But look at you, this 80 points is wasted. ..

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This is the beginning and end of Cournot's creation:

The beginning and end of creation

Cournot's father is a famous French sculptor Francois-Louis Cournot, who was born in Paris in 18 18. Cournot had a talent for music since he was a child, and when he was studying at Letellier College and St. Louis Middle School, he was already quite famous. Cournot established his ambition very early and took becoming a composer as his lifelong goal. During his study, important French teachers at that time had instructed him, including Antonie Recha, Halevy, Jean-Francois Le Suel and Ferdinando Parr. Cournot 18 challenged the famous Rome Grand Prix, but was defeated twice. After the third effort, 1839, Cournot finally won the Rome Prize and was able to study in Rome for three years. During this period, Goethe's French version of Faust has been with him. The story of mortals being tempted by the devil deeply attracted him. The image of Margaret has always haunted me. Therefore, Cournot also visited Goethe's former residence and was fascinated by the legendary sculptures and monuments. So in the requiem of 1842, the theme of Margaret's prayer to God can already be heard. 1846, Bai Liao's drama music "The scourge of Faust" premiered. Although these four eight-act works are not performed in the form of opera, they still make Cournot feel a big impact.

1856, Cournot watched Michel Carrey's Faust and Margaret in the Grand Theatre. Cournot found that it is actually feasible to write Faust as an opera. He was introduced to Jules Barbier, who wrote the script for Kerry, and got the rewritten version of Barbier's script. In fact, Barbier's plays were completed a long time ago, but Mr. Ba's goal was the great Meyer Bell, who was the most powerful composer in French drama at that time. Meyer Bell is not interested in this play (in fact, Meyer Bell is afraid that if the rewriting of Faust is not done well, the Germans will resist it). Cournot found him and hit it off. However, the Opera House hopes that Cournot will first consider adapting Moliere's Medecin Marguerite Louis into an opera. Cournot agreed, and as a result, Doctor Mutant was staged at 1858 65438+ 10/0/5 (Moliere's birthday), becoming Cournot's first popular opera. The theater's confidence in him doubled, so the script was quickly completed under the "tampering" of Kerry and Barbier. Cournot made rapid progress and completed the score 1858 on May 4th. In the theater, the boss asked the heroine to play the role of Margaret with Miolan Carvalho (because she is the proprietress of the theater), and the hero was Hector Grouille. It was difficult for the theater to interfere with the performance during rehearsal. During the formal rehearsal, Grouille suddenly "screamed" his voice. Cournot was caused by these events. Later, it was replaced by Babbott, a student of the famous singer Desat. Mephisto fellers threatened Margaret in the church. Because the church was sacred and the devil was rampant, it was requested by the then Minister of Culture to be deleted.

Despite the constant accidents, 1859, 19 March, the opera version of Faust met the world in Paris, and the reaction was very polarized. The music is beautiful and enjoyed by many ordinary people, but scholars believe that this play desecrates the sacred position of Goethe's original works. At that time, Faust was staged in the name of "Happy Opera" and oral dialogue was added. In fact, it is no different from ordinary Italian opera, but it is sung in French. Despite the controversy, Faust performed 57 performances in its first year-in terms of quantity, the play was indeed quite successful. After its premiere, Faust was silent for two years, but in 1862, Faust was staged in Strasbourg, and in the same year 165438+ 10, the Italian version was also staged at Scala Opera House in Milan. Since then, Faust has been endlessly staged and become Cournot's most famous musical work. Cournot in his youth was deeply shocked by the passage in which the stone statue asked for repentance before the end of Don Juan, so he specially arranged the passage in which Mephisto fellers was afraid of Margaret in the church in the fourth act. However, this paragraph was also taken seriously, at least at the premiere, and was persuaded to delete it. In addition, it was popular to arrange ballet passages in operas at that time, and Cournot could not avoid adding seven ballet pieces. But as far as French composers are concerned, Cournot did make a breakthrough in the combination of theory and application. His predecessors Ober, Boieldieu, herold and Adam, no matter how beautiful their works are and how rich their knowledge is, as long as they write dramatic works, their superb composition skills will be completely forgotten. Cournot was the first French opera composer who truly combined skills, theater and the masses.

The only way for lyric male and female tenors

From Bernard Shaw's emphasis on Faust, we can know the important position of this play in the history of opera. The tenor who plays Faust usually must have a clear and beautiful voice, while the soprano who plays Margaret must have a brisk voice and the ability to sing coloratura. These two roles are the only way for tenors and sopranos to move towards dramatic roles. Since the 20th century, the situation may have changed slightly. The dramatic tenor with huge volume has also been involved in Faust's role, such as the singing of Enrico Caruso, Yossi Bjorin and Corelli, and drama has replaced lyric. However, the corner of Faust is still one of the index dramas of lyric tenor. As far as pure French singers are concerned, Karl Johann, Jean de Rezke, Visani and george hill are all famous Faust singers. As for Margaret, she has been invaded by foreign countries for a long time. The role of Mephisto fellers is almost recognized by the eastern European bass, especially Feodor Xialiyaping's singing is the most representative. Today, Faust is an opera with strong international color, which is deeply loved by opera fans-beautiful music and wonderful plot. Who won't be attracted? Margaret's Song of Jewelry, Lyric of Faust, Song of the Golden Calf by Mephisto fellers, and the chorus of soldiers in the fourth act are all well-known songs. After Faust, Cournot's opera can only be remembered as Romeo and Juliet based on Shakespeare's original work.

What does Cournot himself think of this work? He said: "this is my most successful drama, but is it my best work?" I can't say that. After all, Cournot's opera version is very different from Goethe's original work in characterization, which Cournot himself knows. Friends who have seen Goethe's original work, please don't pay too much attention to the huge difference between this play and the original work. It will be a great pleasure to appreciate the opera as another independent story and appreciate the wonderful arrangement of notes.