La Juive - Performance History

Performance History

The opera's first, ornate production, costing 150,000 francs, was conducted by François Antoine Habeneck. The performances of the soprano Cornélie Falcon in the title role and the dramatic tenor Adolphe Nourrit as Eléazar were particularly noticed. Nourrit had significant influence on the opera: Eléazar, originally conceived as a bass part, was rewritten for him, and it appears that it was largely his idea to end act 4, not with a traditional ensemble, but with the aria "Rachel, quand du seigneur" for which he may also have suggested the text. The production was notable for its lavishness, including the on-stage organ in Act I, the enormous supporting cast, and the unprecedentedly elaborate decor. Richard Wagner, who admired La Juive, may have 'borrowed' from it the act 1 organ effect, for his 1868 opera Die Meistersinger. Moreover, Eléazar's tapping at his goldsmith's work is echoed by Hans Sachs's cobbling during Meistersinger.

La Juive enjoyed an international success comparable to that of Meyerbeer's grand operas. The work was also used for the inaugural performance at the newly constructed Palais Garnier in Paris in 1875. The opera was produced by New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1919 as a vehicle for its star tenor, Enrico Caruso. Eléazar was the last role Caruso sang prior to his untimely death in 1921. Giovanni Martinelli succeeded Caruso in the role at the Met, and both he and Caruso recorded extracts from the opera. These are available on CD reissues.

The opera was programmed regularly until the 1930s. Modern revivals have been staged at the Vienna State Opera (1999), The Metropolitan Opera (2003), the Teatro La Fenice in Venice (2005), the Paris Opera (2007), the Zurich Opera House (2007), the Staatstheater Stuttgart (2008) and De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam (2009) and the Tel Aviv (Israel) Opera. In Zurich and Tel Aviv the action was changed from the 15th century to late 19th century France when anti-Semitism was rampant during the Dreyfus affair. In addition, the Royal Opera, London presented concert performances at The Barbican in 2006, with Dennis O'Neill and Marina Poplavskaya singing the roles of Eléazar and Rachel.