Les Troyens program

One of opera’s supreme masterpieces, Hector Berlioz’s Les Troyens, has arrived at Lyric at last – a momentous occasion, to say the least. Bringing this work to our stage has been an extraordinarily complex endeavor, to which every area of the company has contributed significantly.

Few operas are built on a scale as grand as Les Troyens. It stands with Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten, and Prokofiev’s War and Peace, each a true epic in terms of the performing forces required, the impact of the theatrical spectacle, and the challenges of the major roles.

If you’ve previously enjoyed the works of Berlioz only in the concert hall, Les Troyens will memorably confirm in your “mind’s ear” that the musical world he presents to us is an unmistakably individual one. His melodic gift reaches extraordinary heights of eloquence, while his imagination as an orchestrator gives a sensuous pleasure that precious few composers in the history of music have matched.

In Les Troyens, the revelation for those already familiar with the concert works of Berlioz will be his brilliance as a musical dramatist. Passionately devoted to Virgil’s Aeneid, he composed this operatic homage to it like a man possessed. As a result, at every moment we’re reminded that the siege of Troy and the events surrounding it constitute one of the most powerful, influential narratives in Western culture. Not only Berlioz has been consumed by this story; it has been explored countless times in a very wide range of art forms, from ancient murals to 21st-century movies.

I’m particularly struck by the tremendous vividness with which Berlioz captures the contrasting worlds presented in the opera’s two parts: ruined Troy under siege giving way to the peace and prosperity of Carthage and the sensuality of the relationship between Dido and Aeneas. The choral writing in the first part is extraordinarily evocative and moving, but so are the remarkable arias for the three central characters. Altogether this is simply an incomparable score, and – speaking purely as an audience member – I’ve always felt privileged whenever given an opportunity to hear it in a live performance.

It would be impossible to consider a production of Les Troyens without a conductor and director capable of bringing to the work the interpretive intelligence it requires. We’re deeply fortunate that our music director, Sir Andrew Davis, is such a distinguished Berlioz interpreter. Les Troyens has been at the top of his “wish list” at Lyric from the moment he became music director 16 years ago. With this production he renews a collaboration with a uniquely insightful director, Tim Albery, following their stunning work on Tannhäuser at Lyric two seasons ago.

We also couldn’t contemplate Les Troyens without three protagonists whose vocal, musical, and dramatic gifts equal the demands of their formidable roles. A trio of Olympian stature will be onstage at Lyric, and we present them with enormous pride. We can fully expect each of these artists – Christine Goerke (Cassandra), Susan Graham (Dido), and Brandon Jovanovich (Aeneas) – to score a considerable triumph.

We’re thrilled to have reached this important milestone in the history of Lyric. All signs point to a production of Les Troyens that Chicago will remember for many years to come.

Anthony Freud
General Director, President & CEO
The Women’s Board Endowed Chair

Part 1: The Taking of Troy

The city of Troy after ten years of siege

Part 2: The Trojans at Carthage

The newly built city of Carthage

ACT ONE

The Trojans are ecstatic to discover that the Greeks have apparently abandoned the siege of their city and sailed away. A huge wooden horse has been left outside the city gates, and everyone assumes this is an offering the Greek army has made to Pallas Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom.

Cassandra, daughter of Troy’s king, Priam, is beset by visions of destruction threatening Troy, and laments that her father and the people will not listen to her warnings. Cassandra’s betrothed, Chorebus, cannot convince her to join in the people’s celebrations. Instead she begs him to leave Troy before disaster strikes, but he refuses.

King Priam and Queen Hecuba lead the people in thanking the gods for the departure of the Greeks. Everyone is shocked at the despair of Andromache, the grieving widow of the fallen hero Hector. Then Aeneas, a Trojan warrior, brings awful news: the priest, Laocoön, believing the wooden horse was some kind of trick, pierced it with his spear and urged the Trojans to burn it, but moments later two sea serpents devoured him. Thinking that the serpents are a sign of Pallas Athena’s anger at Troy’s rejection of her gift, Aeneas leads the people to bring the horse into the city, despite Cassandra’s terrified feelings of foreboding.

ACT TWO

That night the ghost of Hector comes to Aeneas. He tells him that Greek soldiers have poured out of the wooden horse to take the city, that Troy is burning, and that Aeneas must escape to found a new city in Italy. Cassandra convinces the terrified Trojan women that they must commit suicide, rather than be defiled and enslaved by the Greeks. When enemy soldiers appear,

Cassandra and her companions kill themselves, consoled by the knowledge that Aeneas has escaped and that he will build a new Troy.

ACT THREE

The people of Carthage proclaim their devotion to Dido, their queen. She thanks them for their achievements in building a new city, while warning them that they face new threats from the neighboring King Iarbas, who is trying to force her into marriage. Anna, Dido’s sister, urges the reluctant queen, a widow, to fall in love again and provide Carthage with the king it needs.

A group of foreigners come to seek refuge in Carthage, just as King Iarbas begins his threatened invasion of Carthage. The foreigners’ leader reveals that he is Aeneas, and offers to help Dido defend her city. Leaving Ascanius, his son, in her care, he and his men go into battle alongside the Carthaginians.

ACT FOUR

Having defeated Iarbas’s army, Aeneas has remained in Carthage. He and Dido have fallen in love.

Anna dismisses the fears of Narbal, Dido’s chief adviser, who sees the queen giving herself up to pleasure and ignoring her duties, and who is well aware that Aeneas is destined to leave for Italy. Anna however is certain the lovers will marry and rule Carthage together.

Anna has arranged an entertainment to delight the lovers, but Dido is restless and nothing pleases her. She asks Aeneas to finish telling the story of Troy’s last days. He tells her how Andromache, Hector’s widow, finally agreed to marry the Greek prince who captured her at the fall of Troy. Dido feels that Andromache’s example releases her from her vow to stay faithful to the memory of her dead husband. Left alone under the night sky, Dido and Aeneas rejoice in their love.

ACT FIVE

Hylas, a young Trojan sailor, longs for his homeland, but most of the Trojans are impatient to set sail for Italy.

Aeneas has told Dido he must leave, but, still passionately in love, he dreads the final farewell. He is visited by the ghosts of Cassandra, Chorebus, Hector, and Priam, who order him to depart at once to found the new Trojan state.

Dido is enraged and in despair at the reality of Aeneas’ leaving. When he begs her to understand that although he loves her, he has no choice but to obey the gods, she curses him.

Once Aeneas has gone, Dido orders a pyre built in order to burn the gifts she and Aeneas have shared since his arrival in Carthage. Left alone, Dido prepares for death and bids farewell to her city.

The pyre is ready to be burned. In her despair, the queen prophesies the coming of a general from Carthage, Hannibal, who will one day take her revenge on Rome and Aeneas. Then, to everyone’s horror, she stabs herself. Envisioning Carthage destroyed by Rome, she dies crying “Rome…Rome… eternal,” as her people curse Aeneas and his descendants.  

 

ACT ONE The Trojans are ecstatic to discover that the Greeks have apparently abandoned the siege of their city and sailed away. A huge wooden horse has been left outside the city gates, and everyone assumes this is an offering the Greek army has made to Pallas Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom. Cassandra, daughter of Troy’s king, Priam, is beset by visions of destruction threatening Troy, and laments that her father and the people will not listen to her warnings. Cassandra’s betrothed, Chorebus, cannot convince her to join in the people’s celebrations. Instead she begs him to leave Troy before disaster strikes, but he refuses. King Priam and Queen Hecuba lead the people in thanking the gods for the departure of the Greeks. Everyone is shocked at the despair of Andromache, the grieving widow of the fallen hero Hector. Then Aeneas, a Trojan warrior, brings awful news: the priest, Laocoön, believing the wooden horse was some kind of trick, pierced it with his spear and urged the Trojans to burn it, but moments later two sea serpents devoured him. Thinking that the serpents Part 1: The Taking of Troy The city of Troy after ten years of siege ACT ONE ACT TWO Intermission Part 2: The Trojans at Carthage The newly built city of Carthage ACT THREE ACT FOUR Intermission ACT FIVE are a sign of Pallas Athena’s anger at Troy’s rejection of her gift, Aeneas leads the people to bring the horse into the city, despite Cassandra’s terrified feelings of foreboding. ACT TWO That night the ghost of Hector comes to Aeneas. He tells him that Greek soldiers have poured out of the wooden horse to take the city, that Troy is burning, and that Aeneas must escape to found a new city in Italy. Cassandra convinces the terrified Trojan women that they must commit suicide, rather than be defiled and enslaved by the Greeks. When enemy soldiers appear, Cassandra and her companions kill themselves, consoled by the knowledge that Aeneas has escaped and that he will build a new Troy. ACT THREE The people of Carthage proclaim their devotion to Dido, their queen. She thanks them for their achievements in building a new city, while warning them that they face new threats from the neighboring King Iarbas, who is trying to force her into marriage. Anna, Dido’s sister, urges the reluctant queen, a widow, to fall in love again and provide Carthage with the king it needs. A group of foreigners come to seek refuge in Carthage, just as King Iarbas begins his threatened invasion of Carthage. The foreigners’ leader reveals that he is Aeneas, and offers to help Dido defend her city. Leaving Ascanius, his son, in her care, he and his men go into battle alongside the Carthaginians. ACT FOUR Having defeated Iarbas’s army, Aeneas has remained in Carthage. He and Dido have fallen in love. Anna dismisses the fears of Narbal, Dido’s chief adviser, who sees the queen giving herself up to pleasure and ignoring her duties, and who is well aware that Aeneas is destined to leave for Italy. Anna however is certain the lovers will marry and rule Carthage together. Anna has arranged an entertainment to delight the lovers, but Dido is restless and nothing pleases her. She asks Aeneas to finish telling the story of Troy’s last days. He tells her how Andromache, Hector’s widow, finally agreed to marry the Greek prince who captured her at the fall of Troy. Dido feels that Andromache’s example releases her from her vow to stay faithful to the memory of her dead husband. Left alone under the night sky, Dido and Aeneas rejoice in their love. ACT FIVE Hylas, a young Trojan sailor, longs for his homeland, but most of the Trojans are impatient to set sail for Italy. Aeneas has told Dido he must leave, but, still passionately in love, he dreads the final farewell. He is visited by the ghosts of Cassandra, Chorebus, Hector, and Priam, who order him to depart at once to found the new Trojan state. Dido is enraged and in despair at the reality of Aeneas’ leaving. When he begs her to understand that although he loves her, he has no choice but to obey the gods, she curses him. Once Aeneas has gone, Dido orders a pyre built in order to burn the gifts she and Aeneas have shared since his arrival in Carthage. Left alone, Dido prepares for death and bids farewell to her city. The pyre is ready to be burned. In her despair, the queen prophesies the coming of a general from Carthage, Hannibal, who will one day take her revenge on Rome and Aeneas. Then, to everyone’s horror, she stabs herself. Envisioning Carthage destroyed by Rome, she dies crying “Rome…Rome… eternal,” as her people curse Aeneas and his descendants.