MILHAUD Darius (1892 - 1974)

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Lot n° 136
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MILHAUD Darius (1892 - 1974)
MUSICAL MANUSCRIT autograph "Milhaud", Médée, opera in one act (1938); 209 pages in-fol. Orchestral score for the remarkable one-act opera Médée. In 1938, Darius Milhaud received a state commission, and chose to write an opera. I had for a long time," Milhaud wrote in Ma vie heureuse, "the desire to deal with the character of a jealous woman, whose jealousy would go as far as the crime, an extension of her total love, without limits. Medea seemed to me the perfect subject". It was his wife, Madeleine Milhaud, who composed the libretto, inspired by the tragedies of Euripides and Seneca: "thanks to her sense of theater and her knowledge of proportions and elements that I like, she wrote me a libretto; she re-established the character of Créuse which exists in Corneille's Médée, because it was essential to have in this opera a character whose freshness and gentleness would be in stark contrast to the violence of Médée. I composed Medea during the summer of 1938. The work was premiered at the worst possible time, when war was raging in Europe, and its career was cut short. Medea was first performed in Flemish by the Flemish Opera of Antwerp on October 7, 1939, under the direction of Henri Diels, with Mrs. Van Hoecke in the title role; a performance was broadcast on the radio: "grouped around the television set, we listened to my opera; after each aria, we were given the news". The French premiere took place at the Paris Opera on May 8, 1940, under the direction of Philippe GAUBERT, with a staging by Charles DULLIN, sets and costumes by André MASSON, and choreography by Serge LIFAR, with Marisa Ferrer (Medea), Jeannine Micheau (who was making her debut in the role of Créuse), Ketty Lapeyrette (the Nurse), José de Trevi (Jason) and Arthur Endrèze (Creon). "The Opera had made a remarkable effort: Gaubert had finalized the score with extreme care and Marisa Ferrer embodied the role of Medea with grandeur and dramatic power. I had obtained from M. Rouché that Dullin did the staging. This one, who was interested in the problems of the lyric staging, was quickly disappointed by the insurmountable diffi culties. The chorus girls especially made him despair. He finally found an excellent solution. He installed them on the side of the stage like a wall and dancers expressed the feelings of the characters. Masson's sets and Dullin's staging without any conventional elements made for a very impressive show. I have often thought of the ultimate gift that the Paris Opera gave me, just before the disaster... The premiere was as elegant as a pre-war gala evening, but one could hear the muffled noise of the D.C.A. The next day, we learned the news of the invasion of Holland. Médée had only three performances, and its career was abruptly interrupted by the advance of the Germans. Medea is repudiated by Jason who is about to marry Creuse, Creon's daughter. Medea takes her revenge in a terrifying way: she impregnates a dress with a powerful venom, which she intends for Creusa. As soon as she puts it on, she will die. Her father, Creon, who comes to her rescue, also dies. But the punishment that Medea reserves for Jason is not yet cruel enough: she kills the two children she had with Jason. The score of Medea is very beautiful. The characters, drawn with clearness, are well differentiated. The melody is treated in long periods, to which vocalizations are sometimes incorporated. A concentrated eloquence makes the choirs particularly active. Finally, the proportions of the various parts, the relationships between the musical characters, the order of the whole give the impression of a balance that one could not have wished for better" (Paul Collaer). The opera lasts about 80 minutes; it is the opus 191 of the composer; it was published after the war by Heugel. The orchestra is composed of 3 flutes (and a small flute), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 2 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and tuba, timpani, harp, drums, and the strings. The manuscript, in orchestral score, is noted in black ink on paper Neocopie Musicale of 28 lines; it served as a conductor. It is dated at the bottom of the first sheet: "Marseille 21 Sept. 1938", and signed and dated at the end: "L'Enclos 13 Sept. 1938". BIBLIOGRAPHY Paul Collaer, Darius Milhaud (Slatkine, 1982), pp. 223-225. DISCOGRAPHY Air "Chers Corinthiens", Nathalie Dessay, Orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, dir. Patrick Fournillier (Airs d'opéras français, EMI 1996).
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