LA JUIVE " La Juive " or " The Jewess," a grand opera in five acts, with words by Scribe and music by Jacques Halevy, was first produced at the Academie in Paris, Feb. 23, 1835.
Rachel, the Jewess.
Eudossia, niece of the Emperor. Leopold, prince of the Empire.
Cardinal De Brogni, priest of the Council of Constance.
Ruggiero, first magistrate of the city of Constance. Alberto, officer of the Imperial Guard.
Lazarus, a Goldsmith.
Executioner.
Citizens.
The action takes place in the year 1414, in the city of Constance, at a time when bigotry and fanaticism are at their height, the Hussites and the Jews in particular bear ing the brunt of popular disfavor. Of the latter division of the persecuted are Lazarus, a wealthy goldsmith, and his daughter Rachel. Leopold, a young prince who has returned from the wars and is in quest of further adventure, assumes the guise of an Israelite and as an obscure painter wins the heart of Rachel. He is, in reality, the husband of Eudossia, niece of the Emperor. The lady, to celebrate his safe return from the battlefield, procures from Lazarus as a surprise for him a magnificent chain of jewels set in gold and, in the presence of the Emperor and the Court, places it on Leopold's neck. This incident is viewed by the horror-stricken Rachel, who makes public denunciation of the man in whom she has utterly put her trust. The Car dinal excommunicates Leopold for the double fault of neg lecting his wife and loving a Jewess, the latter a sin so horrible that only a sentence of death is considered sufficient in punishment and on some flimsy pretext Lazarus and his daughter are sent to share his doom.
Lazarus, who has suffered much persecution in his day, bears a bitter hatred toward all Christians and especially toward the Cardinal, who urges him to embrace the faith and escape death, but the goldsmith persistently turns deaf ears to such arguments.
While the three are waiting their doom, Rachel is visited in prison by Eudossia, who pleads with her to save Leopold from death by a recantation of her story. This she unselfishly consents to do and Leopold goes free. But as the crime of conspiracy is now added to the misdeeds of the Jews, a more horrible death is devised for them, viz., immersion in a cauldron of boiling oil. The Cardinal is distressed at the failure of the heretics to seize the one possibility of escape from their destruction, for he is strangely drawn toward the beautiful girl. Many years before the Cardinal's palace in Rome had been destroyed by fire and he has believed that his wife and daughter per ished in its flames. The Jew tells him that this is not true; that she is alive and that he knows her whereabouts. All efforts to draw further information from him are unavail ing and the baffled Cardinal orders the prisoners sent to their death without delay. At the last moment Lazarus
asks Rachel whether she is willing to save her life by adopt ing Christianity and she refuses indignantly.
Rachel goes first to her fate and as she is thrust into the flames, the Cardinal accosts Lazarus for the last time, " My daughter," he implores, " does she live? Ah 1 speak for pity's sake!" Then Lazarus points to the falling form of Rachel, " Behold," he says, quietly, " she is there." The plot of the Jewess may be unnecessarily horrible, but Halevy has bestowed upon it such warmth of feeling and such dignity of treatment that it long held a prominent place in the repertory of the leading opera houses of the world and is still frequently performed. The composer treated the subject with unusual sympathy, as he himself was a Jew. The opera made a great sensation for it had been preceded by nothing which presented so great an opportunity for pageantry.
Among the powerful numbers in the first act are the Cardinal's reply to Lazarus' denunciation of the Chris tians; Leopold's romanza, sung to Rachel; the choral drink ing song at the fountain which is flowing wine, and the music hailing the Emperor's arrival. In the second act, the prayer at the celebration of the Passover at Lazarus' house; the duet of Leopold and Rachel; Rachel's lovely aria. "Ah Padre! Oh Ciel! Fermate!" (" 0 Father! 0 Heaven! ") and the anathema of Lazarus are particularly impressive. In the third act, the Cardinal's malediction, and in the fourth act, the duet of Lazarus and the Car dinal and Lazarus' welcome of death are also worthy of mention.
This opera was first heard in England, in French, dur ing the season of 1846, and again in Italian four years later as " La Ebrea." In this country it has oftenest been sung in German.
The music is not remarkable for its melodiousness; in fact, critics have found much fault with it on this score, but it is decidedly dramatic, and its declamatory style combines well with the elaborate and attractive stage tings and the passionate sentiment expressed throughout. "The Jewess" stands high in the list of operas noted for their broad, powerful dramatic effects, for their tacular music, and elaborate treatment. The libretto is one of Scribe's best, and a glance over the operas con sidered in these volumes shows us that he was a dexter ous writer and the librettist of a goodly number of fine operas.
It was for Rossini that the libretto was originally written, but he rejected it in favor of "William Tell," and Halevy, recognizing its merits and the opportunity it of fered the musician, accepted it. It was among the first of the grand operas to which gorgeous scenery and costume added success, and on its first production in Paris created a great sensation.