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Overview

Synopsis

Berthe could not be happier. She is in love with a good man, and his mother, Fidès, has agreed to their marriage. All that remains is for her to get permission from Count Oberthal and the wedding can go ahead. But when Berthe and Fidès approach him, Count Oberthal sees how beautiful Berthe is, and wants to keep her for himself. He refuses her request, and arrests both Berthe and Fidès.

Meanwhile, Berthe’s fiance, Jean, is approached by a group of Anabaptists, who claim that he is their destined leader. Jean has no desire to lead a religious life, and would rather marry his beloved Berthe. Berthe runs in, having escaped from the prison, and is pursued by the Count. Jean tries to protect her, but the Count threatens to execute Jean’s mother if he does not return Berthe to him. Heartbroken, Jean chooses to save his mother. After seeing Berthe dragged away by the Count, Jean joins the Anabaptists, with the intention of using their strength and numbers to gain vengeance against the Count.

Jean leads the Anabaptists in a series of brutal campaigns, and before long is declared the prophet. They decide to seize Munster, and Jean forgets about his poor mother and beloved Berthe, as he sets his sights on becoming Emperor.

Fidès has no idea that Jean is the Anabaptist’s prophet, and believes the prophet to have ordered the murder of her son. By chance, she meets Berthe in Munster, and tells her what has happened. Berthe swears to kill this false prophet herself, and leads Fidès into the cathedral, while the prophet’s coronation is underway. Fidès’s presence is a threat to the prophet’s authority, and she is imprisoned.

Only reuniting with his loving mother and his beautiful fiance can bring Jean to realise what he has done. He is horrified by the pain and suffering the Anabaptists have caused under his rule, and resolves to end it all today. While the Anabaptists drink and dance at the coronation festivities, Jean sets explosive powders in the secret tunnels throughout the cathedral, and orders the soldiers to lock the doors. The powder is lit, and flames engulf the whole cathedral, as Jean embraces his mother one last time.

Arriving on the scene while the bel canto movement was at its height, Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète combines the virtuosic vocal styles of Bellini or Donizetti with the large forces of French grand opera, and demonstrates this shift in styles on a huge scale.

Show Information

Music
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Libretto
Eugène Scribe
Category
Opera
Age Guidance
Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
Number of Acts
5
First Produced
1849
Genres
Tragedy, Historical/Biographical
Settings
Period, Multiple Settings
Time & Place
1530, Dordrecht, Holland, Westphalia, Münster
Cast Size
large
Orchestra Size
Large
Dancing
Some Dance
Licensor
None/royalty-free
Ideal For
Professional Opera, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult, Mature Adult, Young Adult, Child, Early Teen, Late Teen, Elderly Characters, Large Cast

Context


Plot


Characters

Name Part Size Gender Vocal Part

Jean de Leyde

Lead

Male

Tenor

Berthe

Lead

Female

Soprano

Fidès

Lead

Female

Mezzo-Soprano, Contralto

Jonas

Supporting

Male

Tenor

Mathisen

Supporting

Male

Bass, Bass-Baritone, Baritone

Zacharie

Supporting

Male

Bass

Le Comte d'Oberthal

Supporting

Male

Bass

Enfant de Choeur (2)

Featured

Either Gender

Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Treble/Boy Soprano, Alto

Paysanne (2)

Featured

Female

Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano

Paysan (2)

Featured

Male

Tenor, Baritone, Bass

Bourgeois (4)

Featured

Male

Tenor, Baritone, Bass

Anabaptiste (2)

Featured

Male

Tenor, Baritone, Bass

Un Soldat

Featured

Male

Tenor

Un Paysan

Featured

Male

Tenor

Un Officier

Featured

Male

Tenor, Baritone, Bass

Chorus

Ensemble

Either Gender

Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Contralto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass

Songs

Act One

  • No.1 Prélude and Pastoral ‘La brise est muette’ - Chorus
  • Cavatina ‘Mon coeur s'élance et palpite’ - Berthe
  • No.1 Scene ‘Fidès, ma bonne mère’ - Berthe, Fidès, Jonas, Zacharie
  • No. 3 The Anabaptist Prayer ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’ - Jonas, Mathisen, Zacharie, 1st and 2nd Paysan, Chorus
  • Recitative ‘Le Comte d'Oberthal, le seigneur Châtelain!’ - Berthe, Obertal, Jonas, Mathisen, Zacharie
  • No.4 Duet ‘Un jour, dans les flots de la Meuse’ - Berthe, Fidès
  • No. 5 Recitative and Finale I ‘Eh quoi! tant de candeur’ - Berthe, Fidès, Oberthal, Jonas, Mathisen, Zacharie, Chorus

Act Two

Act Three

  • No. 12 Entr’acte and Chorus of Anabaptists ‘Du sang! du sang! du sang!’ - Chorus
  • Recitative ‘Arretz’ - Mathisen, 1st Anabaptise
  • No. 13 Couplets ‘Aussi nombreux que les étoiles’ - Zacharie, Mathisen, Chorus
  • Scene ‘Voici la fin du jour’ - Mathisen, Zacharie
  • No. 14 The arrival of the skaters ‘Voici les fermières’ - Chorus, 1st and 2nd Paysanne
  • No. 15 Dances - Valse, Pas de Redowa, Quadrille, Galop
  • Scene ‘Livrez-vous au repos, frères’ - Jonas, Oberthal, Mathisen, Zacharie
  • No. 16 Comic trio ‘Sous votre bannière’ - Jonas, Oberthal, Zacharie
  • Scene ‘Qu'on le mène au supplice!’ - Jean, Jonas, Oberthal, Mathisen, Zacharie
  • No. 17 Chorus of the soldiers of the revolution ‘Par toi Munster nous fut promis’ - Chorus
  • No. 18 Scene ‘Qui vous a sans mon ordre entraînés aux combats?’ - Jean, Jonas, 1st and 2nd Anabaptiste, Mathisen, Zacharie
  • No. 19 Prayer ‘Éternel, Dieu sauveur’ - Jean, Chorus
  • Recitative ‘Grand prophète’ - Jean, Mathisen, 1st and 2nd Anabaptiste, Jonas, Chorus
  • No. 20 Triumphal hymn ‘Roi du ciel et des anges’ - Jean, Jonas, Mathisen, Zacharie, Chorus

Act Four

  • No. 21 Entr’acte and Chorus of the Bourgeois ‘Courbons notre tête’ - Chorus, Four Bourgeois
  • No. 22 Beggar’s complaint ‘Donnez, donnez pour une pauvre âme’ - Fidès
  • Scene ‘C'est l'heure!’ - Fidès, Un Bourgeois, Chorus
  • No. 23 Scene and Duet ‘Un pauvre pèlerin!’ - Berthe, Fidès
  • No. 24 La Marche du couronnement
  • Prayer ‘Domine, salvum fac regem nostrum’ - Fidès, Jonas, Mathisen, Un Anabaptise, Zacharie, Chorus
  • Chorus of Infants ‘Le voilà, le Roi Prophète’ - Fidès, Jean, Mathisen, 1st and 2nd Enfant, Chorus
  • Couplets ‘Qui je suis?’ - Fidès, Jean, 1st and 2nd Enfant, Jonas, Mathisen, Zacharie, Four Bourgeois, Chorus
  • Exorcism ‘Tu chérissais ce fils dont j'offre les traits?’ - Jean, Fidès, Jonas, Mathisen, Zacharie, Chorus

Act Five

  • No. 26 Entr’acte and scene ‘Ainsi vous l'attestez?’ - Jonas, Mathisen, Zacharie
  • No. 27 Scene and Cavatina ‘O prêtres de Baal’ and ‘O toi qui m'abandonnes’ - Fidès, Un Officier
  • No. 28 Scene and Duet ‘Ma mère! ma mère! ma mère!’ - Jean, Fidès
  • No. 29 Scene and Trio ‘Voici le souterrain’ - Berthe, Fidès, Jean, Un Officier
  • Recitative 'Veillez sur ma mere’ - Fidès, Jean
  • No. 30 Bacchanale ‘Hourra! hourra! gloire! Gloire!’ - Jean, Chorus
  • Finale ‘Versez! que tout respire l'ivresse et le délire’ - Jean, Jonas, Oberthal, Mathisen, Zacharie, Fidès Chorus

A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.

Monologues

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Scenes

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Guide Written By:

Wendy Silvester

Wendy Silvester

Singer and vocal coach based in the UK.