Godard : Dante Inclus livre

Description

Born in 1265 in Florence, Dante Alighieri was both a poet and a significant political figure, becoming famous for his Divine Comedy, which narrates the descent into Hell and the slow ascent to Paradise. The opera that Godard dedicated to him in 1890 skillfully overlays the political reality—scenes of crowds in Florence and the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines—with the expression of courtly love he feels for the young Beatrice, promised to his friend Bardi. The most remarkable component of this opera is the integration of a "Vision," which is nothing other than a musical synthesis of the Divine Comedy. Act III thus revolves around a fantasized Hell and Paradise, juxtaposing the Apparition of Virgil, Chorus of the Damned, Infernal Whirlwind, Divine Clarity, and the Apotheosis of Beatrice. Godard demonstrates the zenith of his melodic inspiration and compositional mastery here, in a style that renews Gounod and has nothing to envy from Massenet.