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''フランス語:Les pêcheurs de perles'' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the フランス語:Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run. Set in ancient times on the island of Ceylon, the opera tells the story of how two men's vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman, whose own dilemma is the conflict between secular love and her sacred oath as a priestess. The friendship duet "フランス語:Au fond du temple saint", generally known as "The Pearl Fishers Duet", is one of the best-known numbers in Western opera. At the time of the premiere, Bizet was 25 years old and had yet to establish himself in the Parisian musical world. The commission to write ''フランス語:Les pêcheurs'' arose from his standing as a former winner of the prestigious フランス語:Prix de Rome. Despite a good reception by the public, press reactions to the work were generally hostile and dismissive, although other composers, notably Hector Berlioz, found considerable merit in the music. The opera was not revived in Bizet's lifetime, but from 1886 onwards it was performed with some regularity in Europe and North America, and from the mid-20th century has entered the repertory of opera houses worldwide. Because the autograph score was lost, post-1886 productions were based on amended versions of the score that contained significant departures from the original. Since the 1970s, efforts have been made to reconstruct the score in accordance with Bizet's intentions. Modern critical opinion has been kinder than that of Bizet's day. Commentators describe the quality of the music as uneven and at times unoriginal, but acknowledge the opera as a work of promise in which Bizet's gifts for melody and evocative instrumentation are clearly evident. They have identified clear foreshadowings of the composer's genius which would culminate, 10 years later, in ''Carmen''. Since 1950 the work has been recorded on numerous occasions, in both the amended and original versions. == Background == Bizet's first opera, the one-act ''フランス語:Le docteur Miracle'', was written in 1856 when the 18-year-old composer was a student at the Conservatoire de Paris. It was Bizet's winning entry in a competition organised by the celebrated composer Jacques Offenbach, and gained him a cash award, a gold medal, and a performance of the prize work at the フランス語:Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens.〔Dean (1965), pp. 9–10〕 In 1857 Bizet was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome, and as a result spent most of the following three years in Italy, where he wrote ''Don Procopio'', a short opera buffa in the style of Donizetti.〔Dean (1965), p. 20〕 By this time Bizet had written several non-stage works, including his Symphony in C, but the poor reception accorded to his 1858 ''ラテン語:Te Deum'', a religious work he composed in Rome, helped convince him that his future lay primarily with the musical theatre.〔Curtiss, pp. 68–71〕 He planned and possibly began several operatic works before his return to Paris in 1860, but none of these projects came to fruition.〔Dean (1965), pp. 260–61〕 In Paris, Bizet discovered the difficulties faced by young and relatively unknown composers trying to get their operas performed. Of the capital's two state-subsidised opera houses, the Opéra and the フランス語:Opéra-Comique, the former offered a static repertoire in which works by foreign composers, particularly Rossini and Meyerbeer, were dominant. Even established French composers such as Gounod had difficulty getting works performed there.〔Steen, p. 586〕〔Dean (1965), pp. 36–39〕 At the Opéra-Comique, innovation was equally rare; although more French works were performed, the style and character of most productions had hardly changed since the 1830s.〔 However, one condition of the Opéra-Comique's state funding was that from time to time it should produce one-act works by former Prix de Rome laureates. Under this provision, Bizet wrote ''La guzla de l'Emir'', with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, and this went into rehearsal early in 1862.〔Dean (1965), pp. 47–48〕 In April 1862, as the ''フランス語:La guzla'' rehearsals proceeded, Bizet was approached by Léon Carvalho, manager of the independent フランス語:Théâtre Lyrique company. Carvalho had been offered an annual grant of 100,000 francs by the retiring Minister of Fine Arts, Count Walewski, on condition that each year he stage a new three-act opera from a recent フランス語:Prix de Rome winner. Carvalho had a high opinion of Bizet's abilities, and offered him the libretto of ''Les pêcheurs de perles'', an exotic story by Carré and Eugène Cormon set on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Sensing the opportunity for a genuine theatrical success, Bizet accepted the commission. Because Walewski restricted his grant to composers who had not had any previous work performed commercially, Bizet hurriedly withdrew ''La guzla'' from the Opéra-Comique; it has never been performed, and the music has disappeared.〔 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「Les pêcheurs de perles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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