An incomplete series of posts on Adolphe Adam's Le Châlet concerned the successful one-act opera/opera-comique/operetta that I argue is particularly influential in the history of rising cadence gestures. The most recent post on the topic was on 31 May: link.
I will discuss three remaining numbers (two duos and the finale) in posts beginning tomorrow. Here I will cite a few points from Karin Pendle's article comparing Le Châlet with its source, Goethe's Singspiel Jery und Bätely (1779).
Pendle begins by noting that "Goethe was continually occupied during the first 20 years of his creative life in writing or rewriting libretti. . . . The importance [he] attached to the writing of libretti is demonstrated not only by his extensive activity in the field but by his statements of concern for German opera and his desire to improve the level of libretto-writing in his native land. He had respect for the craft of the librettist and was aware of the many practical problems involved in writing operas" (77). Jery und Bätely "was Goethe’s most popular libretto during his lifetime" and was produced (with music by several composers) into the early decades of the nineteenth century in several other German cities as well as in Vienna (78).
Nevertheless, when Eugene Scribe and Mélesville decided to adapt Jery und Bätely as Le Châlet, they made a considerable number of improvements: they were able "not only [to] tighten the dramatic structure, but [also to] strengthen the characters, clarify their motivation, and make the music a vital part of the whole. [Through these means,] Goethe’s by now old-fashioned libretto [was] made to fit the new conventions of nineteenth-century French opéra-comique" (81). Pendle notes that "nearly every character or event in Le Châlet stems in some way from Goethe [but that] Scribe . . . pared the work down to its essentials and made those elements retained as dramatically vital as possible" (82).
Given the significant differences in the style of dramatic writing, the role of music, and the intended audience, one might ask whether comparison of Jery und Bätely with Le Châlet can tell us anything much in addition, but it is certainly worth knowing that Scribe and Mélesville were working up to their standard. A well-fashioned libretto combined with the youthful composer's spirited and tuneful music helps explain the long-term success of Le Châlet.
Source
Pendle, Karin. "The Transformation of a Libretto: Goethe's 'Jery und Bätely'." Music & Letters 55n1 (1974): 77-88. Pendle, btw, is the editor of the essay-anthology/textbook Women and Music: A History (Indiana University Press, second edition 2001) and co-author of Women in Music: A Research and Information Guide (Routledge, 2013). Her early research was on 18th and 19th century opera.
