An Aria by František Škroup for Halévy’s opera La Juive
| Pages | 46–78 |
|---|---|
| DOI | 10.37520/muscz.2021.002 |
| Keywords | La Juive, Fromental Halévy, Eugène Scribe, František Škroup, Katharina Podhorsky, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Eduard Hanslick, opera, aria, music criticism, Estates Theatre, Prague, Czech music, first half of the 19th century |
| Citation | POSPÍŠIL, Milan. An Aria by František Škroup for Halévy’s opera La Juive. Musicalia. Journal of the Czech Museum of Music / Časopis Českého muzea hudby . Prague: National Museum, 2021, 13(1-2), 46–78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/muscz.2021.002. ISSN 1803-7828 (Print), 2533-5634 (Online). Also available from: https://publikace.nm.cz/en/periodicals/musicalia-journal-of-the-czech-museum-of-music-casopis-ceskeho-muzea-hudby/13-1-2/an-aria-by-frantisek-skroup-for-halevys-opera-la-juive |
At the Czech Museum of Music there is a manuscript of an aria composed by František Škroup as an insertion for Halévy’s opera La Juive. As the conductor of the Estates Theatre, Škroup wrote it for the first German-language performance of the opera in Prague in 1838. The aria was inserted into the role of Eudoxie/Isabella so the singer of the part, Katharina Podhorsky, would get to present herself as a soloist, having been denied that opportunity by the cuts in the printed score of Halévy’s opera. The aria was suitably placed at the beginning of Act IV, but the German text by an unknown author departs from the drama’s sequence of cause and effect found Scribe’s libretto. The insertion takes the form of a two-part aria (Cantabile – Cabaletta) of the kind used for large vocal numbers in emotionally intense situations. The composition conforms to the practice at that time of inserting arias by different composers into operas, and Podhorsky also engaged in this practice. The coloratura writing at the conclusion of the aria was apparently intended to feature her strengths as a singer.
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