Rossini's Moïse: Toward the New Age of the Opéra de Paris

Abstract

In the Restoration Age, Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) came to Paris and presented two adaptation operas at the Opéra de Paris: Le Siège de Corinthe and Moïse. What role these two operas played in the history of the opera has not been examined in detail, compared to his opera, Guillaume Tell (1828). The purpose of this article is to reveal the fact that Moïse (1827) played an important role in opening a new age of operas immediately before the establishment of grand opera at the Opéra de Paris by discussing how this opera was first performed in Paris.

Moïse was adopted from his own Italian opera Mosè in Egitto, which was first presented in Paris in 1822. Examination of the adopted Moïse in detail showed that renewed music especially in the 3th act (the scene of the conflict between Hebrews and Egyptians) had dramatic effects on the scene, which led to Rossini's musical dramaturgy highly appreciated by the audience.

When he adopted the opera, he faced a difficulty in reconstructing the stage of le passage de la mer rouge in 4th act, known for melodrama of Hapdé (1817). To resolve this problem, the composer and set designer experimented new staging in which visual reality is fused with music by emphasizing the chorus of Hebrews. This experiment failed in this opera but motivated him to bring innovation to operas, eventually leading to the birth of a new genre, grand opera.