La Juive (Halévy)

Overview

La Juive is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy (1799-1862) to a libretto by Eugène Scribe, set in Constance in 1414. A Jewish goldsmith's daughter, Rachel, loves a man who is secretly the Christian prince Léopold; she and her father Éléazar are condemned to be boiled alive. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 23 February 1835, and was used for the inaugural performance at the Palais Garnier on 5 January 1875 (Wikipedia, "La Juive"). Rachel's aria "Rachel, quand du Seigneur la grâce tutélaire" is the best-known number; Gabrielle Krauss made her Paris Opéra debut as Rachel on that night (Wikipedia, "Gabrielle Krauss").

Marie and this work

• 20 January 1875, Paris. At the new Opéra, Marie sees "La Juive avec la Strauss": the staging is magnificent, "la scène est si grande que les acteurs paraissent mouches et quinze chevaux ne purent la rendre peuplée" (029.0008). "La Strauss" is most probably the soprano Gabrielle Krauss, the new Rachel at the Garnier; an earlier RSR note proposed an "Adelina Strauss", which I could not substantiate. This is an inference from the name and the date.
• 6 August 1875, Paris. "Je reviens de l'Opéra. On donnait La Juive", in a small dark baignoire; she was seen only in the foyer, dressed and coiffed as she likes (038.0150).
• 23 October 1875, Nice. Her "couronne du martyr", two thorny rose branches tied with a lock of her hair, is named "comme dans la Juive" and worn "jusqu'à réhabilitation" (047.0448). The allusion is to Rachel's martyrdom; the crown itself is Marie's own invention.

Not this work

"Robe juive" (028.0230, 030.0233, 032.0065) is a dress style or colour and has nothing to do with the opera.

Sources

• Wikipedia, "La Juive"; "Gabrielle Krauss".
• IMSLP, La Juive (Halévy, Fromental)).