Benvenuto Cellini
Synopsis and musical highlights with Alain Altinoglu
- Reading time
- 10 min.
Read the full synopsis of Hector Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and listen to some of the work’s musical highlights, selected and illuminated by conductor Alain Altinoglu.
The overture
Alain Altinoglu: Some overtures encapsulate all the major themes of an opera. Others, by contrast, make no reference to the melodies to come. Here, we have a mix of both approaches, as it were. Berlioz’s musical personality is revealed fully from the start, as is his characterization of Cellini, with whom he identified. This first theme, with its frenetic rhythm and unique in the score, exudes a madness and density specific to the composer. We then get a fragment of the pantomime from the second tableau, played on the English horn, as well as the famous melody of the Pope, among other striking motifs. Throughout the piece, there are sequences of fast segments and slower passages, reinforced by rich orchestration and rhythmic breaks reminiscent of the Symphonie fantastique. When listened to, the music seems rather ‘classical’ and harmonious. But if you listen carefully, you will notice that there are seemingly awkward stumblings and transitions. In reality, these are highly original changes in musical phrasing. We move from the usual four or eight bars to three bars, two bars and seven bars. Berlioz alternates them very quickly, which is unsettling and sometimes even uncomfortable for players. It requires a great deal of precision.
FIRST ACT
Tableau I - Shrove Monday
It is nightfall and the Pope’s treasurer Giacomo Balducci is about to set off to see the pontiff. The latter has summoned him to talk about Benvenuto Cellini, the Florentine sculptor and goldsmith whom he has just commissioned to create a bronze statue for the Vatican. Balducci is unhappy that Cellini has been chosen over the Roman sculptor Fieramosca, to whom he has promised his daughter. After her father has stormed out of the room, Teresa listens to a chorus of masked revellers from her window. Alarmed by the noise, Balducci returns, only to be pelted with flour pellets that stain his clothes. He is furious, and made even more so when he sees the flowers Teresa has received. However, he must hurry to his meeting. Among the flowers, the young girl discovers a note in which her lover, who is none other than Cellini, announces his imminent arrival. Shortly after, Fieramosca makes his own way to the Balducci house to court Teresa. He is stunned to see her deep in conversation with Cellini.
‘Ah ! mourir, chère belle’ & ‘Qui, la mort éternelle’
Alain Altinoglu: In the first tableau, the superb initial duet between Cellini and Teresa is transformed, with the arrival of Fieramosca, into a trio of exceptional difficulty for the singers. The rhythmic overlaps between the three voices are literally breathless, so fast are they. Beyond its technical prowess and its tone evokes that of an opéra-comique, the tableau is also of historical interest. Remember that this score dates from 1838, and this passage already anticipates the quintets of Lakmé and Carmen, which came much later. Berlioz’s influence on French music in the second half of the nineteenth century should not be underestimated.
As he eavesdrops on them, he learns about his rival’s plan: The following evening, the young girl is to go to Piazza Colonna, on the pretext of attending a new show for Shrove Tuesday; disguised as a monk, Cellini, accompanied by his apprentice Ascanio, who will be dressed as a white penitent, will take advantage of the play to abduct her and take her to Florence. Indeed, Cellini wants to save Teresa from either fate that awaits her if she stays in Rome: either the convent or marriage to Fieramosca. The young girl is delighted with this plan, which Fieramosca vows to thwart. The lovers are about to part when Teresa hears her father approach. She immediately urges Cellini to slip behind the door, while Fieramosca hides in the first room he enters. Balducci is surprised to find Teresa still awake near midnight. She tells him that a man is in her room. Balducci rushes in to catch the intruder, and Cellini takes the opportunity to escape. To Teresa’s surprise, her father returns with Fieramosca! Deaf to the latter’s denials, Balducci calls on his neighbours to come and punish him. Fieramosca manages to escape.
Tableau II - Shrove Tuesday
Arriving early for his meeting in Piazza Colonna, Cellini declares himself ready to renounce the honours of his art for love. He gathers with his fellow metalworkers at an inn; they all ask the innkeeper for drinks, but he insists that they first settle their previous tab. Ascanio arrives at that moment with a well-filled purse. He reminds the artist that this is the payment for the statue commissioned by the Pope; he will therefore only give him the money if Cellini swears to cast the piece by the following day. The sculptor promises, pays the tab and asks his friends to distract Balducci as soon as they see him. Meanwhile, an angry Fieramosca reveals Cellini’s plan to his friend Pompeo. The latter encourages him to steal his rival’s plan: all Fieramosca has to do is disguise himself as a monk! Pompeo will join him disguised as a white penitent, and together they will be able to abduct Teresa, who will believe she is in the presence of her lover. The young girl arrives at Piazza Colonna on the arm of her father, who has reluctantly agreed to take her to see the play. Cellini and Ascanio appear in their agreed disguises. The players exhort the people of Rome to enjoy the commedia they are about to perform, much to the crowd’s delight.
The carnival
Alain Altinoglu: The carnival that concludes the first act is 2,000 bars long, that is, some twenty minutes of music. With its impetuous energy, the orchestral introduction immediately heralds a grand scene. This is followed by Balducci’s intervention and a beautiful melody sung by Teresa, preceding many small asides – ‘prudence and mystery’, for keen ears – in the midst of the grandiose celebration, bringing to mind the concertati that Verdi would use many years later. The accumulation of voices and musical ideas is particularly striking throughout this sequence. After the Pope's arrival, in the midst of the festivities, we hear the English horn solo mentioned in the overture already, here wonderfully accompanied by the harp, and followed immediately by a brilliant ophicleide solo. The ophicleide is a wind instrument of the brass family, widely used in religious and military music from the 1820s to the 1880s. It was later replaced by the tuba, which had more powerful pistons and a more even timbre. Added to this are numerous virtuoso passages for the choruses, who sing the melody of the Roman Carnival. Everything culminates in the extraordinary final presto. Berlioz perfectly captures the festive spirit and madness of Rome, which he knew well, having lived in 1830 at the Villa Medici that overlooks the city.
The show begins. Balducci is scandalized at being caricatured alongside the Holy Father, but insists on seeing how far the satire will go. Columbine appears and announces a contest between two other characters, Harlequin the rogue and Pasquariello the villain, with herself as the judge of their daring acts. Heckled by the unhappy and impatient spectators, she leaves the stage. The commedia continues amid the audience’s jeers and Balducci’s invectives, who is ready to do battle with the players. Fieramosca and Pompeo approach, disguised as a monk and a penitent respectively, just as the masked onlookers light small candles, the moccoli, and run after each other to blow them out. Fieramosca and Cellini each decide that the time has come to abduct Teresa. The young girl is rather surprised when two Capuchin monks appear before her, each offering her his arm! Cellini, furious, draws his sword and kills Pompeo. The crowd calls for the guards, and Balducci discovers a body at his daughter’s feet. Cellini is arrested, much to Teresa’s despair. The cannon of Castel Sant’Angelo is then sounded to mark the end of carnival. The moccoli are immediately blown out, and Cellini takes advantage of the sudden darkness to escape. Ascanio, who has recognized Teresa, takes her with him. For his part, Balducci is convinced that the man in the monk’s robe standing before him is the murderer, and so he hands Fieramosca over to the guards. Fieramosca protests his innocence, but is taken to prison. Balducci searches for his daughter in vain.
SECOND ACT
Tableau III - Ash Wednesday
In Cellini’s workshop, Ascanio tries to reassure Teresa, who is very worried about her lover, unaware that he has fled. The two young people then hear white penitents singing in the street and begin to pray for Cellini’s salvation … who then rushes into the workshop: taking advantage of his disguise, he had hidden himself among the monks. His fate being uncertain, he wants to flee immediately with Ascanio and Teresa. His friend reminds him that the Pope is expecting delivery of the statue that very day. But Cellini, intent on leaving, sends him to fetch a horse. In the young man’s absence, the lovers once more declare their love for each other. Teresa sees their reunion as proof that heaven approves of their union. Cellini exchanges his bloodstained clothes for a breastplate.
‘Ah ! le ciel, cher époux’
Alain Altinoglu: This love duet between Teresa and Cellini is sublime. At its premiere, Benvenuto Cellini was heavily criticized for its ‘lack of memorable melodies’. Nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, there are magnificent passages throughout the work. Perhaps this opera was too ahead of its time for the audience of the day, which had not lived through the Wagnerian upheaval. Many musical subtleties are conveyed by the orchestra rather than the voices, and this was not yet common practice in musical composition: the orchestra mainly served an accompanying role. Another potentially unsettling element is that the score is full of motifs that are neither developed nor repeated, contrary to the practice that sought to facilitate their memorization. Here, the melody shared between Teresa and Cellini is not only very beautiful, but also technically challenging with its very high notes. It takes a particularly gifted tenor to perform the title role, which requires power, stamina and a wide vocal range. Gilbert Duprez, who premiered the role, was one of the great tenors of the time, but he found himself unable to deliver a convincing performance. Critics at the time saw this as a weakness of the composition rather than a lack of vocal technique. But this is hard to believe when you hear this duet sung to perfection.
Ascanio rushes back to warn them of the imminent arrival of Balducci and Fieramosca. Teresa hides in the workshop just before her father enters, railing against Cellini and threatening to strike him if he doesn’t return his daughter. To prevent her lover from being beaten, Teresa shows herself. But Cellini, to protect his beloved, claims to be solely responsible for the young woman’s abduction, then reveals the love that binds them. Balducci, furious, forces Fieramosca to separate the lovers and take Teresa, his future wife, away, an act that enrages Cellini. The quarrel is interrupted by the arrival of the Pope, who promises indulgences for all sins. Balducci and Fieramosca, however, urge him to avenge them against the villain who abducted Teresa, tarnished their honour and killed a friend. Learning that the person in question is Cellini, the Pope berates the artist, asks him for news of his statue and becomes impatient when he learns that it has still not been cast. He thinks about entrusting the task to another craftsman, but Cellini would rather destroy his model than have someone else cast it. He threatens to destroy it with a hammer just as the Pope orders his arrest. Everyone is stunned that the sculptor would dare to defy the pontiff, who nevertheless softens and asks Cellini what might appease him: the sculptor asks forgiveness for his sins, Teresa’s hand in marriage, and more time to cast his statue. The Pope feels trapped: his love of art compels him to give in. He grants Cellini the day to complete his work. If the sculpture is not ready by that evening, he will deliver the artist to the authorities. Cellini is confident of his success; Ascanio is also confident, but Teresa is desperate. For their part, Fieramosca and Balducci are certain that Cellini will fail and look forward to his imminent downfall.
Tableau IV
In the foundry workshop set up in the Colosseum, Ascanio is in a melancholy mood moments before discovering the ‘bronze child’ that Cellini has created. The metalworkers revolt against the extra work and demand that the workshop be closed. Cellini fears finding himself all alone while all of Rome’s eyes are on him. He imagines what his life would be like if he were a simple shepherd. The metalworkers, frustrated by the scale of the task and the impossible deadline, start singings laments about sailors at the mercy of the sea. While Ascanio sees this as a bad omen, Cellini urges them to become ‘sailors on a river of metal’ and redouble their efforts.
The Pope arrives in the evening, as agreed. Twice, the metalworkers report that they are running out of metal. Ascanio and Teresa pray that Cellini will be able to deliver his work, while Balducci and the Pope see his downfall as imminent. Cellini then decides to melt down all his previous works. Gold, silver, copper, bronze, everything must be thrown into the furnace. While the Pope admires the artist’s audacity, Balducci considers it pure madness. As the lid of the furnace is blown off, all hope seems lost, but the explosion releases a torrent of liquid metal into the clay mould: the cast is complete! The Pope therefore pardons Cellini before withdrawing, leaving the artist, Teresa and the metalworkers in a state of exaltation.
‘Du métal !’
Alain Altinoglu: The ending of the opera is interesting in several respects. First, because it generates several sound effects in the orchestra that are similar to those Wagner would later use in Das Rheingold and Siegfried. When metal is melted on stage, this is translated musically in the pit into a cadence, a suspension of the strings in F sharp preceding a veritable instrumental explosion. And then there is the chorus of metalworkers, which opens rather majestically before concluding on a far more comical note. It is a touching gesture to end a work with a celebration of craftsmanship and working people. Berlioz composes for the people. Benvenuto Cellini presents a veritable musical mosaic: connecting its different parts is sometimes tricky, but the richness and diversity of the whole inevitably captivate listeners. I am delighted to have the opportunity to conduct this opera …
Translation by Patrick Lennon
