Halevy's Masterpiece "La Juive"

Jacques Francois Fromenthal Elias Halevy, like many of the composers of his day, took an assumed name for his professional work. His real name was Levy. He was born of Jewish parents in Paris, May 27, 1799, the year of the death of George Washington. In the minds of many people Halevy belongs to a more remote period. He is, however, comparatively modern, since he was born twelve years after the death of Mozart. He died in Paris, March 17, 1862.

Halevy's father was Bavarian, while his mother was born in Lorraine. The father was distinguished for his research work in Talmudic literature. The child's musical talent manifested itself when he was very young; and at the age of ten we find him in the classes of Berton, at the Paris Conservatorie. Berton, now forgotten was in his day the highly successful composer of no les than 47 operas, the most famous of which was Montano et Stephanie.

Halevy's progress at the conservatory was so rapid that he soon found himself under the instruction of the director, Cherubini. At the age of nineteen he carried off the Grand Prix de Rome. Some seventy students have won this prize. They thus represent the "pick" of the music talent of France; but only about ten have attained world-wide fame. These include Herold, Halevy, Berlioz, A. Thomas, Gounod, Bizet, Massenet, Debussy and Charpentier. Several who won the second prize have afterwards vecame famous, as was the case with Ravel. On the other hand, Saint-Saens, who was a pupil of Halevy failed twice in competitions for the Grand Prix.

After his return from Rome, Halevy composed three operas, which through various accidents of fate were not performed. It was not until 1827, when he was twenty-eight years of age, that his opera L'Artisan was presented at the Theater Feydeau. This work all but failed. During the next six years he wrote no less than seven operas and also completed one left unfinished by Herold.

Not until 1835, when Halevy was thirty-six years old, did he produce a work which attracted widespread attention. This was La Juive. From the very first it aroused the wildest enthusiasm in Paris; and Halevy was hailed everywhere as one of the greatest operatic composers of his time. Opera houses all over Europe clamored for his works; and he surprised the musical public and the critics by writing a little musical comedy for two tenors and two sopranos called L'Eclair. These two works unfortunately mark an end to Halevy's productions of real genius. This was unquestionable due to the fact that instead of following his own natural bent, he was greatly influenced by the works of Meyerbeer, his contemporary. Robert Le Diable, Les Huguenots L'Africaine and Le Prophete, with the sensational and spectacular style so pleasing to the Parisians of that day, led Halevy to try to eclipse Meyerbeer, with the result that much of his later work is mediocre and pretentious, without great musical worth. Two may be excepted, Les Mousquetaires de le Reine and Le Val d'Andorre. He was also beset by a mistaken industry. If he had done less and done it better, he might have been among the greatest masters. As it is he wrote thrity operas, of which only one is given to any extent in this day. Halevy's industry was by no means confined to composition, and it is believed by many that his greatest contribution to the art of music was made a a teacher. Among his famous pupils, during the twenty-six years he was professor composition at the Conservatoire, were Gounod, Victor Masse, Bazin, Saint-Saens and Bizet. Bizet later became his son-in-law. He received all of the accustomed distinctions which the French reserve for their famous men and women. Among his most interesting publications is a series of Funeral orations, which he was obliged to deliver as the Secretary of the Academic des Beaux Arts. His Lescons de Lecture Musicale a system for teaching solfeggio, is said to be used to this day, in modified form, to teach sight-reading to the children of the primary schools of Paris.

La Juive was written upon a libretto by Scribe, which had previously been rejected by Rossini as unsuitable for his purposes. It was first produced in Paris, February 23, 1835. Later productions followed in England, July 29, 1846, and in Rome, under the name La Ebrea, July 25, 1850. It became very popular in the German version.

While Halevy in his works shows the influence of Meyerbeer, he was also a great admirer of Herold and von Weber, with the result that his compositions are perhaps better finished from the academic standpoint. As Haydn was influenced by the masterpieces of his pupil Mozart, and as Verdi realized the greatness of Wagners' message and showed it in his septuagenarian works, so Meyerbeer realized that Halevy was a powerful rival. Undoubtedly he, too, in his later works sought a higher finish, owing to the fact that Halevy's Jewess met with such very wide approval. Of the two men, Halevy was readily the broader and more versatile. He knew Greek, Latin, Hebrew, English and Italian. He was a good poet and a fine writer of prose.

The libretto of La Juive is an exceptionally fine piece of work for the time, filled with pageantry and tensely dramatic situations. The great De Deum, the famous pass-over scene, and the wonderful duet between Eleazar and the Cardinal, rise to immortal heights. His subsequent music, much of it marked by dignity, sobriety and exquisite musical and orchestral finish, lacks the passionate climaxes of La Juive. In many ways he was much in advance of his time, and it is not surprising to see the revival of his chief work, now that the general public has become better educated. This is perhaps indicated by the fact that it was included in the rather serious revivals of German opera in the eighties, under Dr. Leopold Damrosch. It was also revived for a short time by Hammerstein.

The Story of "La Juive"

The plot of the opera is built around the love of a young Jewess for an artist whom she thinks to be one of her own nation, but who, in reality, is Prince Leopoldo, husband of the emperor's niece, Eudoxia.

Act I: The populace kneels on the steps or traverses the square before a church in the Cit of Constance. Lazarus, the Jew, is dragged before the Magistrate for working on this Feast Day. Rachel, his daughter, clings to him. Carainal Brogni endeavors to persuade them to become Christians to escape persecution. Leopoldo enters and disperses the rabble that torment them.

Act II: A feast at Lazarus' house. Eudoxia enters and purchases a princely chain of jewels. Rachel and Leopoldo plight their troth; Lazarus enters to be horror stricken at Rachel's desertion of their faith.

Act III: A magnificent hall in the Emperor's Palace. Eudoxia places the jeweled chain about Leopoldo's neck as a guerdon of his successful military triumphs. Rachel wrests the chain from Leopoldo and denounces him; the Cardinal excommunicates and sentences them, with Lazarus, to death.

Act IV: Eudoxia pleads with Rachel to save Leopoldo's life by recanting her accusation. Rachel remains steadfast and, as she is dropped into a caldron of boiling water, Lazarus informs the Cardinal that she is his long lost daughter.