The formation of a pearl is truly a miracle of nature, since it is born in the shell of a mollusk by getting foreign bodies there. As a result defensive reaction a foreign body is enveloped in mother-of-pearl material and a stone of incredible beauty is formed.
What are they - pearl divers?
"Pearl divers" - that's what they call people who are engaged in this unsafe fishery. The first shellfish hunters appeared around 4,000 BC. on the territory of China. No less common pearl places are also Sri Lanka and Tahiti.
Pearl divers are courageous and courageous people who put their lives at risk every day. To get jewelry from sea depths, you need to have the ability to dive to a depth of 30-50 meters, as well as hold your breath for more than one minute.
During the catcher must be extremely careful, because in the depths of the sea he can lie in wait. Many years ago, to protect themselves from toxic bites, some catchers used special linen suits and gloves, and rubbed the exposed skin with oils. To collect shellfish, a net was hung around the neck, and the nose was clamped with a split bamboo stick.
The necessary skills to hold the air and sink to the depths of the catchers acquired in childhood. Prolonged exposure to salt water and a sharp drop in pressure during diving adversely affected the health of divers, as evidenced by the high mortality rate among representatives of this profession.
The thirty-year-old diver looked much older than his years and had significant health problems, such as hypoxia (oxygen starvation), deafness, rheumatism.
Pearl mining in different countries
In Japan, women have been mining gemstones for centuries. Their skill is due to physiological characteristics, which allows Japanese divers, or ama, as they are also called, dive to a decent depth and adapt to low water temperatures.
Even some 100 years ago, Japanese women dived only with a mask and a loincloth. Their amazing endurance allowed them to stay under water for about two minutes at a depth of at least 20 meters. This difficult craft allowed them to earn decently enough and become financially independent.
To date, there are very few representatives of this ancient profession. Most ama live in the city of Toba on the island of Mikimoto Pearl. Here you can see divers in the process of work, and without any equipment and equipment.
The championship in pearling in Korea since the 18th century also belonged to women. have high performance and endurance, because not everyone can hold out for about two minutes at a depth of 30 meters under water.
In connection with the development of industrial production of pearls, the old craft is slowly becoming a thing of the past. This is also evidenced by a small number of Korean divers living on Jeju Island. Some of them are about 80 years old.
No less mysterious pearl divers are, or bajo, who surf the sea. South-East Asia. This nomadic people cannot imagine their life without the sea, and land for them is only a temporary refuge for replenishing food supplies and fresh water, as well as selling pearls.
Dwelling on their boats, dwellings, they become fishermen precious stones at a very young age, and quickly learn to dive to a depth of about 30 meters, without any equipment. Their free sea life is full of adventure and danger, but, strangely enough, this is what makes them happy.
Pearls and Modernity
Currently, natural pearls are mined in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and in the waters of Sri Lanka. Its value is much higher than cultured pearls, which require less willpower and stamina than pearl divers.
These superhumans have truly incredible abilities and stamina that has been cultivated over the years. And for this the sea pays them with its incredible jewels.
In three acts (four scenes); libretto by M. Carré and E. Cormon.
First production: Paris, Lyric Theatre, September 30, 1863.
Characters:
- Nadir, young hunter (tenor)
- Zurga, his friend, leader of the tribe (baritone)
- Nurabad, tribal priest (bass)
- Leila (soprano)
- Villagers, pearl divers
The action takes place on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
Act one
The work of a pearl diver is not easy and dangerous. Neither strength nor courage sometimes saves from trouble - it means that evil spirits intervened. Only the singing of a chaste girl - a priestess - can drive them away. She does not dare to love anyone, and a terrible punishment awaits the one who breaks her vow. According to an old tradition, the chosen one is brought from afar - it is better if she and the catchers do not know each other; the face of the priestess is always hidden under a veil.
On the rocky coast of one of the southern islands of India, pearl divers gather. First you need to choose a leader. Everyone points to Zurga: he enjoys the greatest respect and love. Not far away, a pirogue appeared, carrying an unknown girl.
But who is sneaking through the thicket? Zurga recognizes Nadir. Once the young men were inseparable - until they met the beautiful Leila. Both fell in love with the girl, and this made them enemies. Leaving his native places, Nadir wandered around the world for a long time. Now he has returned.
The past is forgotten. Zurga invites Nadir to take part in pearl fishing. Young people again swear eternal friendship.
Meanwhile, the pirogue approaches the shore. The crowd cheers for the veiled girl. Following custom, Zurga demands that the unknown swear an oath to renounce love. "I swear!" - the girl answers, and then her eyes fall on Nadir. Embarrassed, she quickly turns away. Nadir is also excited: how could he not recognize Leila's gentle voice! The voice of the one who still owns his heart!
Action two
Night lowered its dark veil over the sea. Fishing is over for today. Leyla can also rest - the high priest Nurabad escorts her to a secluded temple. It reminds of an oath. Oh, Layla knows how to keep her word. And the priestess recalls an incident that happened to her in childhood. She hid the fugitive, whom his enemies were chasing, and although the villains threatened the girl with death, she did not betray him. This necklace is a gift from a man she saved.
But when Nurabad leaves, Leyla droops sadly: having vowed not to know love, she, against her will, thinks about Nadir and ... waits for him. Will he be able to get into the temple: on the one hand - the sea, on the other - steep rocks, and on the path there are guards with guns!
For a young man in love sheer cliff- not a barrier. Closer and closer Leila hears the song of her beloved. Her heart flutters with happiness, but when Nadir finally appears, the girl is seized with fear: if anyone finds out about the date, they will face a terrible death! Layla asks the young man to leave. Well, he will fulfill her desire, only tomorrow he will come again.
But the priests do not sleep. The criminal is captured. Death to him! Him - and the perjurer.
Wishing to help his friend and his lover escape, Zurga calms the furious hunters: he is the leader and he himself will pass the verdict! But Nurabad pulls off the veil from the girl - and Zurga, amazed, retreats. Leila?! She preferred Nadir? ! So let them both die! Let them know how Zurga takes revenge!
Act Three
Picture one.
Leader's tent. In vain Zurga tries to forget himself with a dream - he is tormented by gloomy thoughts. What blindness made him wish for the death of the two most dear people: Nadir - a friend and Leila - a girlfriend!
Two fishermen bring Leyla into the tent - she wanted to talk to Zurga. The girl does not ask for anything for herself: she has broken her oath and will die. But Nadir is innocent. Only Zurga can save him... Jealousy once again seizes Zurga's heart. They love each other! Let them die together!
Zurga is in amazement: this is the same necklace that he gave to the girl who once saved him. So he owes his life to the one he just condemned to death?!
Picture two.
The flames of the fire rise high. The hunters spin in a sacred dance. Now Leyla and Nadir will climb the fire...
Suddenly the horizon is covered with a crimson glow of fire. Appeared Zurga reports: angry, the gods sent fire to the village and fields. Everyone runs away in confusion, forgetting about the criminals; people rush to save property and children. Only Nurabad, to whom Zurgi's behavior seems suspicious, is hiding nearby. The priest sees how the leader approaches the criminals, hears snippets of conversation. Realizing that Zurga himself set fire to the village in order to save Leyla and Nadir, Nurabad calls the people. Leyla and Nadir meanwhile manage to escape.
Furious hunters take cruel revenge on Zurge - he dies in a raging sea of fire.
M. Sabinina, G. Tsypin
History of creation
The plot that interested the 24-year-old Bizet is very traditional. The story of a priestess who violated her vow of virginity, and her happy deliverance from punishment after Spontini's Vestal (1807) was often shown on opera stage. No less traditional was the conditionally oriental setting of the action, which was recreated by Meyerbeer (“The African Woman”), Gounod (“The Queen of Sheba”), Massenet (“King of Lagorsky”), Saint-Saens (“Samson and Delilah”), Delibes (“Lakme” ) and other French composers.
Still the image of the thrilling drama strong passions in a colorful setting of primitive customs and exotic nature, it met the creative interests of Bizet.
"Pearl Seekers" were, to a certain extent, a stepping stone to the brilliant "Carmen".
The opera was completed in 1863. The first performance took place on September 30 of the same year on the stage of the Paris Lyric Theater. After 18 performances, the opera disappeared from the repertoire. Among the indifferent reviews of the press, Berlioz's review stood out, noting that the score of the opera "contains many beautiful expressive moments, full of fire and rich color."
Music
The Pearl Seekers is a work of fresh and vibrant talent. Having overcome the traditional conventionality of situations and characters of the libretto, Bizet managed to outline the individuality of the main characters in the music, to give exotic ritual and everyday scenes emotional strength and brightness of color, to capture the dreamy poetry of the nature of the East. The melodies of The Pearl Seekers impress with their beauty and plasticity. The best of them serve as an adornment of concert programs.
The first act is preceded by a small orchestral prelude sustained in a smoothly waving waltz rhythm. The opening scene is framed by the chorus "On the Golden Shore", which accompanies the dances of the catchers; mysteriously muffled, with monotonous repetitions of phrases, it is temporarily revived by the heroic melody “Forward, to the bottom of the sea” (male choir). In the center of the stage is Nadir's first story "Through the steppes, dense forests", courageous, marked by the freshness of the melody. The duet-memoir of Nadir and Zurgi “And there, among the flowers” is full of enthusiastic feeling; a smooth oriental-inspired melody sounds against the background of a magically transparent orchestral accompaniment. Leila's entrance is prepared by an orchestral prelude; chorus "Hello to you, maiden" is sustained in light dance move. Tenderness of color, southern softness of colors marked famous romance Nadir "In the radiance of the moonlit night." The act concludes with the prayer of Leila "Brahma the omnipotent"; the light patterned roulades of the singer are accompanied by the muffled accompaniment of the choir; Against the same background, a secret dialogue between Leyla and Nadir sounds.
The second act opens with a chorus behind the scenes “Night is falling”; its original lively light melody emphasized by the dancing bass accompaniment; the orchestra is silent, the stanzas are separated by the roulades of two piccolo flutes. This choir framed Leila's recitative scene with Nurabad and Leila's story "I was a child." Leila's recitative and cavatina "The night has come, I am alone" - a cantilena full of inner jubilation - is replaced by Nadir's distant song "My dove has sweetly fallen asleep"; its richly ornamented melody is accompanied only by harp chords. At the beginning of the duet “But how dare you,” short hasty remarks are interspersed with excitedly intermittent phrases of the orchestra; then the voices merge in a love impulse. The stormy finale of the act begins with the chorus "Whose voice calls to us."
The third act is preceded by a symphonic picture of a thunderstorm. Zurgi's recitative and aria are permeated with drama; at the mention of Nadir's name in the orchestra, echoes of his romance from the first act arise. Convex contrast is laid in the duet-scene of Leyla and Zurgi; fervent entreaties are contrasted with short, inflexible remarks.
At the beginning of the second picture of the third act, there is an orchestral episode of a gloomy whirlwind dance, then the chorus “As soon as the dawn flashes in the sky” is superimposed on it with frantic cries of “Brahma!”, The music conveys growing fury. The central number of the picture is the tercet “Here is a moment of admiration”, where the exalted and enthusiastic melodies of Leila and Nadir are answered by the courageous and severe phrases of Zurgi. The final chorus "The fire is already burning, the victim is waiting" - a repetition of the initial chorus.
M. Druskin
After a three-year stay in Italy, Bizet returned to Paris, confident in his abilities. But a bitter disappointment awaited him: the path to public recognition in the Second Empire is difficult and thorny. Begin hard years struggle for existence.
Bizet supports his family with private lessons, composing light music, transcribing and proofreading other people's compositions. In his letters we find exciting lines: “I haven’t slept for three nights, my heart is gloomy, and tomorrow I have to write a cheerful dance music". Or in another letter: “I work like a Negro, I am exhausted, I am literally torn to pieces, I was stunned, finishing the four-hand arrangement of Hamlet (opera by A. Tom.- M. D.). What is the work! I just finished romances for a new publisher. I'm afraid that it turned out mediocre, but money is needed. Money, always money - to hell! ..».
In such an overstrain of creative forces, the whole subsequent life of Bizet passes. (So, working on The Perth Beauty, he worked fifteen to sixteen hours a day; on the instrumentation of Carmen - one thousand two hundred pages of the score! - spent only about two months, etc.). This was the reason for such early death brilliant composer- his death serves as a cruel accusation to bourgeois society.
To what has been said, it must be added that Bizet did not choose the easy path in art. He abandoned a career as a pianist, which undoubtedly promised him faster and more effective success. But Bizet wanted to surrender undividedly composer activity and therefore discarded everything that could hinder her. He was attracted by many and varied opera ideas, some were completed, but the exacting author took the already completed scores from the theater. This happened, for example, with the opera Ivan the Terrible, discovered only in the 1930s. However, two operas were staged.
In 1863, the premiere of the opera The Pearl Seekers took place. Her story is traditional. This was an oriental theme fashionable at that time in France: they paid tribute to David (see the aforementioned "Desert", the opera "Lalla Rook"), Meyerbeer ("African"), Gounod ("Queen of Sheba"), Massenet ("King of Lagorsky" ), Saint-Saens ("Samson and Delilah"), Delib ("Lakme") and others. Bizet's opera is among those works that open this list. Its action takes place on the island of Ceylon, among the pearl divers. Against the backdrop of picturesque songs and dances, the drama of Zurgi's jealousy and the love of the hunter Nadir and Leyla, the "pure maiden", who tames the sea gods with her singing, is played out. Despite the stereotyped dramatic situations and conventions stage action, Bizet's music convinces with melodic richness, naturalness and beauty of vocal parts, fullness of life feeling. This did not pass by Berlioz, who noted in his review that the score of the opera "contains many beautiful expressive moments, full of fire and rich color." The composer himself most of all appreciated in act I - andante of the duet of Nadir and Zurgi and Nadir's romance that became popular; in II - backstage choir and Leila's cavatina; in III - Zurgi's aria. The brightness is also different crowd scenes, framing lyrical or dramatic episodes operas.
Pearl divers are almost superhuman. They must be able to hold their breath for a long time and dive without special equipment to a depth of 30 meters. For the sake of a few pearls, they have to get hundreds of shells.
HUNTING IN THE PERSIAN GULF
For centuries, the Persian Gulf has been the world's largest exporter of excellent saltwater pearls. The well-being of entire villages depended on the successful hunting of pearl divers. A good miner was considered to be one who could dive to a depth of at least 15 meters and hold out under water for at least a minute.
In addition to skills, the catcher needed a wire purse and a fishing net that hung around his neck, a split bamboo stick that pinched his nose, and leather gloves to protect his fingers. While the diver is resting and greedily inhaling the air, clinging to the side of the schooner, the radif shakes out the contents of the purse onto the deck. An obligatory member of the crew today is the nakhkhar, who must entertain the team with songs and playing folk instruments.
SLAVE WORK
The age of pearl divers is not too long. Many by the age of 30 look like decrepit old people: watery eyes, deafness, trembling hands. True, if you're lucky, the mortality rate among divers is quite high. In order not to become prey himself, the catcher must have all the qualities of a real hunter. The chance to escape from a shark, for example, can be obtained by raising clouds of sand from the bottom. Jellyfish, barracudas, sea snakes - this is not a complete list of dangers that a pearl diver is exposed to. At the same time, he must make at least 30 dives daily. During the entire time that the diver is working, he does not eat or drink.
HOPE ON THE STONE...
Arab divers noted: if the beginning of spring turned out to be rainy, expect a good harvest of pearls. But how well the place for work was chosen was determined with the help of a special stone, which was thrown on a rope from the deck. If he became a little reddish, then the hunt began.
By the way, the German freediver today is Tom Sietas, who can hold his breath underwater for 22 minutes 22 seconds. Among Japanese professional divers for a long time the best result was considered a seven-minute dive duration. The secret of Sietas is in regular workouts. He alternates between being static underwater with active movement.
FREEDOM FOR A PEARL
Active pearl mining was once carried out in America. The Indians not only collected "manyara" ("flower bud") in Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi, but also skillfully forged it from clay and mother-of-pearl. In the colonial South America The trade was predominantly done by slaves. They began to prepare catchers at the age of 8, for which day after day they were forced to dive into the water with a stone sandwiched between their knees. Each time the time increased. The one who appeared on the surface ahead of time was punished with whips or left without dinner.
After three years of training, slaves received all the necessary skills to collect shells, while freedom could become a reward for a rare pearl. The chances were small, but the black slave was lucky, who, according to legend, got one of the largest pearls in history - “La Peregrina” or “The Wanderer”.
SEA MAID
Famous pearl divers are the Japanese ama. A special breath-holding technique allows these women to stay underwater for up to two minutes. To become an ama, you must complete a two-year course of study, which includes not only physical training, but also psychological preparation. On average, the "working day" of mermaids lasts 4 hours, during which time they collect everything that is of value: seaweed, octopuses, sea urchins. If you're lucky, the clams turn out to be pearls. Women put the prey in buoys floating on the surface, clinging to which divers can take a breath.
To make it easier to move in the water, the ama once wore only a loincloth and a bandanna with an embroidered symbol of good luck. White robes, in which you can see modern ama, appeared thanks to the pearl king Kokichi Mikimoto. He chose not to shock foreign tourists who came to his farm for artificial cultivation of pearls.
Ama pass their skills and secrets from generation to generation, while women are engaged in freediving until old age. Some Ama are over 70 years old. True, there are fewer and fewer sea maidens due to the active displacement of fishing industrial production pearls.
FLYING FISH
Mid-March is the beginning of the season for the Indians from the Parava tribe, which means “flying fish” in translation. Up to 70 boats (15 people each) go to the pearly shallows, the location of which is known only to parmandadi - a special person who knows the secret of finding a good place, received from his ancestors. Then the members of the "expedition" divide the shallows into equal sections, pray and get to work.
The preparatory stage includes the descent to the bottom of the statue of the Virgin Mary, which is supposed to protect divers from sharks, loud screams and oars on the surface of the water, as well as checking amulets - whether everyone has the god Krishna, who is the patron saint of pearl divers, around their necks. One stone serves at once for several catchers not only as a load, but also as a measure of weight - that is how many shells each must collect during the dive.
Experienced catchers are able to hold their breath for a minute and a half, while the record holders are masters who can stay under water for up to 6 minutes. Protective parava masks are not used: they collect shells blindly. Working day - 40-50 dives, catch - an average of 200 shells. At the age of 15, the boys become full-fledged catchers, by the age of 50 they “retire”, receiving rheumatism and partial blindness as a severance pay.
BEFORE CATCHING - TO THE BATH
Pearl mining in Rus' began in the 15th century. The most large-scale river pearl fishing was widespread in Karelia and on the territory of the modern Arkhangelsk region. The season began in the middle of summer, when the water warmed up enough and its level was quite low. Before the start, they necessarily went to the bathhouse and to confession, and during the fishing they tried not to scold.
Where the depth of the reservoirs made it possible not to dive for prey, they groped it with their feet, and then removed it with the help of various devices: nets, poles or a rope with a weight, which was lowered into the open shell (when it slammed shut, it was safely thrown ashore). Before diving into the depths, clusters of shells were sought out, lying on a raft and looking into the hole.
The "cargo shelf" was especially valued - a large pearl, the cost of which could reach up to 10 rubles. Small pink or black pearls were valued at 3 rubles. During the season in one of the largest Karelian rivers, the Kereti, it was possible to catch pearls for 300 rubles. Almost anyone could become a pearl diver.
Opera in three acts, four scenes. Libretto by E. Cormon and M. Carre.
Characters:
- Nadir, young hunter (tenor)
- Zurga, his friend, leader of the tribe (baritone)
- Nurabad, tribal priest (bass)
- Leila (soprano)
- Villagers, pearl divers
The action takes place on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
History of creation
Even during his stay in Italy after receiving the Prix de Rome, Bizet dreamed of writing an opera, but was afraid of meeting librettists, actors, and especially theater directors who did not want to deal with one-act operas, the right to stage which was given to laureates of the Prix de Rome. He himself did not want to write a one-act opera, as he dreamed of making his debut with a full-length performance. However, the theater Comic Opera ordered him a one-act opera "Guzla Emir", which Bizet wrote in 1861 and presented to the theater, but soon took the score back. And then a rare opportunity presented itself, exactly what he dreamed of: in 1862, the Lyric Theater, for a number of conditions, was obliged to stage one opera by the young domestic author. The choice of Leon Carvalho, who was at the head of the theater, fell on Bizet, whose talent is experienced and interested in destinies french art the impresario sincerely believed. Bizet received the libretto of the three-act opera The Pearl Seekers, written by the prolific playwright Pierre Etienne Carmon (1811-1903), the author of more than a hundred plays - dramas, vaudevilles and librettos - usually working almost always in collaboration. This time it was co-authored by the experienced librettist Michel Carré (1819-1872), one of the authors of the libretto of Gounod's Faust. The oriental plot of the opera was quite in line with the French art of that time: Victor Hugo created Oriental Poems, Eugene Delacroix - Algiers Etudes, Felicien David - the ode-symphony The Desert, the opera Lalla Rook. Just a year after The Pearl Seekers, Meyerbeer finished his African. At the same time, the authors of the libretto placed an old, more than once used plot conflict, familiar from Spontini's "Vestalka" and Bellini's "Norma": a priestess breaking a vow in the name of love.
The Pearl Seekers premiered on September 30, 1863 at the Lyric Theater in Paris and went very well. The author, who was not yet 25 years old, was enthusiastically greeted by the public, who, in addition to singers, also demanded a composer. Some critics reproached the composer for "harmonic oddities" and found imitation of David and Wagner in the score. However, Berlioz wrote about The Pearl Seekers: “The score of this opera<... >contains a significant number of beautiful expressive passages full of fire and rich color<...>does the greatest honor to Mr. Bizet, who will also be forced to accept as a composer, despite his rare talent as a pianist-reader.
Plot
Ceylon Island. Residents of the coastal village choose the leader of the brave Zurgu, everyone's favorite. He will be the head of the tribe during the pearl fishing, which is due to start today. After long wanderings, the young hunter Nadir returns home. Zurga, who has been friends with him since childhood, calls to forget the old quarrel and its reason - the beauty they once met in the temple. The love that flared up in both in a single moment made friends enemies. But the beauty hid in the unknown and now nothing should separate them. A boat approaches the shore: according to the old custom, a girl is brought from distant lands, who will pray for the pearl divers while they are busy with their dangerous trade. This is Layla. Her face is covered with a veil: no one should see her. The villagers joyfully greet the young priestess. Leila vows to protect the pearl divers with her singing from evil spirits, not to lift the veil from her face, not to know love. Zurga promises her the best pearls from the booty, but threatens her with death for betraying her oath. Suddenly, Leila notices Nadir, and her hand begins to tremble - she fell in love with this young man when she first saw him in the temple - but she firmly repeats the promise. Excited and Nadir; it seems to him that he recognized the voice of the one who conquered him.
The night is coming. Priest Nurabad leads Leyla to the rock in front of the temple. Here she will have to stay for the duration of the fishing. Nurabad leaves, Leila sings praises to the gods; Nadir turns to her, and her prayer turns into a song of love.
The night is running out. Nurabad comes to the rock to Leila and informs that the girl can rest: the rock is almost impregnable, the guards are not far away, and nothing threatens her if the vow is kept. Layla tells him that once she was threatened with death, but she kept her oath. She was a child when she sheltered a fugitive in her hut, fleeing the villains pursuing him. In parting, he gave her a necklace, which she carefully keeps. Nurabad leaves her. Nadir climbs the rock. He begs not to persecute him, to answer his love. Suddenly, the solitude of the lovers is violated by Nurabad. He calls the people and denounces the criminals. They will have no mercy! Zurga, using her power, wants to save them, but Nurabad demands that the priestess, who has broken her vow, reveal her face. Zurga, seeing the one she passionately loves, gives in to a sense of revenge: Nadir and Leila must die. A terrible storm breaks out. All in despair appeal to Brahma.
The storm subsides. Zurga does not find a place for himself from the fact that he condemned a friend to death. Leila comes to pray for her beloved: only she broke her vow, Nadir is innocent. Her pleas again kindle hatred in Zurga for a happy rival. He confesses his love to Leila, but in response he hears curses. Nurabad appears to lead the priestess who has broken her vow to execution. Layla takes the necklace out of the folds of her clothes and hands it to the young fisherman, asking him to take it to his mother. She is taken away. Seeing the necklace, Zurga snatches it from the hands of the fisherman and hurries after Leila.
On the shore of the ocean, the people are waiting for the dawn to quench the wrath of heaven with a bloody sacrifice. Nurabad welcomes the lightning, which marks the hour of revenge, but Zurga, who runs in, shouts that the fire, which was sent by the gods in anger, has engulfed the fields, forest and dwellings. Everyone rushes to save children and property. Zurga confesses to Nadir and Leila that he set fire to the village: he did it to give them the opportunity to escape. By the necklace, he recognized the one that once saved him, and now he is ready to give his life for her. Nurabad, who heard everything, returns with an angry crowd. Nadir and Leyla manage to escape, Zurga is grabbed and thrown into the fire. All fall on their faces, singing Brahma.
Music
"Pearl Seekers" - the first major opera Bizet marked with a stamp great talent, although not yet fully expressed. The opera is distinguished by sincerity of feeling, lively colors, originality of color, melodic generosity.
Most bright number operas - Nadir's famous romance from Act I "In the radiance of the moonlit night I heard you", full of poetry, with a wide and plastic melody. Leila's cavatina from Act II "The day is over and the night has come" with its flexible vocal line and soft accompaniment resembles a nocturne. Nadir's next song "My dove fell asleep sweetly" is sustained in an oriental character. The duet of Leyla and Nadir “You didn’t understand my love” captivates with a lyrically inspired, flighty and expressive melody.
L. Mikheeva
PEARLS DISCOVERERS (Les pêcheurs de perles) - opera by J. Bizet in 3 d. (4 k.), libretto by M. Carré and I. E. Cormon. Premiere: Paris, Lyric Theatre, September 30, 1863; in Russia - St. Petersburg, the Nemetti Theater in Ozerki, by the entreprise of A. Kartavov, September 5, 1889 (A. Kruglov - Zurga); Moscow, New theater, December 3, 1903 (L. Sobinov - Nadir, A. Nezhdanova - Leila).
The action takes place in the exotic setting of the island of Ceylon. The pearl seeker Zurga and the young hunter Nadir love the same girl. In order not to become enemies, they part. And the one whom they loved, Leila, took a vow of chastity and became a priestess in the temple; her singing drives away evil forces and helps pearl seekers find their prey. Zurga is elected leader of the tribe. He joyfully welcomes the returned Nadir. He hears the voice of the priestess and recognizes his beloved. Love rises in his heart. Leila confirms her vow to the priest Nurabad, but her thoughts are with Nadir. It is almost impossible to get to her temple, standing on top of a steep cliff. Nadir overcomes dangers, notifying Layla with a song of his approach. Leyla is watched vigilantly, and as soon as Nadir enters the temple, he is seized on the orders of Nurabad. Zurga wants to save her friend, but after learning that the priestess who broke her vow is Leila, she decides to leave both of them to their fate. However, jealousy only momentarily captured his thoughts. When Zurga learns from Layla's necklace that she once saved his life, he diverts the attention of the villagers by setting fire to their huts and frees Nadir and Leyla, who manage to escape. By order of the priest, Zurga is thrown into the fire.
Bizet's music rises above the stereotyped exoticism of a melodramatic libretto. It has sincerity, lyricism, pathos. The future author Carmen even managed to create on the basis of false situations strong characters. The image of Zurgi, the most dramatic figure in the opera, is especially vivid. Arias and ensembles are masterfully written (the duet of Nadir and Zurgi, the duet of Nadir and Leyla, Zurgi's aria, Nadir's romance, etc.).
The opera has been staged many times opera houses our country. Among the best Russian performers of Nadir are L. Sobinov and D. Smirnov, among foreign ones are E. Caruso, A. Kraus, N. Gedda. The last production in Russia was in Kazan (together with the Dutch company Eurostage) directed by M. Boemi (Italy).
The Pearl Seekers (Les pêcheurs de perles) is an opera in three acts by Georges Bizet, based on a libretto by E. Cormon and Michel Carré. Not as popular as Bizet's later opera Carmen, it is nevertheless very good melodically and popular.
Characters:
Nadir, young hunter (tenor)
Zurga, his friend, leader of the tribe (baritone)
Nurabad, tribal priest (bass)
Leila (soprano)
Villagers, pearl divers
The action takes place on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
History of creation
Even during his stay in Italy after receiving the Prix de Rome, Bizet dreamed of writing an opera, but was afraid of meeting librettists, actors, and especially theater directors who did not want to deal with one-act operas, the right to stage which was given to laureates of the Prix de Rome. He himself did not want to write a one-act opera, as he dreamed of making his debut with a full-length performance. However, the Opera-Comique Theater commissioned him a one-act opera, Guzla Emir, which Bizet wrote in 1861 and presented to the theatre, but soon took the score back. And then a rare opportunity presented itself, exactly what he dreamed of: in 1862, the Lyric Theater, for a number of conditions, was obliged to stage one opera by a young Russian author. The choice of Leon Carvalho, who was at the head of the theater, fell on Bizet, in whose talent the impresario, experienced and interested in the fate of French art, sincerely believed.
Georges Bizet
Bizet received the libretto of the three-act opera The Pearl Seekers, written by the prolific playwright Pierre Etienne Carmon (1811-1903), the author of more than a hundred plays - dramas, vaudevilles and librettos - usually almost always working in collaboration. This time it was co-authored by the experienced librettist Michel Carré (1819-1872), one of the authors of the libretto of Gounod's Faust. The oriental plot of the opera was quite in line with the French art of that time: Victor Hugo created Oriental Poems, Eugene Delacroix - Algiers Etudes, Felicien David - the ode-symphony The Desert, the opera Lalla Rook. Just a year after The Pearl Seekers, Meyerbeer completed his The African), Gounod's The Queen of Sheba, Massenet's The King of Lagorsk), Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah, Delibes' Lakmé and others. Bizet's opera is among those works that open this list. Its action takes place on the island of Ceylon, among the pearl divers.
Eugene Delacroix "Algerian women in their rooms". 1834
The Pearl Seekers premiered on September 30, 1863 at the Lyric Theater in Paris and went very well. The author, who was not yet 25 years old, was enthusiastically greeted by the public, who, in addition to singers, also demanded a composer. Some critics reproached the composer for "harmonic oddities" and found imitation of David and Wagner in the score. However, Berlioz wrote about The Pearl Seekers: “The score of this opera<... >contains a significant number of beautiful expressive passages full of fire and rich color<...>does the greatest honor to Mr. Bizet...
Theater "La Fenice" (Venice), 2004
Conductor - Marcello Viotti
Directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi
Annick Massis
Luca Grassi
Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro La Fenice
Plot
Ceylon Island. Residents of the coastal village choose the leader of the brave Zurgu, everyone's favorite. He will be the head of the tribe during the pearl fishing, which is due to start today. After long wanderings, the young hunter Nadir returns home. Zurga, who has been friends with him since childhood, calls to forget the old quarrel and its reason - the beauty they once met in the temple. The love that flared up in both in a single moment made friends enemies. But the beauty hid in the unknown and now nothing should separate them. A boat approaches the shore: according to the old custom, a girl is brought from distant lands, who will pray for the pearl divers while they are busy with their dangerous trade. This is Layla. Her face is covered with a veil: no one should see her. The villagers joyfully greet the young priestess. Leila vows to protect the pearl divers with her singing from evil spirits, not to lift the veil from her face, not to know love. Zurga promises her the best pearls from the booty, but threatens her with death for betraying her oath. Suddenly, Leila notices Nadir, and her hand begins to tremble - she fell in love with this young man when she saw her for the first time in the temple - but she firmly repeats the promise. Excited and Nadir; it seems to him that he recognized the voice of the one who conquered him.
The night is running out. Nurabad comes to the rock to Leila and informs that the girl can rest: the rock is almost impregnable, the guards are not far away, and nothing threatens her if the vow is kept. Layla tells him that once she was threatened with death, but she kept her oath. She was a child when she sheltered a fugitive in her hut, fleeing the villains pursuing him. In parting, he gave her a necklace, which she carefully keeps. Nurabad leaves her. Nadir climbs the rock. He begs not to persecute him, to answer his love. Suddenly, the solitude of the lovers is violated by Nurabad. He calls the people and denounces the criminals. They will have no mercy! Zurga, using her power, wants to save them, but Nurabad demands that the priestess, who has broken her vow, reveal her face. Zurga, seeing the one she passionately loves, gives in to a sense of revenge: Nadir and Leila must die. A terrible storm breaks out. All in despair appeal to Brahma.
The storm subsides. Zurga does not find a place for himself from the fact that he condemned a friend to death. Leila comes to pray for her beloved: only she broke her vow, Nadir is innocent. Her pleas again kindle hatred in Zurga for a happy rival. He confesses his love to Leila, but in response he hears curses. Nurabad appears to lead the priestess who has broken her vow to execution. Layla takes the necklace out of the folds of her clothes and hands it to the young fisherman, asking him to take it to his mother. She is taken away. Seeing the necklace, Zurga snatches it from the hands of the fisherman and hurries after Leila.
On the shore of the ocean, the people are waiting for the dawn to quench the wrath of heaven with a bloody sacrifice. Nurabad welcomes the lightning, which marks the hour of revenge, but Zurga, who runs in, shouts that the fire, which was sent by the gods in anger, has engulfed the fields, forest and dwellings. Everyone rushes to save children and property. Zurga confesses to Nadir and Leila that he set fire to the village: he did it to give them the opportunity to escape. By the necklace, he recognized the one that once saved him, and now he is ready to give his life for her. Nurabad, who heard everything, returns with an angry crowd. Nadir and Leyla manage to escape, Zurga is grabbed and thrown into the fire.
Music
The Pearl Seekers is a work of fresh and vibrant talent. Having overcome the traditional conventionality of situations and characters in the libretto, Bizet managed to outline the individuality of the main characters in music, give emotional strength and brightness to exotic ritual and everyday scenes, and capture the dreamy poetry of the nature of the East. The melodies of The Pearl Seekers impress with their beauty and plasticity. The best of them serve as an adornment of concert programs.
The first act is preceded by a small orchestral prelude sustained in a smoothly waving waltz rhythm. The opening scene is framed by the chorus "On the Golden Shore", which accompanies the dances of the catchers; mysteriously muffled, with monotonous repetitions of phrases, it is temporarily revived by the heroic melody “Forward, to the bottom of the sea” (male choir). In the center of the stage is Nadir's first story "Through the steppes, dense forests", courageous, marked by the freshness of the melody. The duet-memoir of Nadir and Zurgi “And there, among the flowers” is full of enthusiastic feeling; a smooth oriental-inspired melody sounds against the background of a magically transparent orchestral accompaniment. Leila's entrance is prepared by an orchestral prelude; the chorus "Hello to you, maiden" is sustained in a light dance movement. The tenderness of color, the southern softness of colors marked Nadir's famous romance "In the radiance of the moonlit night." The act concludes with the prayer of Leila "Brahma the omnipotent"; the light patterned roulades of the singer are accompanied by the muffled accompaniment of the choir; Against the same background, a secret dialogue between Leyla and Nadir sounds.
The most striking number of the opera is Nadir's famous romance from Act I "In the radiance of the moonlit night I heard you", full of poetry, with a wide and plastic melody. (In the video, it starts after a minute and a half of recitative. Performed by Alfredo Kraus)
The second act opens with a chorus behind the scenes “Night is falling”; its original lively light melody is underlined by a dancing bass accompaniment; the orchestra is silent, the stanzas are separated by the roulades of two piccolo flutes. This choir framed Leila's recitative scene with Nurabad and Leila's story "I was a child." Leila's recitative and cavatina "The night has come, I am alone" - a cantilena full of inner jubilation - is replaced by Nadir's distant song "My dove has sweetly fallen asleep"; its richly ornamented melody is accompanied only by harp chords. At the beginning of the duet “But how dare you,” short hasty remarks are interspersed with excitedly intermittent phrases of the orchestra; then the voices merge in a love impulse. The stormy finale of the act begins with the chorus "Whose voice calls to us."
The third act is preceded by a symphonic picture of a thunderstorm. Zurgi's recitative and aria are permeated with drama; at the mention of Nadir's name in the orchestra, echoes of his romance from the first act arise. Convex contrast is laid in the duet-scene of Leyla and Zurgi; fervent entreaties are contrasted with short, inflexible remarks.
At the beginning of the second scene of the third act there is an orchestral episode of a gloomy whirlwind dance, then the chorus “As soon as the dawn flashes in the sky” is superimposed on it with frantic cries of “Brahma!”, The music conveys the growing fury. The central number of the picture is the tercet “Here is a moment of admiration”, where the exalted and enthusiastic melodies of Leila and Nadir are answered by the courageously harsh phrases of Zurgi. The final chorus "The fire is already burning, the victim is waiting" - a repetition of the initial chorus.
M. Druskin
small bonus):
Paul Mauriat- Pearl Seekers
