Dear Monsieur Rouche,
On behalf of the committee, I would like to inform you of the evaluation my cohorts and I will be conducting this upcoming week. I realize that, as the Opera House’s season is coming to a close, you’re availability is fleeting. However, as you know, this evaluation shall determine whether or not you shall continue to serve the Grand Opera House as our Director.[1] Indulge me if you will. I’ll remind you of why it is of the utmost importance to maintain a “French” program and how your efforts as the director impacts the Opera House. Such information is the basis of our evaluation.[2]
L’Opera national de Paris has always upheld a high standard in our Parisian society. Everything from the grandiose fixtures and architecture to our season is impeccable. Truly l’Opera national de Paris serves as a “representative of the most opulent aspects of the Second Empire.”[3] The reasoning behind my statement? French music and image. Programming repertoire that showcases French composers, musicians, operas, ballets, so on and so forth, are what drives the masses to come attend productions. L’Opera has been archiving compositions by French artists and our library has become “the main base for…research into the history of French ballet.”[4] The thirst for a clear and distinct French sound is evident in the educated and elite. I would like to remind you that our Cahier des charges clearly dictates the requirements that you as the director must meet. You, as our director, should make the growth of our archives and development of new French works a priority. In fact, you have no choice. Within the opera season the director must program seventeen new works, of which fourteen are by French composers.[5]
To be perfectly honest with you Monsieur Rouche, our evaluation is purely based on your programming.[6] The reason you were appointed to the director position was because of your potential. Your commissions of the ballet Le tragedie de Salome by Florent Schmitt (1907) and Le festin de l’araignee by Roussel (1913) proved your love of French art.[7] However, we are looking for results, not “possibilities.” I should like to remind you to encourage new French composers to produce works for the Opera to perform.[8] I understand the mixed reviews that our audiences have had when new works have been added to the Opera program, but I am not alone in thinking that you have blatantly avoided newer French composers.[9] I understand your want to remain true to the traditional French artists, even pulling from le Conservatoire or the Academie. Regardless, the committee isn’t seeing as many new works as compared to “revivals” within your season.[10]
I’d like to remind you of La Fiancee Vendue, or should I say The Bartered Bride, composed by Bedrich Smetana. The opera was performed as a revival or, should I say, adaptation in December first of 1928.[11] True, the production was tweaked for Parisian audiences, but I can’t seem to comprehend why you scheduled La Fiancee Vendue in the opera season when you could have commissioned an opera from a French composer. Such actions make the administration question your sense of judgement.
Needless to say, I must admit that you, Mr. Rouche, have done a wonderful job bringing what our audiences yearn for. While you’re programs may not fulfill all the requirements of the director, the committee has noticed how you appeal to this century’s tastes in repertoire.[12] At the beginning of World War I l’Opera national de Paris was an “establishment nearly irrelevant to Parisian musical life.”[13] Despite your recent program judgements, the administration is aware of how you helped change that observation. I must say, your decision to program “piano pieces and songs by Poulenc” along with “jazz-influenced ballet music of Milhaud” not only draw in a crowd but also “reflect the sophistication of Parisian society at this time.”[14] Audience attendance has increased and filling the 2,000 seats in the house is becoming easier to accomplish. On the other hand, I still believe that returning to Parisian routes through Baroque literature and repertory ballet solidifies France’s cultural identity.[15]
I hope you are enjoying your time as the Director of L’Opera national de Paris. I expect nothing to go wrong in our evaluation. Please re-evaluate your programming so that you don’t make questionable decisions. Maintaining a French repertoire is of the utmost importance. I’ve expressed to you how large a role you play in molding our national, musical identity. Don’t make the administration regret giving you that power. I encourage you to explore the Opera’s range. There are many talented artists in France and the Opera wants to make use of every single one!
Thank you for your time and consideration. I wish you the best of luck for the rest of the season. I would expect to see the committee and myself visiting you before the end of the month.
With great esteem and respect,
Reunion des Theatres Lyrique Nationaux
[1] Epstein, Louis K. “Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France 1918-1939.” (2013): 108-124. 110
[2] “Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France,” 1918-1939, page 110
[3] Shapiro, Barbara Stern, Anne E. Havinga, and Boston Arts. Pleasures of Paris, Daumier to Picasso. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston :, 1991
[4] Kahane, Martine. “A. THE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES OF THE PARIS OPÉRA: PART 2.” Dance Research 3, no. 1 (September 1984): 67-71. International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed November 7, 2015).
[5] Article II, “Cahier des charges,” 1919, F21 4656, AN.
[6] “Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France 1918-1939,” page 110
[7] Jann Pasler and Jerry Rife. “Schmitt, Florent.” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed November 7, 2015,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/24960.
[8] “Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France 1918-1939,” page 111
[9] “Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France 1918-1939,” page 116
[10] “Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France 1918-1939,” page 118
[11] 1928. “’the Bartered Bride’ at L’opéra-comique”. The Musical Times 69 (1030). Musical Times Publications Ltd.: 1123–23. http://www.jstor.org/stable/915754.
[12] “Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France 1918-1939,” page 108
[13] Arnold, Denis and Richard Langham Smith . “France.” The Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed November 7, 2015,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e2658.
[14] Arnold, Denis and Richard Langham Smith . “France.” The Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed November 7, 2015,http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e2658.
[15] “Toward a Theory of Patronage: Funding for Music Composition in France 1918-1939,” page 108
OTHER SOURCES:
Pitou, Spire. The Paris Opéra: An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers. Vol. 3. Westport, Conn., CT: Greenwood Press, 1983.’
Giroud, Vincent. “From Carmen to Pelleas.” In French Opera: A Short History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.
Huebner, Steven. French Opera at the Fin De Siècle: Wagnerism, Nationalism, and Style. Oxford [England: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Fulcher, Jane F. The Nation’s Image: French Grand Opera as Politics and Politicized Art. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Cumberland Evening Times. 267th ed. Vol. LVIII. Cumberland, Maryland: Cumberland Evening Times, 1925. 7.