Guillaume Tell

Guillaume Tell, at its première (Paris Opéra, 3 August 1829), lasted roughly five hours. Despite fine performances from Henri-Bernard Dabadie (Guillaume Tell), Laure Cinti-Damoreau (Mathilde) and Adolphe Nourrit (Arnold), it was considered too long. The score was soon cut and reworked, with different choices being made in different theatres. In 1831 it was presented in Lucca, Tuscany, in an Italian adaptation by Calisto Bassi. That production established not only the version most commonly performed after that, but also the tenor Gilbert Duprez’s famous (or infamous) “Ut de poitrine” (high Cfrom the chest). The original libretto by Étienne Jouy and Hippolyte Bis (inspired by Schiller’s play Wilhelm Tell) was undoubtedly long, but it nevertheless provided an effective progression, playing on the contrast between individual destinies, collective drama, colourful and entertaining situations, and gripping suspense (“Sois immobie”– Tell’s aria in the Act III “apple scene”). Rossini invented Romantic colours to depict nature (especially in the “programmatic” Overture) and an oppressed people (a theme of particular interest at that time, when Greece – supported by France – was fighting for its independence). Rossini gave up the charms of bel canto, adopting instead a syllabic declamation that shows his knowledge of Gluck and his excellent mastery of French prosody. A year after Auber’s La Muette de Portici, he contributed to the launching of grand opera. But did he really adhere to that genre? Probably not: Rossini always hated Duprez’s “Ut de poitrine” and Guillaume Tell was his last opera.