The Nouvel Opéra Métropolitain, lyrical division of the Festival Classica, presented Tuesday at the Salle Claude-Champagne, The Adorable Belboul by Jules Massenet. It was neither more nor less than a kind of “world recreation” since the publication, in 2018, of a critical edition of this score found in 2014, the fruit of a thirty-year-old Massenet.
Excellent initiative by Classica and Marc Boucher to present this unknown operetta by Massenet. In a useful and clear introductory speech on the genesis and the rediscovery of the work, the musicologist Jean-Christophe Branger underlined the current impossibility of presenting The Adorable Belboul in France, calling the subject “sulphurous”. This state of affairs unfortunately shows that the earth no longer turns round and that the spinal columns are now made of papier-mâché, or that we simply no longer have the codes intellectually to judge what really matters.
A sailing story
The very beautiful Zaï-Za, pupil of Ali-Bazar, loses her veil in the middle of the ceremony at the mosque, creating excitement in some and fury in others. She is protected by Hassan, who immediately woos her. But it also arouses the desire of the dervish Sidi-Toupi. Everyone meets at Ali-Bazar.
Zaï-Za is attracted to Hassan, her servant Fatime will play a trick on Sidi-Toupi by making her pass for Belboul. This Belboul, who we never see, is Ali-Bazar’s natural daughter and made her father promise that his ward Zaï-Za could only marry when she herself was married. However, Belboul limps, is hunchbacked, shady and has a strong character. Everyone calls her a “monkey”. Ali Bazar is reluctant to pay to marry her to old Omar who demands financial compensation. Fatime will arrange to extract this amount from the dervish.
First point : The Adorable Belboul is a “salon opera”, in an operetta version, very 19th centurye French. There are five singers, a piano four hands, a clarinet and a trombone. It’s entertainment for the upper class.
To sulk Belboul, after its rediscovery, is a frank imbecility, because the work is formidable: airs (the Serenade of Hassan, taken again from a segment of picturesque scenes, is irresistible) and ensembles are successful, with impeccable vocal marriages (mezzo and soprano for Zaï-Za and her servant, baritone-tenor for Al-Bazar and Sidi-Toupi) and inspired tunes. It’s really of constant musical interest, a beautiful operetta, unfortunately too short, neglected because Massent had other ambitions.
The codes
When we write that we no longer have the codes to judge what really matters, we have to go beyond the fact that we are talking about the veil, the mosque, because orientalizing subjects were fashionable and qualifiers used to describe Belboul are not politically correct.
Two interesting things here: the change in the code of the relationship between the bluebeard and his ward and, in parallel, the maintenance of the status of the “mistress servant”. We are here around 1875. Now, in the codes of the opera, with The Barber of Seville Or Don Pasquale and others, the relationship between the “old man” and his ward is always very interested, the ward being a tool to access pleasures for him or to a higher rank by offering it to a very rich party.
The invisible but intelligent Belboul breaks this: she’ll make sure to get herself in by demanding a marriage first, because she knows there’s going to be demand for Zaï-Za. She will even have the wedding with the right match. Al-Bazar can therefore have a much more relaxed role here. Moreover, Massenet remains faithful to the code of the servant wheel (Despina in cosiThere Mistress Servant) with Fatime who will make Sidi-Toupi pay.
There is therefore “nothing there” other than superb music and a successful little operetta. Jean-Christophe Branger was thrilled to finally hear it and he must have blessed Quebec’s vocal eldorado by hearing the duo Pauline Sabatier-Myriam Leblanc or the slaughter of Geoffroy Salvas, the density of the tone of Florence Bourget, the efficiency of the face-to-face between Antonio Figueroas and Geoffroy Salvas.
Beautiful instrumental entertainment, under the leadership of pianist Michel-Alexandre Broekaert and show elegantly dressed by projections of Lumifest on the run.
Despite the heartbreak of not being able to attend the Emerson farewell concert, such an initiative had to be documented.