G. Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” in the context of Poetics of French Lyrical Opera

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to reveale the poetic and intonation uniqueness of G. Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” in the context of the genre-style canon of French lyric opera. The methodology of the work has a complex nature and is based on a combination of the principles of cultural, historical-typological, hermeneutic, and genre-intonation studies. The scientific novelty of the work is determined by the fact that it examines for the first time the genre-stylistic and spiritual-meaning specifics of G. Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” in the realm of the poetics of French lyric opera. Conclusions. Lyrical opera is a bright stage in the development of French musical theatre in the middle and second half of the 19th century. The opposition of this genre in relation to “grand” opera at the same time does not exclude their mutual influence, which is manifested in the antitheses of the personal drama of the main characters, ennobled by a high sense of love, and the patriarchal instructions of the environment in which they are. This also determined the stylistic specificity of lyric opera, formed at the intersection of romantic and Biedermeier traditions. The mysterious genesis of the European musical theatre was reflected in the lyric opera in the potential direction of the fate of its main characters towards spiritual transformation. G. Bizet’s romantic-exotic opera “The Pearl Fishers”, created in 1863, is based on the dramatic story of a priestess who broke her vow and her lucky escape from punishment. The genre canon of the lyric opera is manifested in the named opera in the appeal to the oriental plot, in the presence of a traditional love drama for lyric opera, which is in contradiction with the generally accepted patriarchal norms of the spiritual and religious order, which are dominant in the society in which the main characters live, in a significant the role of genre scenes, which generally reproduce within the framework of the European musical tradition, without corresponding folklore quotes, the exotic flavour given by the plot (fifth-note bourdons, the essential role of the metro-rhythmic factor and the timbre of percussion, the figurative-improvisational type of the vocal part of Leila the priestess).

Key words: musical culture of France of the 19th century, French lyric opera, musical theatre by G. Bizet, “The Pearl Fishers” by G. Bizet.