Two worlds of choral dramaturgy of G. Meyerbeer’s “Robert le Diable”

Abstract

Statement of the problem. Recognized as a masterpiece of romantic art, G. Meyerbeer’s five-act ”grand” opera, due to its genre specificity, demonstrates brilliant examples of the use of choral scenes, which carry an important mean and emotional load in the opera. We can talk about the presence of choral dramaturgy in the work, which vividly embodies the idea of romantic “two-worldliness” expressed in the confrontation between Good and evil, real, human, and unreal, otherworldly ones. Objectives, methods and novelty of the research. The purpose of this study is to reveal the essence of the conflict between the real and the unreal in the choral drama of G. Meyerbeer’s opera “Robert le Diable”. The systematic approach to the study of the choral layer of the opera conditioned the application of genre, intonation-dramaturgical, structural-functional, and contextual types of analysis. The genre affiliation of G. Meyerber’s opera, its connections with lyrical tragedy and romantic drama attracted the attention of researchers (Everist, 1994; Sakalo, 2017; De Van, 1996, and other), as well as the symbolic richness of the opera (Pendle, 1979; Zolotariova, 2018, etc.) associated with its legendary a medieval plot adapted to the opera stage by the best librettists of the 19th century, however, the choral component of the opera in chosen aspect has not been studied in detail. For the first time in domestic musicology, the choral scenes of G. Meyerbeer’s opera were examined with the determination of the dramatic functions of the choir and focusing attention on the embodiment of two opposite “worlds” through the peculiarities of the choral dramaturgy. Research results and conclusion. According to the results of the analysis, it was found that the “two worlds” of the choral dramaturgy of G. Meyerbeer’s opera “Robert the Devil” visualize the main conflict of the work – the opposition of the Divine and demonic principles, and the use of “nvisible” (located behind the scenes) choirs emphasizes the two dimensionality of the artistic space of the opera and allows not stop stage action in choral scenes. Choirs bear a significant dramaturgical load at each stage of the development of the opera action and convincingly embody the most important feature of the plot of the opera – multiple intersections of the real and the unreal relying on the combination of the principles of contrast, suiteness, symphonism in the unfolding of opera and choral drama. The choral component in G. Meyerbeer’s opera “Robert the Devil” is represented in almost all its functional diversity and richness of gradations, from effectiveness to contemplation, and is an active carrier of the ideological and plot content of the opera.