[4/8/2012] Easter Edition: Berlioz baits-and-switches us on the miracles of "The Childhood of Christ" (continued)

The Opening Narration and Scene 1 of Berlioz's Childhood of Christ are performed by the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana under Serge Baudo, with tenor Yves Saelens as the Narrator.


BERLIOZ: L'Enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ):
Part I, Herod's Dream

Opening Narration

In the manger at this time Jesus had just been born,
but no wonder had yet made him known.
And already the powerful were trembling;
already the weak were hoping.
Everyone was waiting.

Now learn, Christians, what a monstrous crime
was suggested to the King of the Jews by terror.
And the celestial warning that in their humble stable
was sent to the parents of Jesus by the Lord.

Scene 1: Nocturnal March; Scene, Centurion and Polydorus

A simultaneously eerie and goofy Nocturnal March sets the stage for a dialogue in which a Roman centurion and a soldier who stands watch on King Herod's palace discuss the king's increasingly erratic behavior.

A street in Jerusalem. A guardhouse; Roman soldiers on night patrol.

-- Nocturnal March

-- Scene, Centurion and Polydorus

CENTURION: Who goes there?
POLYDORUS: Rome.
CENTURION: Advance!
POLYDORUS: Halt!
CENTURION: Polydorus! Corporal, I thought you were on Tiber’s banks by now.
POLYDORUS: So I should be if Gallus, our precious Praetor,
had only let me.
But for no good reason
he’s shut me up
in this dreary city, watching its antics
and keeping guard over a petty Jewish king’s
sleepless nights.
CENTURION: What’s Herod doing?
POLYDORUS: He broods, quakes with fear,
sees traitors on every side, and daily summons
his Council; and from dusk to dawn
has to be looked after: he’s getting on our nerves.
CENTURION: Absurd despot! But off on your rounds now.
POLYDORUS: Yes, I must. Good night! Jove’s curse on him!
[The patrol resumes its march and moves off into the distance.]

Scene 2, Herod's Aria

The scene switches to Herod's palace, where the king is haunted by persistent dreams of an imminent threat to his rule. He then claims -- to himself, mind you, since there's no one else around -- that this business of being a king is a misery, a horrible burden, when what he would really like to be doing is gamboling with goatherds out in the fields. It's as eloquent and heart-rending an outpouring as you can hear anywhere, and of course it's all total bullshit. The moment his soothsayers confirm the possibility of a threat to his reign, he instantly orders the massacre of the innocents, without hesitation or compunction.

KING HEROD: That dream again! Again the child
who is to cast me down.
And not to know what to believe
of this omen which threatens
my glory and my existence!

O the wretchedness of kings!
To reign, yet not to live!
To mete out laws to all,
yet long to follow
the goatherd into the heart of the woods!
Fathomless night
holding the world
deep sunk in sleep,
to my tormented breast
grant peace for one hour,
and let thy shadows touch
my gloom-pressed brow.

O the wretchedness of kings!, etc.

All effort’s useless!
Sleep shuns me;
and my vain complaining
no swifter makes thy course, O endless night.

Scene 3, Herod and Polydorus

POLYDORUS: My lord!
HEROD [drawing his sword]: Cowards, tremble! I still know how to handle a sword . . .
POLYDORUS: Stop!
HEROD [recognizing him]: An, it's you, Polydorus.
What do you come to announce to me?
POLYDORUS: My lord, the Jewish soothsayers have just assembled on your orders.
HEROD: Finally!
POLYDORUS: They're out there.
HEROD: Let them appear!

Scene 4, The Soothsayers and Herod

SOOTHSAYERS: The sages of Judea, o king, recognize you
as a wise and generous prince!
HEROD: Let them be good enough to enlighten me. Is there some remedy
for the devouring worry that for a long time has obsessed me?
SOOTHSAYERS: What is it?
HEROD: The same dream torments me.
Always a serious and slow voice
repeats these words to me: "Your happy time is fleeing!
A child has just been born
who will cause the disappearance
of your throne and your power."
Can I learn from you
if this terror that overwhelms me
is well-founded, and how this formidable danger
can be averted?
SOOTHSAYERS: The spirits will know
and, consulted by us, they will reply soon.
HEROD:
[THE SOOTHSAYERS perform some cabalistic contortions and proceed to the conjuring.]
SOOTHSAYERS: The voice spoke true, my lord. A child has just been born
who will cause the disappearance
of your throne and your power.
But no one can know
either his name or his race.
HEROD: What must I do?
SOOTHSAYERS: You will fall unless one satisfies
the dark spirits, and if -- to counteract fate --
you don't order the death of newborn children.
HEROD [seems hesitant]: Well then . . .
[He stands up and advances.]
Well then! Let them perish by the sword!
I can't hesitate! In Jerusalem,
in Nazareth, in Bethlehem,
let my blows fall heavily on all newborns!
Despite the cries, despite the tears
of so many distressed mothers,
rivers of blood are going to be spilled.
I will be deaf to these sufferings.
Neither beauty nor grace nor age
will cause my courage to weaken:
There must be an end to my terrors!
SOOTHSAYERS: Yes, yes, let them perish by the sword!
Don't hesitate, don't hesitate! In Jerusalem,
in Nazareth, in Bethlehem,
let your blows fall heavily on all newborns!
HEROD: No, no, no, no, in In Jerusalem,
in Nazareth, in Bethlehem,
let my blows fall heavily on all newborns!
SOOTHSAYERS and HEROD: Yes! Despite the cries, despite the tears
of so many distressed mothers,
rivers of blood are going to be spilled.
Remain, I say, deaf to these sufferings.
HEROD: Neither beauty nor grace nor age
will cause my courage to weaken:
There must be an end to my terrors! &c.
SOOTHSAYERS: Let nothing shake your courageQ
And you, spirits, to stir up his rage,
redouble his terrors,
remain deaf to these sufferings! &c.

THE SCENE CHANGES TO THAT STABLE IN BETHLEHEM

Scene 5, The Stable in Bethlehem

In the final scenes of Part II we meet the Holy Family holed up in their stable. The adoring parents are tending to their precious new son when angels deliver the celestial warning the Narrator also told us of, and Mary and Joseph accept that their only hope of saving little Jésus is to flee into the desert wilderness in the direction of Egypt.

MARY: O my dear son, give this fresh grass
to these lambs that come bleating to thee;
they are so gentle, let them take it. Don’t let them go hungry, my child.
MARY, JOSEPH: Spread these flowers, too, about their straw. They are pleased with thy gifts, dear child; see how blithe they are, how they gambol, and how their mother turns towards thee her grateful gaze.
MARY:Blessed be thou, my dear sweet child!
JOSEPH: Blessed be thou, holy child!

Scene 6, The Angels' Warning

CHOIR OF UNSEEN ANGELS: Joseph! Mary! Hearken to us!
MARY, JOSEPH: Spirits of life, can it be you?
ANGELS: Thou must save thy son
whom great danger threatens, Mary.
MARY: O heavens! My son!
ANGELS: Yes, you must go
and leave no trace behind you;
this very night you shall flee through the desert
towards Egypt.
MARY, JOSEPH: Obedient to your word, pure spirits of light,
we shall flee with Jesus to the desert.
But grant us, we humbly pray,
wisdom and strength, so we shall save him.
ANGELS: The power of heaven
will keep from your path
all fatal encounters.
MARY, JOSEPH: Let us hasten to get ready.
ANGELS: Hosanna! Hosanna!

Opening Narration; Scene 1, A Street in Jerusalem;
Scenes 2-4, The Interior of Herod's Palace

Scenes 5-6, The Stable in Bethlehem

Alain Vanzo (t), Narrator; Roger Soyer (bs-b), King Herod; Jane Barbié (ms), La sainte Marie; Claude Calès (b), Le saint Joseph; French National Radio Chorus, Orchestre National de l'ORTF, Jean Martinon, cond.
 Tono/Nonesuch, recorded in the early 1960s

Opening Narration; Scene 1, A Street in Jerusalem;
Scenes 2-4, The Interior of Herod's Palace

Scenes 5-6, The Stable in Bethlehem

Nicolai Gedda (t), Narrator; Rémy Corazza (t), a Centurion; Bernard Cottret (bs), Polydorus; Ernest Blanc (b), King Herod; Victoria de los Angeles (s), La sainte Marie; Roger Soyer (bs-b), Le saint Joseph; René Duclos Chorus, Paris Conservatory Orchestra, André Cluytens, cond. EMI, recorded 1965-66


RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POST

#