Étienne Marcel

The subject of the opera Étienne Marcel was closely linked to current events. The work to rebuild the Hôtel de Ville, burned down during the Commune, gave Saint-Saëns and Gallet the idea of writing a historical drama about the Provost of the merchants of Paris: a man who, at the Estates General of 1356, put forward some democratic reform bills and stirred up the masses against royal authority, before being killed by Jehan Maillard, a burgher of Paris and leader of the Royalist party. Gallet’s libretto is faithful to the historical facts while adding a dramatic romance between Béatrix, Étienne Marcel’s daughter, and Robert de Loris, the Dauphin’s equerry. The subject matter therefore furnishes a wide range of situations and emotions conducive to dramatic developments. The rich, varied music is by turns moving, intimate and imposing, ranging from the love duet to extensive crowd scenes. Wagner’s influence can be heard in the use of the leitmotif but Étienne Marcel also has a great many features in common with Meyerbeerian grand opera, particularly the active role played by the chorus/crowd, the processional scenes and the ballets. This attempt to merge the progressive technique of the leitmotif with the traditional approach of very distinct “numbers” (traditional duets, trios and quartets), caused Saint-Saëns to be upbraided by the critics for transforming “a dramatic work into a recitative melopoeia […] handy for distracting attention from the dearth of ideas.” (Clémént/Larousse). However, at the premier of the opera at Lyon’s Grand-Théâtre on 8 February 1879, the work was such a success that the Ministry of Fine Arts gave the theatre a subsidy of 20,000 francs to continue its policy of decentralising opera. The work was later performed at the Théâtre du Château d’Eau in Paris but, to the composer’s great regret, the work never achieved symbolic status in that city.