Herculanum Inclus livre

Description

If Félicien David owes his renown to the success of the ode-symphony Le Désert (1844), it is with Herculanum (1859) that he enters the circle of composers performed at the Opéra de Paris. This ambitious work would earn him in part the Légion d'honneur and open the doors of the Opéra-Comique and the Institut de France to him. Far from the orientalist flourishes of his earlier scores, Herculanum stands out for the solidity of its craftsmanship (vast scenes with sustained dramatic force), the diversity of its style (in which the influence of Verdi can be felt), and the variety of its vocal writing (including a coloratura contralto in the manner of Rossini). The work also draws on the vein of the fantastic, highly prized since La Dame blanche by Boieldieu (1825) and Robert le Diable by Meyerbeer (1831). But here, the supernatural is put at the service of an openly asserted mysticism: the staging of the eruption of Vesuvius allows the composer to offer the public a grand and moral spectacle, portraying the decadence of the ancient world and promoting Christianity.