Marcello Giordani, tenor (Gaston)
Roberto Scandiuzzi, bass (Roger)
Philippe Rouillon, bass (Le Comte)
Simon Edwards, tenor (L’Écuyer)
Hélène Le Corre, soprano (Isaure)
Daniel Borowski, bass (Le Légat)
Wolfgang Barta, bass (Un Soldat)
Slobodan Stankovic, bass (L’Émir/Un Hérault)
Jovo Reljin, tenor (Un Officier)
L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Chœur du Grand Théâtre de Genève
Guillaume Tourniaire, chorus master
Fabio Luisi
Verdi wrote Jérusalem for the Paris Opéra while he was there in 1847. It is a radical revision of his earlier opera I Lombardi (1843), including an obligatory ballet for the French audience. Jérusalem is considered an improvement, both musically and dramatically, on I Lombardi. Verdi’s great achievement was to arrive in Paris, assimilate what was successful on the local music scene, and then write Jérusalem (his first French opera), a work which musically topped those of other composers working in Paris at the time (Meyerbeer and co.).
The significant changes made to the opera’s libretto make the plot far tauter and more concentrated. Some of the numbers are new (including the whole opening scene) and many are repositioned and expanded. Verdi also made the most of the more ample choral and instrumental resources at his disposal in Paris; the outstanding Act III Finale was met by “shudders of admiration” in the audience at its premiere.
The opera is in four acts with a libretto by Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz (translated and adapted from that of I Lombardi).
Jérusalem is set during the Crusades in Toulouse and Palestine around 1095 –1099. The plot is suitably dramatic, including inter-family rivalries, bungled murders, disguised identity, exile, capture by the Saracens (with, therefore, a harem scene complete with ballet), threatened execution, glorious battle, confession and reconciliation. A great recipe for opera on a grand scale!