The story of the writing of the opera ‘Mireille’ begins in a charming Provençal village a few kilometres from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
It was in Maillane that Frédéric Mistral, the master of the Félibrige (the preservation of the Provençal language), wrote Mireio, a poem in Provençal that won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1904. When the composer Charles Gounod discovered Mireille, he was overwhelmed by the story of the impossible love between Mireille and Vincent, which evoked Provençal ‘Romeo and Juliet’. What’s more, the composer, lacking inspiration, saw in this work the perfect opportunity to create an opera. So he decided to ask Frédéric Mistral for permission to adapt the poem into an opera.
The writer already knew the composer, whose talent he admired, and he invited him to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence: ‘Provence and I are waiting for you’. He happily agreed to entrust the libretto of Mireille to Charles Gounod, who wanted to immerse himself in the culture and atmosphere of Provence when writing the opera.
So in March 1863 he settled in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, in a coaching inn dating from the 18th century.
I can do anything as long as there's no noise or movement around me. In Paris, silence is regarded as a tomb. A tomb! But silence is a paradise!
This coaching inn can still be seen today, having become the aptly named Hôtel Gounod at 18, place de la République in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
Frédéric Mistral acted as a guide in the Alpilles and showed his prestigious guest the Roman monuments (Les Antiques). Inspired by the beauty of the setting, Charles Gounod wrote his opera in just a few weeks. And so the opera Mireille in 5 acts was born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
The characters and landscapes in his work are simple and modest in appearance, far removed from the enchantment that pervaded the operas of the period, but they carry intense feelings and a strong tragic dimension. The composer's aim in writing the score was to convey all the emotion he had experienced on reading the original work.
Charles Gounod ‘s stay in Provence left a lasting impression on his contemporaries, as it was the first time in French operatic history that a composer had written a libretto on the very locations where the characters in his work were set.
Mireille, a young Provençal girl, is to marry Ourrias, the rich suitor her father has chosen for her. But she is in love with Vincent, a modest basket-maker. Very jealous, Ourrias seriously injures Vincent. Keeping the promise they had made to each other to go to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer if something bad happened, Mireille decides to go there on foot. On the way, she suffers from sunstroke and arrives dying in Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer, where Vincent is waiting for her.
This is ‘Farandole’, the overture to the opera Mireille, performed here at the Théâtre Antique in Orange.
Written by Delphine Rusquart
