(complete)
Opéra in 4 acts and 9 scenes
Texte by Camille du Locle and
Alfred Blau
Music by Ernest Reyer
Max Brückner, Costume
for Siegfried (1876)
Hilda
........................................................
Andrée Esposito
Brunnhilde
................................................... Andrea
Guiot
Uta ............................................................
Denise Scharley
Sigurd
...........................................................
Guy Chauvet
Gunther
....................................................
Robert Massard
Hagen
.............................................................
Jules Bastin
Le Grand Prêtre..............................................
Ernest Blanc
Rudiger
.................................................. Bernard Demigny
Irnfried
........................................................... Jean Dupuy
Hawart ....................................................... Claude Meloni
Ramunc ........................................ Jean-Louis Soumagnas
Le
barde ................................................. Nicolas Christou
Choeurs et Orchestre Radio-Lyrique de la RTF
Manuel
Rosenthal, cond.
French Radio, 1974
Ernest Reyer (1823-1909) didn't come to music via the usual route for a
French composer, the Conservatoire. Rather, he had private lessons with his
aunt, composer Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) while studying for the civil service.
Joining the Ministry of Colonies, he was first appointed to French North
Africa, where he stayed for a few years.
It was only after the Revolution of 1848 that he returned to Paris and
embarked in a full-time career as composer and music critic. The teachings of
his aunt must have been quite thorough, for he displays a complete mastery of
the métier, including an especially brilliant orchestration technique.
Sigurd was premièred in 1884 at La Monnaie, in Brussels, and
entered the repertoire of the Paris Opera in 1885. The story is substantially
the same of Götterdämmerung, treated in the manner of French grand
opera.
Complete Libretto