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''Louise'' is an opera () in four acts by Gustave Charpentier to an original French libretto by the composer, with some contributions by Saint-Pol-Roux, a symbolist poet and inspiration of the surrealists.〔Only Charpentier’s name appears as librettist on all printed sources, but evidence unearthed by Saint-Pol-Roux’s biographer published in 1952 noted that among the poet’s papers were 'about fifty pages' which contained multiple drafts for the libretto. At some point after the spectacularly successful premiere, Saint-Pol-Roux seems to have relinquished his rights to Charpentier for a lump-sum payment. See Huebner S. ''French Opera at the Fin de Siècle.'' Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999.〕 The opera depicts Parisian working-class life. However the city itself is in many ways the true star of this very atmospheric work – invoked at various points during the opera.〔Smith, Richard Langham (1992), 'Louise' in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7〕 A French example of ''verismo'' opera, it tells the story of the love between Louise, a seamstress living with her parents in Paris, and Julien, a young artist. It is the story of a young girl's desire for freedom (associated in her mind with her lover and the city of Paris). Charpentier later wrote a sequel to ''Louise'', the opera ''Julien'', which describes the artistic aspirations of Louise’s suitor. ==Performance history== ''Louise'' premiered on 2 February 1900 at the Opéra-Comique conducted by André Messager in a production by Albert Carré. It was successful, reaching its 100th performance just over a year later; the 500th performance at the Opéra-Comique took place on 17 January 1921, and by the early 1950s it had reached over 950 performances.〔Wolff, S. ''Un demi-siècle d'opéra-comique (1900–1950).'' André Bonne, Paris, 1953.〕 The opera helped launch the career of the soprano Mary Garden, who sang Louise in Act 3 at the eighth performance.〔The lead soprano and her understudy were ill; on 25 April Garden sang a complete performance and made the role her own. Potter T. Notes for the Naxos CD re-issue of 1935 recording.〕 On 30 April 1900 the Opéra-Comique director Albert Carré gave away 400 seats to Paris dressmakers.〔Orledge R. Gustave Charpentier. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 2001.〕 The revival of ''Louise'' at the Opéra-Comique on 28 February 1950, with scenery after maquettes by Utrillo and Géori Boué in the title role, celebrated the 50th anniversary of its creation and the 90th birthday of its composer. Although it was hoped that Charpentier might conduct the performance, in the end André Cluytens did so, but with the composer conducting the 'Chant de l’apothéose' after the 3rd act.〔Baeck E. ''André Cluytens: Itinéraire d’un chef d’orchestre.'' Editions Mardaga, Wavre, 2009.〕 The success in Paris led to productions in Algiers, Brussels, Budapest and Milan in 1901 and in Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Geneva and Stockholm in 1902, followed by other cities.〔Loewenberg A. ''Annals of Opera.'' London, John Calder, 1978.〕 First seen in New York City at the Manhattan Opera House in 1908, ''Louise'' was premiered by the Metropolitan Opera on January 15, 1921 (with Geraldine Farrar in the title role and Flora Perini as Gertrude). It was revived at the Met in a new production in 1930, broadcast twice (in 1939 and 1948), after 1949 it disappeared from the Met repertoire.〔(The MetOpera database (archives) )〕 ''Louise'' was staged by English National Opera in 1981, and more recently, at the Paris Opera (2008), Duisberg (2008), the Spoleto Festival (2009), the Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg and Mulhouse (2009), and Düsseldorf (2010). There are several recordings, and the opera is still performed today. The third-act aria 'Depuis le jour' is a popular concert piece that has often been recorded. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Louise (opera)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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