Émilie (opera)

Émilie

Monodrama by Kaija Saariaho
Librettist| Amin Maalouf
Language| French
Based on| life and writings of Émilie du Châtelet
Premiere|

1 March 2010 (2010-03-01)

Opéra National de Lyon

Émilie is an opera – specifically a 9-scene, 75-minute monodrama for soprano – by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho to a libretto by Amin Maalouf. It was written in 2008.[1][2] Based on the life and writings of Marquise Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749),[3] the work premiered at the Opéra de Lyon, France, on 1 March 2010, with Finnish soprano Karita Mattila, its dedicatee, in the title role. It recounts the achievements of this mathematician, physicist, and mistress of Voltaire: the first woman to establish an international scientific reputation, with pioneering work in the study of fire.

Billed as the third opera by Saariaho, Émilie is more accurately a sister-piece to the oratorio La Passion de Simone (2006).[4]

In 2020, the opera was performed at the Peabody Conservatory with Australian conductor Leonard Weiss, led by soprano Elizabeth Futral, who premiered the role at Spoleto in 2011.[5][6]

## Subject

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The opera Émilíe is based on the actual biography of Émilie du Châtelet, an 18th-century French intellectual in her own right and the mistress of the French philosopher Voltaire. She had a child by a later lover, and the childbirth led to her death.[7] In the plot of the opera, her character's arias are linked to the birth of the child and of her significant scholarship. The soprano soloist is seen in character pregnant and penning new ideas as the opera begins.

The subject of the work depicted in the opera was Éléments de la philosophie de Newton (1738) by Voltaire and Châtelet that helped to popularize the theories and thought of Isaac Newton.[8]

Émilie is one of three "female-centered operas" by Saariaho exhibiting a sonic world that feminist musicologist Susan McClary characterizes as "a 'sensual version of modernism', one in which 'smoldering intensities' of desire find voice."[9][clarification needed]

Since Châtelet was actually tutored in mathematics by leading European scholars and her exceptional skills were thought to influence Voltaire's work,[8] the scenery in the 2008 Opera de Lyon production of the opera featured images of mathematical equations as significant aspects of the set and scenery for the monodrama.

## Reviews

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One reviewer described it in 2010 as a "blue-stocking monodrama about the tension between intellect and nature."[4] When it came to the Spoleto Festival USA in 2011, James R. Oestreich in The New York Times characterized the title part as "a tour de force for soprano, some 75 minutes of almost continuous vocalization: speech, elevated speech and soaring melodic arcs, some with electronic voice processing to produce ghostly duets."[5] In 2012, a reviewer who attended a performance at the Lincoln Center Festival hailed the opera's "triumphant New York debut".[10]

## Stage productions

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* 2010: World Premiere Production at the Opéra de Lyon, directed by François Girard, conducted by Kazushi Ōno, starring Karita Mattila.[11][12]
* 2011: Second Production (US Premiere) at the Spoleto Festival USA, directed by Marianne Weems, conducted by John Kennedy, starring Elizabeth Futral.[13] Reprised in 2012 at the Lincoln Center Festival by the same team,[14] and in 2015 at the Finnish National Opera by conductor André de Ridder and soprano Camilla Nylund.[15]
* 2013: Third Production (Portuguese Premiere) at the Gulbenkian Foundation, directed by Vasco Araújo and André e. Teodósio, conducted by Ernest Martinez Izquierdo, starring Barbara Hannigan.[16]
* 2014: Fourth Production (Austrian Premiere) at the Landestheater Salzburg, directed by Agnessa Nefjodov, conducted by Leo Hussain, starring Allison Cook.[17]
* 2022: Concert Performance (Australian Premiere) presented by the opera company The Cooperative in Sydney, conducted by Joanna Drimatis, with the role of Émilie distributed between five sopranos.[18]
* 2024: Fifth Production (German Premiere, upcoming) at the Staatstheater Mainz, directed by Immo Karaman, conducted by Hermann Bäumer.[19]

## References

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Notes

1. ^ Émilie at Sikorski[dead link]
2. ^ "News Section". Tempo. 64 (252): 115–117\. 2010. doi:10.1017/s0040298210000239. JSTOR 40794473.
3. ^ Émilie at Wise Music Classical: synopsis, premiere information
4. ^ a b Anna Picard (2010-03-07). "Émilie, Opéra National de Lyon". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
5. ^ a b Oestreich, James R. (5 June 2011). "A Mistress of Voltaire, Set to Video". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
6. ^ Leonard Weiss (16 June 2020). "A Year with Marin Alsop". Limelight. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
7. ^ "Women in Science | Biographies | Marquise Du Châtelet". womeninscience.history.msu.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
8. ^ a b Detlefsen, Karen (13 June 2014). "Émilie du Châtelet". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 ed.). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
9. ^ Ross, Alex (2013-04-22). "Even the Score". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
10. ^ Marion Lignana Rosenberg (20 July 2012). "Saariaho's Émilie makes triumphant New York debut at Lincoln Center Festival". theclassicalreview.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
11. ^ ""Emilie" sombre à l'Opéra de Lyon". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
12. ^ Fauchet, Benoît (4 March 2010). "Vu et entendu : Emilie de Saariaho à Lyon". Diapason Magazine.
13. ^ "'Émilie' by Kaija Saariaho at Spoleto Festival USA". 5 June 2011.
14. ^ "Émilie, Lincoln Center Festival, New York". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
15. ^ "Kaija Saariahon Émilie – valon ja valistuksen nainen". yle.fi (in Finnish). 2015-04-09. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
16. ^ Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de (2013-10-08). "Ópera "Émilie", com libreto de Amin Maalouf, apresentada na Casa da Música". Ópera "Émilie", com libreto de Amin Maalouf, apresentada na Casa da Música (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-19.
17. ^ oe1.orf.at. ""Emilie" am Salzburger Landestheater". oe1.orf.at (in German). Retrieved 2023-12-19.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
18. ^ "Émilie – one concert performance only - South Sydney Herald". 2022-07-27. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
19. ^ Salazar, Francisco (2023-05-30). "Staatstheater Mainz Announces 2023-24 Season". OperaWire. Retrieved 2023-12-19.

## Further reading

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* Driver, Paul, "The singular, vigourless Émilie", The Times, 7 March 2010 (subscription required)
* Finch, Hilary, "Émilie at Opera de Lyon, France", The Times, 5 March 2010 (subscription required)

## External links

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* Emilie, analysis and score, saariaho.org
* Extensive booklet (81 pages)[permanent dead link], incl. instrumentation, libretto. ISBN 978-2-84956-047-1 (in French)
* Production notes, Opéra National de Lyon (in French)

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List of compositions

Operas|

* L'Amour de loin (2000)
* Adriana Mater (2006)
* Émilie (2010)
* Innocence (2018)

Orchestral|

* ...à la Fumée (1990)
* Orion (2002)
* Laterna Magica (2009)
* Circle Map (2012; with electronics)
* Maan varjot (2014; with organ)
* Vista (2019)

Concertante|

* Notes on Light (2007)
* D'Om le Vrai Sens (2010)
* Trans (2015)

Vocal and choral|

* La Passion de Simone (2006)
* True Fire (2014)

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* Petals (1988)
* Sept Papillons (2000)

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Novels|

* Leo Africanus (1986)
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* The Gardens of Light (1991)
* The First Century after Beatrice (1992)
* The Rock of Tanios (1993)
* Ports of Call (1996)
* Balthasar's Odyssey (2000)
* On the Isle of Antioch (2020)

Non-fiction|

* The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (1983)
* In the Name of Identity (1998)
* Adrift: How Our World Lost Its Way (2019)

Librettos|

* L'Amour de loin (2000)
* Adriana Mater (2006)
* La Passion de Simone (2006)
* Émilie (2010)

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