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Guercœur, Requiem Mass for a Virtuous Man Frankfurt
Oper
02/02/2025 - & February 8, 13*, 16, 21, 23, March 1, 8, 2025
Albéric Magnard : Guercœur, opus 12
Domen Krizaj (Guercœur), Claudia Mahnke (Giselle), AJ Glueckert (Heurtal), Anna Gabler (Vérité), Bianca Andrew (Bonté), Bianca Tognocchi (Beauté), Judita Nagyová (Souffrance), Cláudia Ribas (L’Ombre d’une femme), Julia Stuart (L’Ombre d’une vierge), Istvan Balota (L’Ombre d’un poète)
Chor der Oper Frankfurt, Virginie Déjos (chorus master), Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester, Marie Jacquot*/Takeshi Moriuchi (conductor)
David Hermann (stage director), Jo Schramm (sets), Sibylle Wallum (costumes), Joachim Klein (lighting), Mareike Wink (dramaturgy)
C. Mahnke, D. Krizaj (© Barbara Aumüller)
Albéric Magnard (1865-1914) was born into wealth; his father Francis was a best‑selling author and editor of the venerable newspaper, Le Figaro. After military service and graduating from Law School, he entered into the Paris Conservatoire. He refused to be “fils de Figaro” or to exploit family influence in advancing his career. He studied with Théodore Dubois, Vincent d’Indy and Jules Massenet. Sadly, at the start of WWI, he died defending his home from invading Germans who burned down his home, destroying unpublished scores, including that of his opera Guercœur. His friend, composer Guy Ropartz (1864‑1955), who had conducted a concert performance of Act III in 1908, subsequently reconstructed the orchestral score from memory, which the Paris Opéra premiered in 1931.
Guercœur has seldom been performed since. A 1987 recording on EMI, with José van Dam and Hildegard Behrens, brought the opera to the attention of music lovers, and in the past several years, there’s been renewed interest in the opera. Productions by Osnabrück in 2019 and Strasbourg in 2024 were well received. I suspect the present staging will enhance its prestige and lead to further much deserved productions. Indeed, during intermission I heard a lot of French and English spoken, suggesting curious visitors from France, Belgium, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, perhaps fellow producers scouting.
Given its unusual plot, this opera could be described as an operatic sacred allegory. In a Medieval City State, Guercœur has freed people from tyranny and is dying from battle wounds, his beloved wife Giselle by his side. In Heaven, he is met by Vérité, Bonté, Beauté and Souffrance (Truth, Goodness, Beauty and Suffering). However, he’s not ready for celestial happiness, and so convinces Truth and her colleagues to let him return to Earth.
Once on Earth, he discovers that his wife has taken his disciple Heurtal for a lover and is pregnant with his child. Disheartened, he goes to City Hall and discovers Heurtal has convinced the populace to name him dictator. He tries to enlighten the populace, but people prefer to be led by a strongman. An angry crowd beats him up, killing him. Back in Heaven, Vérité consoles him, and reveals that one day Humanity will rise to a higher level and understand the value of love and freedom. A lofty message – especially these days!
The name of Guercœur’s disciple, Heurtal, is not fortuitous. Magnard created it from the French heurter, a verb of Frankish origin, meaning to collide, and collide he does with his master. Even the name Giselle has its significance: it’s derived from the Germanic word geisil, meaning pledge. Giselle broke any pledge she may once have had to her deceased husband.
On closer analysis, one wonders about Guercœur’s virtuousness. While he’s a good and wise man, enabling his people’s emancipation during his lifetime, I suspect he was doctrinaire, and perhaps his avant‑garde idealism was centered around him rather than around institutions. His sorrow at the collapse of the political system is justified. But is his outrage at Giselle choosing to have a life after his death justifiable? I think not. Life continues after we’re gone. This may be a relevant lesson from Guercœur’s story, though it might not have been the one originally intended by Magnard. Our presence on Earth is fleeting. No matter how smart, rich or beautiful, life will go on without us once we are gone.
Director David Hermann ominously brought the action to the present day, perhaps to connect elements of the storyline to current events. The sets here are simple, yet appealing. At the opening, we see a remarkable image: Guercœur’s soul is standing at the edge of the bed, overlooking the sad scene. Once Guercœur expires, his soul jumps off the bed, not understanding what’s happening. Paradise certainly has spartan sets; Guercœur and others recently deceased have but a gray layer of paint. In contrast to Acts I & III, Act II is the only segment with action. Guercœur’s house is posh and modern. The rotating stage afforded views of different rooms simultaneously. City Hall was an intelligent parody of present day bureaucracies, with politicians and staff furiously gesticulating.
Most impressive was the high quality of the singing. Moreover, I was pleasantly surprised by the diction of most of the cast. I barely had to look at the surtitles to follow this opera, one I’d never seen before. Oper Frankfurt’s high standards and the excellence of their language coach are uncommon in today’s opera world.
The role of Guercœur is a demanding one, as he’s on stage much of the time. Slovenian baritone Domen Krizaj was a noble Guercœur, convincing as an earnest, bookish but rather naive man. His virile high baritone had the necessary heroic quality for such a role.
German mezzo Claudia Mahnke was an outstanding Giselle, managing to convey the humanity of her character, with all its foibles. She’s a loving and concerned wife in the first act and a fulfilled woman in the second. She adroitly denied her guilt in the tempestuous meeting with her deceased spouse by claiming she had a dream and that Guercœur forgave her. Our capacity to distort facts to suit ourselves is a quintessentially human trait. Mahnke’s timbre and phrasing were a perfect fit for a grande dame like Giselle.
American tenor AJ Glueckert was an appropriately dominant Heurtal. His heroic tenor was a perfect fit for the one truly nasty character in the opera. Even in his love scene with Giselle, he was able to convey Heurtal’s obnoxious nature. Despite a powerful voice, he was measured and did not sing too forte.
German soprano Anna Gabler was an outstanding Vérité, able to convey both tenderness and authority. Slovak mezzo Judita Nagyová reveled in being nasty, as Souffrance. She also had a natural comic verve.
Magnard’s music stands apart from his French contemporaries and deserves wider recognition. His is a unique style, with noticeable Wagnerian influences, especially in the orchestral interludes. Like Wagner, Magnard wrote his own libretti. The philosophical subject may be tedious for some, especially those mistaking opera for frivolous entertainment.
French conductor Marie Jacquot led the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester with panache. She impressed with her elegant phrasing of Magnard’s music, especially in the slow, lyrical passages. In addition to its reflective philosophical libretto, there are several purely orchestral passages in the score that make this work more sacred oratorio than opera. Musically, Guercœur is superior to most contemporaneous French operas, but its overly lofty and reflective libretto may impede its popularity.
Oper Frankfurt must be commended for taking a risk on such an obscure work. The performance I attended, one of eight, was packed, though there were a few empty seats. Last season, I attended two rarities here: Rossini’s Otello and Halévy’s La Juive. In addition to Magnard’s Guercœur, this astoundingly ambitious season features (deep breath) Nielsen’s Maskarade, Tchaikovsky’s The Sorceress, Adam’s Le Postillon de Lonjumeau, Rimsky‑Korsakov’s Christmas Eve, Handel’s Hercules, Rodelinda, Alcina and Partenope, Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero, Dittersdorf’s Doktor und Apotheker, Janácek’s From the House of the Dead, Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue, Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher, Berg’s Lulu, Henze’s Der Prinz von Homburg, and Reimann’s L’Invisible and Mélusine. This, in addition to more conventional fare such as Aida, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Le nozze di Figaro, Norma, Der Rosenkavalier and Parsifal. Impressive! Given the high standards of this and other productions seen here, Frankfurt will henceforth be added to my travel agenda!
Ossama el Naggar
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