114. Roland (Lully)

Opera in a prologue and 5 acts
Composer: Jean-Baptiste Lully
Libretto: Philippe Quinault, after Aristo’s Orlando Furioso
First performed: Versailles, 8 January 1685

ROLAND, Charlemagne’s nephew, in love with Angélique	Bass	François Beaumavielle
ANGÉLIQUE, daughter of the King of Cathay, lover of Médor	Soprano	Marie Le Rochois
MÉDOR, a young man of obscure birth, lover of Angélique	Haute-contre	Louis Gaulard Dumesny
TÉMIRE, Angélique’s companion	Soprano	Mlle Armand
ASTOLFE	Haute-contre
LOGISTILLE, a fairy	Soprano
DEMOGORGON, king of fairies and spirits	Bass
Fairies, Islanders, Shepherds and Shepherdesses, Heroes, followers of Glory	Chorus

Lully considered Roland his best opera. It certainly contains some of his best music, but the story is insubstantial and over-extended.

The opera is based on an episode in Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando Furioso (1516), a chivalric romance full of warring Christians and Saracens, orcs, wizards, and trips to the moon. Little of which appears in Quinault’s libretto.

“Montrons les erreurs où l’amour peut engager un coeur qui néglige la gloire,” the sorcerer Demogorgon sings in the Prologue. (“Show the mistakes into which love can lead a heart that neglects glory.”) Love unmans the paladin Roland, nephew of Charlemagne. He loves Angélique, queen of Cathay, who loves Médor, an African king’s officer – so Roland goes mad, until cured by a good fairy.

This plot is too simple and straightforward to sustain a nearly 3-hour opera; Laurencie indeed finds Quinault’s libretto banal and lacking in the vigour needed to adapt Ariosto.

Lully’s score, on the other hand, contains several delights. True, there are the usual stretches of decorous tedium, but the divertissements are really attractive.

The prologue is brilliant, full of verve. Act I has “Triomphez, charmante reyne”, the wonderful scene (bass aria and chorus) where Ziliante presents the bracelet to Angélique. This was the piece that inspired me to go back to Lully; after half an hour of musically meagre recitative, it’s like a bolt out of the blue. A charming duet of Eastern islanders, “Dans nos climats”, follows.

Act II has a lovely little trio for Angélique’s companion Temire and two servants, ruing the pains of love. Act III ends with the largest of Lully’s chaconnes, to celebrate Angélique and Médor’s wedding.

Act IV ends with Roland’s mad scene; the paladin tears branches off trees, smashes rocks, throws down his weapons, and thinks he sees a Fury. By Lully’s standards, the furious string playing is intense. The military final choruses – “Roland, courez aux armes” and “La gloire vous appelle” – are also great.

Nevertheless, the usual caveats apply; Lully’s operas don’t really work either as music or as drama. A CD of highlights might be more attractive than sitting through the entire work.