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09/25/2026
Ferdinand Hérold: Zampa (ou La Fiancée de marbre)
Julien Henric (Zampa), Hélène Carpentier (Camille), Cyrille Dubois (Alphonse), Héloïse Mas (Ritta), François Rougier (Daniel), Pierre Derhet (Dandolo), Lukas Mayr (Un Corsaire), Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Stellario Fagone (chorus master), Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Erik Nielsen (conductor)
Recording: A co-production with BR Klassik, Prinzregententheater, Munich, Germany (November 28‑30, 2025) (World Premiere Recording) – 138’74
Bru Zane BZ 1065 (Distributed by Naxos of America) – Book and Libretto in French and English
 
“Je m’en vais au moment où je commençais à comprendre la scène.”
Ferdinand Hérold
Loosely translated, “My work is just begun”, are the idiomatic words Ferdinand Hérold proclaimed shortly before his death at age 41 (1833)...less than a month after his successful premiere of the opéra‑comique, Le Pré aux clercs: too weak to even attend the premiere, Hérold felt he was just then on the road to successful writing (with better librettos). Two years earlier, his Zampa garnered 500 performances by 1877 after its opening at the Opéra‑Comique on May 3, 1831.
Hérold’s birth year marks the same “date stamp” of Mozart’s passing. Why the discussion? Because the latter’s dramma giococo (Don Giovanni of 1787) has rough parallels to the Zampa plotline. Though stylistically distinct, the core tale of libertine, Don Juan, resurfaces with a coup de théâtre common thread. Generally-speaking, a higher, lighter sheen of benevolence is discovered inside Zampa. Grounded by degrees of “Le Fantastique”, it also brings forward influences of von Weber’s Der Freischütz and Euryanthe with pivotal remarks to Meyerbeer’s masterpiece, Robert le Diable. The latter work, opening just over six months after Zampa, reveals the Sicilienne “O fortune à ton caprice” akin to softer-parlances found inside Zampa’s couplets, “Que la vague écumante” and Julien Henric’s masterful buoyant landing upon a sustained high C. Très bien.
A subplot involving the grounded and richly appointed mezzo‑soprano, Héloïse Mas (Ritta), is destined to marry the ebullient Dandolo (Pierre Derhet), thinking her abandoned husband, Daniel (François Rougier), was killed after joining Zampa’s band of pirates. But the primary emphasis places the major dynamic upon three characters: Zampa, Camille and Alphonse. Within the course of three acts, Hérold was able to create several beautiful duets, arias and occasional quartets. Evident are Italianate influences, even with reminders of Rossini “thinks quartet”, in particular, that of the “Finale-Concertato” in Act II which brings to mind Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) and during Hérold’s own quasi “patter duet” reveal (“Juste ciel !”) earlier in the same act.
Julien Henric’s interpretation of the eponymous role is well-articulated, possessing those ideal elements (as Chollet) as a light, lyrical French tenor: billowy and theatrically textured; however, when blending with other voices, choral investments and orchestra, the overall projection gets occasionally “dwarfed”. Camille, the love interest between the two male protagonists, shines best in Hérold’s lower notes, being able to “tone down” a harshly and predominately tremulous vibrato displayed in stretches. Volumetrically, the sound doesn’t consistently blend. Reliably and undeniably clear and concise, Alphonse’s tenor voice credits Cyrille Dubois. There’s nothing he tackles in the operatic arena that goes without marked impressions and buttery “exclamation marks”: clean delineation and French enunciation, crispy projection, easily understood...M. Dubois never misses his mark in all this reviewer has covered within his vocal career. Stupendous.
Strong credit goes to Erik Nielsen’s conducting, great tempos and conviction, as evidenced in the well‑known Ouverture and the precise instrumental detailing he draws out of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester as well as feathery blending from the chorus. M. Nielsen packs “plenty of steam” as the music frenetically cascades forward in the concluding remarks of the Act I “Finale-Apparition” with surprisingly ingenious bits of comical slapstick “sudden stops” as the ensemble sings the Ouverture melody line with nanosecond “interruptive thoughts”. Clever and hilarious!
An interesting sidebar, Ferdinand Hérold was, simultaneously, working as a ballet compositeur and credited as a pioneer in the genre, especially when he adapted his own version of La Fille mal gardée, based on the original 1789 score under choreographer Jean‑Pierre Aumer. Hérold’s balletic influences are prevalent. For instance, Act I’s opening choral remarks (track 2) are closely identical to those found in August Bournonville’s Kermessen i Brügge (The Kermesse in Bruges), also known as The Three Gifts. Ironically, the opening words, “What magnificence is his gifts!” carries into the Danish ballet: Holger Simon Paulii, the musical creator for this burlesque ballet, also “borrowed” music from Zampa as a “bridge” between the ballet’s passages 10 and 12A in Act II. Several times one hears three descending chorded notes by French horns, indelibly turning attention to Daniel Auber, in particular, his music from the ballet, Marco Spada of 1857 (a post-formation to the original opéra‑comique.)
Acoustically speaking, the sound in this recording appears questionable: The first CD clarity is a tad “muffled” and “fuzzy”, difficult to discern several of the words sung by characters. CD 2 fares better in overall sharpness. Perhaps this has to do with the recording venue or the joint partnership recording.
Zampa is a delightful contribution to opera with a tragic conclusion but tempered by Mélesville’s light libretto. There’s seldom chance a production will surface in The United States, though the composition is preserved by the zestful Overture. Conversely, a full production was presented in Paris, back in 2008.
Fortunately, Bru Zane has captured this seldom-performed work as a fine example of opéra‑comique during the investitures of the Romantic Era.
Christie Grimstad
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