#frev opera

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Hi, Citizens! So, tomorrow I will attend the Frev opera I mentioned a while back - Andrea Chénier.

So, that’s what the next review topic will be, but I will post the review itself on Friday (tomorrow I’ll probably be a bit too tired after the performance because I’m going in the evening) so stay tuned for that!

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JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 27: ANDREA CHÉNIER (1896)

1. The Introduction

Hello, Citizens! Welcome to the Jacobin Fiction Convention!

Sorry for the long as fuck wait, but hopefully I can prove that this review was worth it. Fortunately, I’m feeling a bit better so it’s time to post!

Anyway, opera. A classic form of art that is around to this day. Not my cup of tea most of the time, but I’m honestly not surprised that there is at least one opera about Frev and that, dear Citizens, is “Andrea Chénier”.

What is this opera about? Well, it’s a highly fictionalized story that’s very loosely based on the story of a real poet who lived during Frev, André Chénier. We’ll get back to the “loosely based” part later, but please keep it in mind for now.

As for the way I found out about this opera, I basically got lucky because it was going to be performed in my area (or rather, a performance would be broadcast at a movie theater) so I did some digging, found out what it’s about and decided to give it a try because why not?

I also did some research on this opera to try and find it with English subtitles and, unfortunately, there is almost nothing except this. Better than nothing, I suppose, but please hit me up if you manage to find an actual performance with English subtitles.

Alright, with that out of the way, let’s pick this opera apart and find out if it’s worth watching and just how loosely it is based on the life of the titular poet. Let’s go.

2. The Summary

Here’s the summary of the opera that I found on the website of the Royal Opera House (the one in Covent Garden, London):

“The poet Andrea Chénier attends a party at the Countess di Coigny's mansion. He expresses outrage at the corruption in King Louis XVI's government and the poverty of many Frenchmen. This moves the Countess's daughter Maddalena, and inspires the footman and revolutionary-in-the-making Carlo Gérard to quit his servitude. Soon after, the French Revolution begins.

Five years on, Louis XVI has been executed, the Jacobin party are in power, and their leader Robespierre has imposed 'The Terror'. Gérard has become a leading Jacobin, but Chénier has fallen out of favour with the authorities and is in danger. He delays his flight from Paris to meet a mysterious woman who has written to him. She reveals herself to be Maddalena, and the pair quickly realize they are in love. However, Gérard also desires Maddalena. When Chénier is arrested by the authorities, Gérard realizes that he has the power to destroy the man who once inspired him. As his conscience is tested, so too is the love of Andrea and Maddalena.”

Okay, love triangles and all that jazz are not my thing at all, but this could make for an interesting story. Let’s see what it’s all about.

3. The Story

Here’s something I liked: the idea of basing your story on the life of a relatively obscure figure. That I can get behind.

But, as I already said, love triangles and tragedies aren’t my thing! I get that many operas are tragic but I also think there’s enough tragedy in real life ™️, which is probably I usually avoid this genre.

As for love triangles, I understand that this is a story from the 19th century so this trope was probably fresher back then, but good Supreme Being is it getting tiring to see yet another love triangle by this point.

Also, this opera is, unfortunately but not surprisingly, laced with propaganda!

Maddalena is in danger only because she is a noble, for example, and (while he doesn’t personally appear) it’s basically stated that Robespierre is responsible for the deaths of the main couple and he refuses to save them stating in a letter that “even Plato eliminated all poets from his republic” (approximate quote).

Like I said, I like the idea of having an obscure historical figure in the spotlight for a change. I can also understand the importance of showing tragedies that befell people during Frev. It’s important to talk about! Unfortunately, the ideas are the only things that I liked about this opera because the way it twisted the real story of André Chénier rubbed me the wrong way.

More on that in the next section though.

4. The Characters

(Spoilers ahead!)

Andrea Chénier himself… oh boy. Remember how I said that the opera flipped his story on its head? Here’s why.

See, I don’t usually tackle accuracy, but here I may as well say it. The real Chénier wasn’t a poor unfortunate poet in love who was executed for loving a noble. He was a royalist and was against the Revolution, so much so that he wrote an entire ode to Corday. Yes, you heard that right. Not that I condone death penalty, but suddenly his demise doesn’t sound so unreasonable, does it?

In the opera, however, he is a tragic hero who is smitten by his love interest and, honestly, a character who is flatter than a sheet of paper so, other than my frustration with the complete twisting of the real him, his character caused no strong emotions in me.

His love interest, Maddalena, is a pretty stereotypical female love interest you would expect to see in the media from the 19th century, but she has moments hinting at her hidden depths ™️ , like pleading for Andrea’s life and bribing a guard to take the place of another noblewoman.

The latter happens both so she can die together with Andrea and to at least spare one person from execution. It’s a shame that ultimately Maddalena isn’t that interesting as a character because she could’ve been that way.

So, the leads just made me apathetic, but you know who I hated with a passion? Gérard! Motherfucking Gérard. Why?

Well, for starters, he is basically the stereotypical Childhood Friend Hopelessly in Love ™️ (he desires Maddalena, hence the love triangle). A tired trope, but he also does everything to ruin Andrea and then… he does something horrible.

(Tw: attempted r*pe)

When Maddalena comes to Gérard to plead for Andrea’s life and he realizes that he can use this situation to have power over Maddalena, he basically wants to assault her in exchange for Chénier’s life. I… I really wish I was making that up. He also confesses that he used to watch her dance in the past, which also has extremely creepy implications.

Luckily, the bastard recoils at the last moment, realizes that Maddalena loves Chénier and tries to save the guy but… by this point Gérard was basically irredeemable in my eyes so I still hated him. By the way, apparently Gérard is loosely based on Tallien…

The only sans-culotte we see, Mathieu, is basically a walking Thermidorian propaganda piece so… yeah. We’re once again lacking in the positive revolutionary representation, but that’s nothing new.

I liked one minor character though, and that character is Bersi. She is a biracial (although she is whitewashed in the adaptation I watched) servant girl who is Maddalena’s most loyal friend and confidante in the story, hiding her from the authorities and even becoming a s*x worker to support both Maddalena and herself despite the fact that she was risking her life the entire time. Now that’s the loyalty I can get behind.

5. The Setting

Actually, the setting was pretty good when I watched this opera, but there were questionable choices in character designs here and there. For example, Mathieu wears The Joker’s makeup, complete with a Glasgow grin. I guess it’s an attempt to villanize him, but it just looks so anachronistic that it’s silly. Hopefully other adaptations don’t do that. Also some women don’t cover themselves up with fichus (shawls worn on the shoulders), which would not be considered appropriate at the time.

Other than said choices (which are probably unique to that particular performance), I don’t have any major complaints.

6. The Music

The music didn’t blow me away, if I’m being honest, but it was good and a tiny tidbit of “Ça Ira” (a revolutionary song) being included in the soundtrack was a much appreciated bonus for me.

7. The Acting

Pretty solid, but since I’m not a fan of operas I’m not the best person to pass judgment here.

8. The Conclusion

Honestly, I don’t know whether to recommend this opera or not. It has all the usual propaganda, makes up so much shit about Chénier that it crossed the lines of historical fiction for me and it’s just not my cup of tea as a story.

But, if anyone in my audience wants to check it out, more power to them. Just please be aware of the Thermidorized narrative and of what the real Chénier was like.

With that out of the way, allow me to announce the conclusion of today’s meeting.

As always, please stay tuned for updates, Citizens!

Love,

- Citizen Green Pixel

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Hey, Citizens! Here’s a fun personal update!

I bought a ticket to an opera called Andrea Chénier, which is related to Frev! Yay! This is excellent news and an opportunity to gather more review material in the future, even though usually I’m not the biggest fan of operas.

I might like this one though. It is about one of my favorite topics after all. I don’t know if it’s good but may as well try.