, is his operatic masterpiece, Le Roi d’Ys. It was composed in 1875 with hopes of a performance at the Paris Opéra, but had to wait for its first performance until 7 May 1888, when it was given by the Opéra-Comique at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Place du Châtelet. In fact the delay appears to have benefitted the work enormously, with Lalo substantially revising and cutting the work, so that the action – condensed to just an hour and forty minutes – has a far more immediate dramatic and musical impact. It went on to enjoy notable success, although it was not until a decade after Lalo’s death that it finally made it to the hallowed stage of the Opéra itself. Yet, as the 20th century progressed, it gradually fell into undeserved neglect.

Le Roi d’Ys is based on the Breton legend of the drowned medieval kingdom of Ys, supposedly located off the west coast of Brittany at the site of the present-day Bay of Douarnenez. The subject reflects the mid-19th-century fashion for Breton subject matter, as well as the wider European vogue for north-European myths and legends (most obviously in the works of Richard Wagner). The libretto, by Édouard Blau, expands on the basic legend by adding into the mix a love-triangle entangling the eponymous monarch’s daughters, Rozenn and Margared (both in love with the heroic warrior Mylio), and the vengeful actions of the enemy prince Karnac. It culminates in a tidal wave engulfing the kingdom and drowning half its citizens, before a remorseful Margared throws herself into the torrent to placate the sea.

Lalo’s orchestration dispenses with such standard ‘French’ features as the harp and cor anglais, but includes an organ in Act 3, as well as prominent brass which led some critics to accuse the music of Wagnerianism. Yet the work’s admirable conciseness and use of pithy reminiscences (rather than a continuous symphonic ‘weave’) are very unlike the style of the Bayreuth master, and although the music of each scene plays without a break, there are clear vestiges of traditional numbers. And, thanks to the composer’s rigorous self-pruning, none outstay their welcome. The lyricism of the romantic couple, Rozenn and Mylio, is balanced by the more forceful, declamatory style of Margared, and the chorus has a significant role in heightening the emotions of the main characters.

Although it presents challenges in staging, Le Roi d’Ys has been fortunate on disc (under such batons as Inghelbrecht, Cluytens and Armin Jordan), but those wanting a vivid and up-to-date recording backed up by fastidious textual research will be pleased to learn that the Palazetto Bru Zane has now added the work to its excellent series of opera-books. The cast is a formidable one, headed by soprano Judith van Wanroij as Rozenn and mezzo Kate Aldrich as Margared. Their voices bring out the contrasts between the two sisters, Rozenn the brighter and more lyrical, yet with an underlying steadfastness, Margared the more headstrong and imperious, yet still capable of moments of tenderness. As the object of their affections, tenor Cyrille Dubois in the role of Mylio is ringingly heroic while coping splendidly with the part’s high tessitura; his Act 3 aubade ‘Vainement,ma bien-aimée’ is one of the performance’s highlights, as is his dreamy duet with Rozenn, ‘À l’autel j’allais rayonnant’.

Baritone Jérôme Boutillier makes a splendidly incisive antagonist as Karnac, while bass Nicolas Courjal is a rather blustery but emotionally committed king (although the title character, this is in fact a rather peripheral role compared with the traditional legend). Baritone Christian Helmer doubles as the royal herald Jahel and the statue of St Corentin. In the crucial choral passages, the Hungarian National Choir make a splendidly full-throated impact, while the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra do a marvellous job in highlighting all the atmospheric detail and ardent sweep of Lalo’s score, from the popular Overture to the calamitous final scenes. György Vashegyi – whose conducting we greatly admired in last year’s Bru Zane recording of Massenet’s Werther – brings out all the tension and drama of this wonderfully concentrated opera. He, Wanroij, Aldrich and Dubois make this a hugely persuasive account of a still-underrated opera, vividly recorded and impeccably presented by the Bru Zane team. Lovers of French opera will want to snap it up immediately!

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Lalo - Le Roi d’Ys (CD + Book)

Currently out of stock at the UK suppliers. Available to order, but is likely to take longer than usual to despatch

Despatch Information

Contents

Works

Artists

Conductor

Works

Artists

Conductor

About

Sound/Video

Paused

Europadisc Review