La Montagne noire is a lyric drama in four acts and five scene by Augusta Holmès from 1884 and created in 1895.
Historical context
Augusta Holmès begin to compose La Montagne noire in 1884 with a libretto by her own hand. It was predicted to be a great success by Édouard Dujardin. The story is inspired by an oriental custom which consists in uniting two men by the oath to consider themselves as brothers, even if it means sacrificing their lives for the other. This is the subject of the drama, the passionate part of which is reminiscent of Carmen.
Creation
The work was first performed at the Paris Opera on 8 February 1895. The staging was done by Alexandre Lapissida, the vocal director was Édouard Mangin and the choir director L. Delahaye, the choreography by Joseph Hansen, the sets by Marcel Jambon and the costumes by Charles Bianchini.
Characters
Abstract
The action takes place in 1657 in Montenegro, then in a village on the Turkish border.
Act I
Act I takes place in fortified ruins in the mountains. After a terrible war between Montenegro and Turkey, one of the Montenegrin victors, Mirko, has been proclaimed brother-in-arms of the brave Aslar. The priest unites them at the foot of the holy altars, and to acknowledge this honour, Aslar has sworn to watch over Mirko's body and soul. Mirko is to marry a young girl, Helena. In the midst of the general rejoicing, a woman, pursued by soldiers, bursts in. She is Turkish and her name is Yamina. The crowd, taking her for a spy, wants to put her to death. Mirko, struck by her beauty, intercedes for her, but not without making her confess that she is a courtesan and that she followed the sons of the Prophet into battle. At Mirko's request, Dara, his mother, takes her as a slave. The act ends with a chorus of drinkers.
Act II
Act II takes place in a village in the mountains. In Act II, Yamina's beautiful eyes and provocative poses have done their work. Mirko, madly in love with the foreigner, remains deaf to his fiancée's pleas. The two lovers flee while Héléna denounces them to the public.
Act III
Act III takes place in a wild mountain setting. The two lovers are in each other's arms. Yamina, dead tired, falls asleep, while Mirko watches over her. Suddenly, Aslar appears. He reproaches his brother for his betrayal. Mirko, moved by his words, agrees to follow him, after a last kiss to the still sleeping Yamina. As Aslar could have foreseen, this kiss wakes Yamina up. She has no trouble getting hold of the young Montenegrin, which makes Aslar very angry. During the discussion, the young woman treacherously hits the man whose arrival has thwarted her plans. Fortunately, the blow was badly struck, and when the 'mountain men' come running to Mirko's desperate cries, all danger seems to have passed. As the stage empties, Yamina swears revenge.
Act IV
The first scene of Act IV takes place in a garden on the edge of Yamina's home on the Turkish border, the second shows the scene after the fight. Mirko, more in love than ever, is in the power of the beautiful bewitchress whose kiss burns him. Female singers and almaeums delightfully frame the scene. The situation from the previous act is repeated. Aslar, who has once again felt the need to stir up Mirko, arrives as a spoilsport. Only this time he avoids being hit and, seeing that his pleas are in vain, he kills his brother-in-arms to save his soul and then turns the weapon against himself.
Criticism
The reception was lukewarm, even a failure, due in particular to the weakness of the score and the libretto. Claude Debussy wrote about it in his book Monsieur Croche et autres écrits: "An opera: La Montagne noire, had no success; this is of no importance and cannot make us forget what we owe him in terms of charming and robust music ". Although La Montagne noire was a failure, it does not make us forget the success of Augusta Holmès' symphonies (Roland furieux and Lutèce) or her various symphonic poems (Hymne à Apollon, Les Argonautes, Irlande, Andromède and Pologne).
Les interprètes ont été loués, notamment Lucienne Bréval, considérée comme chanteuse et comédienne inégalable, aux irrésistibles enchantements dans le rôle de Yamina, et Meyrianne Héglon, véritable tragédienne lyrique. Albert Alvarez et Maurice Renaud sont aussi félicités.