Under the shadow of the French Revolution and its Reign of Terror, a poet and a servant-turned-revolutionary compete for the affections of a young aristocrat.
GIORDANO: Andrea Chénier
Sunday 6 October 2019 at 6.00pm on RNZ Concert
Cast:
Roberto Alagna (Andrea Chénier), Sondra Radvanovsky (Maddalena Di Coigny), Christine Rice (Bersi), Rosalind Plowright (Contessa Di Coigny), Steven Gadd (Pietro Fléville), Daniel Vernan (Filandro Fiorinelli), Chorus & Orchestra of Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducted by Daniel Oren
A BBC recording which comes to NZ via the EBU and WFMT.
The poet Andrea Chénier attends a party at the Countess di Coigny's mansion. He expresses outrage at the corruption in King Louis XVI's government and the poverty of many Frenchmen. This moves the Countess's daughter Maddalena, and inspires the footman and revolutionary-in-the-making Carlo Gérard to quit his servitude.
Soon after, the French Revolution begins.
Five years on, Louis XVI has been executed, the Jacobin party are in power, and their leader Robespierre has imposed 'The Terror'. Gérard has become a leading Jacobin, but Chénier has fallen out of favour with the authorities and is in danger. He delays his flight from Paris to meet a mysterious woman who has written to him. She reveals herself to be Maddalena, and the pair quickly realize they are in love. However, Gérard also desires Maddalena.
When Chénier is arrested by the authorities, Gérard realizes that he has the power to destroy the man who once inspired him. As his conscience is tested, so too is the love of Andrea and Maddalena.
Andrea Chénier was Umberto Giordano's third opera. The libretto, by Puccini's regular collaborator Luigi Illica, is loosely based on the life and tragic death of the French poet André Chénier, who was executed during the French Revolution.
The premiere of Chénier on 28 March 1896 was a great success, and the opera became one of the most popular examples of the verismo (literally, 'realist') movement in Italian opera. (Notes: Royal Opera House)