- Meyerbeer’s opera Le prophète (The Prophet) premiered in Paris on April 16, 1849.
- The premiere had been delayed for several years because Meyerbeer wrote the lead role for a particularly heroic tenor who unfortunately suffered vocal problems and was unable to sing it. Then Meyerbeer heard the singing of Pauline Viardot, and was inspired to tailor the role of Fidès for her, creating a uniquely virtuosic coloratura part.
- Le prophète was the first opera to use a leitmotif for foreshadowing.
- Le prophète was also the first theater production of any kind to use an electric spotlight.
- Meyerbeer commissioned the spotlight specially from physicist Léon Foucault.
- Verdi used this piece as an inspiration for his grand opera scenes, as he described in a letter dated July 26, 1852:
“I need a grandiose subject, impassioned, original; an imposing, dazzling mise en scène. I always have several in front of me … among others the coronation scene from Le prophète! In this scene no other composer could have done better than Meyerbeer.“
Giuseppe Verdi1
Sources
- Matthias Brzoska, “Meyerbeer [Beer], Giacomo,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed November 19, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018554.
Cut IDs
14284