Premiered in December 1825 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, The White Lady was a huge success and was played more than 1500 times. A comic opera in three acts written by the composer François-Adrien Boieldieu, on a libretto by Eugène Scribe. A major work of the genre that inspired other composers, and not the least: Rossini, Wagner or Bizet.
I think it’s because the music is very catchy, very beautiful. It’s a comic opera where in fact, when you go out, you hum tunes from La Dame blanche.
Valerie NegreDirector
This is perhaps what happened to Hergé who, in The Crab with the Golden Claws, made Tintin sing intoxicated by the vapors of wine, Jenny’s Air, excerpt from Boieldieu’s play.
Boieldieu’s work is inspired by two novels by Walter Scott, The monastery and Guy Mannering. Long forgotten, artists (and with them the public) are rediscovering with a certain interest The White Lady and its story full of twists and turns that takes place in a Scotland populated by schemers, lovers, old castles and (fake) ghosts. “With his airs alternately virtuoso and lyrical, tender or soaring, The White Lady is a bit like the quintessence of the tastes of the time, brilliantly mixing black romanticism and the purest bel canto“, can we read on the website of the Opéra de Nice.
The scenes are interspersed with text, instead of being interspersed with recitative, as one can have with Mozart for example. Which allows you to really hook the public, especially nowadays, to the plot, to the action, to what is happening; and then it’s really a very rich work, because we are in theatricality, in action, and we don’t hide behind the music
But, due to sanitary measures, it was impossible to play the original version, it had to be shortened and re-orchestrated to present a show of only two hours. “We reduced everything. In addition to the fact that there are no sets, there is also no intermission. So the work which normally lasts two hours and forty-five now lasts two hours, we had to cut, cut. There are cuts that are a bit drastic, but suddenly, we find a more contemporary rhythm“, explains conductor Alexandra Cravero.
“The White Lady” – January 21, 23 and 25, 2022 – La Diacosmie, second stage of the Nice Opera – prices from 31 to 47 euros, 5 euros for students – information and reservations on the opera website.