Béatrice et Bénédict

With her cousin dating Claudio, Beatrice always ends up having to talk to his best friend, Benedict. He is so annoying she just cannot help but insult him. But when he goes away to war, she finds herself thinking about him. Can she really have feelings for him, or is her mind just playing tricks on her?

It is rather a surprise to Benedict when he finds out that Beatrice is in love with him. She taunts him and insults him so much, but has she really been hiding feelings for him all this time? He has to admit she is rather beautiful, and incredibly intelligent, and there is just a chance that he might give up his committed bachelorhood for someone like her.

Do Benedict and Beatrice’s friends know them better than they know themselves? Perhaps they will be carried away in the romance of a wedding, and the offer of a pre-prepared wedding contract at the right moment. All it will take is for one of them to swallow their pride and admit their feelings, but will they be able to do it?

Berlioz’s operatic retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing will give us the answers.

Overture

Act I

• No 1. Chorus ‘Le More est en fuite’ - Chorus
• No 2. Chorus ‘Le More est en fuite’ - Beatrice, Hero, Messenger, Chorus
• No 2b. Sicilienne
• No 3. Aria ‘Je vais le voir’ - Hero
• No 4. Duet ‘Comment le dédain pourrait-il mourir?’ - Béatrice, Bénédict
• No 5. Trio ‘Me marier? Dieu me pardonne!’ - Bénedict, Claudio, Don Pédro
• No 6. Epithalame grotesque ‘Mourez, tendres époux’ - Somarone, Chorus
• No 7. Rondo ‘Ah! Je vais l’aimer’ - Benedict
• No 8. Duet ‘Vous soupirez, madame?’ - Héro, Ursule

Act II

• No 9. Improvisation and Drinking Chorus ‘Le vin de Syracuse accuse’ - Somarone, Chorus
• No 10. Aria ‘Dieu! Que viens-je d’entendre’ and ‘Il m’en souvient’ - Béatrice
• No 11. Trio ‘Je vais d’un cœur aimant’ - Héro, Béatrice, Ursule
• No 12. Distant chorus ‘Viens! Viens, de l’hyménée Victime fortunée’ - Chorus
• No 13. Wedding March ‘Dieu qui guidas nos bras’- Leonato, Béatrice, Héro, Ursule, Bénédict, Claudio, Don Pédro, Chorus, Notary
• No 14. Sign ‘Ici l’on voit Bénédict’ - Héro, Ursule, Claudio, Don Pédro, Chorus
• No 15. Duet ‘L’amour est un flambeau’ - Béatrice, Bénédict, Héro, Ursule, Claudio, Don Pédro, Chorus