Salammbô [alternative title: The Libyan ] is an unfinished opera in four acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The fragmentary Russian language libretto was written by the composer, and is based on the novel Salammbô (1862) by Gustave Flaubert, but includes verses taken from poems by Vasiliy Zhukovsky, Apollon Maykov, Aleksandr Polezhayev, and other Russian poets. Salammbô was Mussorgsky's first major attempt at an opera. He worked on the project from 1863 to 1866, completing six numbers before losing interest. In 1865 Mussorgsky's mother died and he felt the loss deeply. There are sources indicating Mussorgsky composed more but did not write down some further scenes, in particular a love scene featuring Mathô and Salammbô. A 1872 drawn-up catalogue mentions a Salammbô scene, unlike the presently known material, completed in 1865.

Composition history

The Russian translation of Flaubert's 1862 novel was published serially in the Saint Petersburg journal Otechestvennye Zapiski in 1863, and was read with enthusiasm by the six members of the commune in which the composer was then living. Mussorgsky was likely influenced in his choice of subject by having recently heard Aleksandr Serov's Judith, which premiered on 16 May 1863, and which shares with Salammbô an exotic setting and similar narrative details. The unfinished vocal score consists of three scenes and three separate numbers: Two numbers (No.2 and No.5) were orchestrated by the composer. Zoltán Peskó claims to have found a Mussorgsky orchestration of No. 1 in the library of the Paris Conservatory, but this version has disappeared. The chorus of priestesses and warriors (Act 2, Scene 2, Episode 3: "After the theft of the Zaimph") is a reworking of the "Scene in the Temple: Chorus of the People", the only surviving number from Oedipus in Athens (1858-1861), Mussorgsky's earliest stage-work. In Mathô's monologue in the dungeon (the passage "I shall die alone"), the text is borrowed from the poem Song of the Captive Iroquois, by Alexander Polezhayev. The theme of this passage, accompanying a new text, was recycled in 1877 in the chorus Joshua [see Subsequent use of musical materials in this article for more details]. Mussorgsky's orchestration in Salammbô is quite ahead of its time. One example of a modern idea is, in the projected scoring for the "Hymn to Tanit" (Act 2, Scene 2), the abundance and variety of percussion, in addition to a mixture of pianos, harps, and glockenspiels of a sort which only reappeared fifty years later.

Performance history

The first staged performance of Salammbô took place at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, on 29 March 1983 in a version revised and edited by Zoltán Peskó. The work was repeated on 30 March and on 1, 2 and 6 April. It had originally been agreed that the role of Salammbô in these performances would be sung by Lyudmila Shemchuk and that of Mathô by Georgy Seleznev, but the Soviet authorities subsequently withdrew the exit visas of both singers, and they were substituted by Annabelle Bernard and Boris Bakov respectively. Because of these enforced changes it was necessary to postpone the date of the premiere from 26 to 29 March. In 1989 Vyacheslav Nagovitsin was commissioned to produce an orchestration in the fullest possible version, in addition to the available numbers orchestrated by Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Vissarion Shebalin. This staged version of the opera was first performed at the Ancient Roman arena in Mérida, Spain.

Roles

Synopsis

Setting Although no complete synopsis is available, Tedeschi states, it be reconstructed fairly accurately without any effort, since Mussorgsky stays close to the handling of the original.

Act 1

Scene: Hamilcar's Garden in Carthage After the war with Rome was lost, the mercenaries Carthage recruited from Europe and Africa are rebelling, because they have not been paid. To calm them down, they are invited to a festive feast in the gardens of Hamilcar's palace. Soon it degenerates into a brutal argument. Slaves are freed from the underground dungeons, lions and elephants are mutilated, the sacred fish are eaten. When Salammbô, the daughter of Hamilcar and priestess of Tanit, appears (singing) in the middle of the violent goings-on, it soothes their spirits. Mâtho, the chief of the Libyan warriors and the Numidian leader Narr'Havas are captivated by her appearance.

Act 2

Scene 1: The rampart of Megara Spendius, a freed slave, urges Mâtho to sneak into Carthage in order to steal the miraculous veil guarded by Salammbô, the Zaimph, which protects the city. Scene 2: The Temple of Tanit in Carthage In the temple of Tanit. Salammbô sings - first alone, then with the choir - a hymn to the goddess and decorates the altar with emerging and stealing the veil. The Virgin awakes, sounds the alarm, the stage fills with people and priests.

Act 3

Scene 1: The Temple of Moloch The priests sacrifice little children to the terrible god and, together with the people, implore his help. Enter Salammbô; she joins the prayers and announces her resolve to go to the barbarian camp to reclaim the veil. Scene 2: The tent at the encampment Salammbô seduces Mâtho and falls asleep in his arms. Then, while the Carthaginians storm the camp and take Mâtho prisoner, she takes possession of the veil.

Act 4

Scene 1: The Dungeon of the Acropolis Mâthos lament. He is being held captive in the dungeons of the Carthaginian Acropolis. Priests and pentarchs sentence him to death. Scene 2: The festival of celebration in Carthage The priestesses clothes Salammbô for the double ceremony, the marriage to Narr'Havas and the execution of Mâtho. During the wedding banquet, Mâtho, martyred to death, falls at the feet of Salammbô, who in turn falls dead over his body.

Subsequent use of musical materials

Mussorgsky reused much of the music from Salammbô in later works. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov gives the following account of thematic borrowing in his memoirs, Chronicle of My Musical Life (1909):

<blockquote style="font-size: 90%"> «В течение сезона 1866/67 года я более сблизился с Мусоргским. Я бывал у него, а жил он со своим женатым братом Филаретом близ Кашина моста. Он много мне играл отрывков из своей «Саламбо», которые меня премного восхищали. Кажется, тогда же играл он мне свою фантазию «Иванова ночь» для фортепиано с оркестром, затеянную под влиянием «Danse macabre». Впоследствии музыка этой фантазии, претерпев многие метаморфозы, послужила материалом для «Ночи на Лысой горе». Играл он также мне свои прелестные еврейские хоры: «Поражение Сенахериба» и «Иисус Навин». Музыка последнего была взята им из оперы «Саламбо». Тема этого хора была подслушана Мусоргским у евреев, живших с ним в одном дворе и справлявших праздник кущей. Играл мне Мусоргский и романсы свои, которые не имели успеха у Балакирева и Кюи. Между ними были: «Калистрат» и красивая фантазия «Ночь» на слова Пушкина. Романс «Калистрат» был предтечею того реального направления, которое позднее принял Мусоргский; романс же «Ночь» был представителем той идеальной стороны его таланта, которую впоследствии он сам втоптал в грязь, но запасом которой при случае пользовался. Запас этот был заготовлен им в «Саламбо» и еврейских хорах, когда он еще мало думал о сером мужике. Замечу, что большая часть его идеального стиля, например ариозо царя Бориса, фразы самозванца у фонтана, хор в боярской думе, смерть Бориса и т. д. — взяты им из «Саламбо». Его идеальному стилю недоставало подходящей кристаллически-прозрачной отделки и изящной формы; недоставало потому, что не было у него знания гармонии и контрапункта. Балакиревская среда осмеивала сначала эти ненужные науки, потом объявила их недоступными для Мусоргского. Так он без них и прожил, возводя для собственного утешения свое незнание в доблесть, а технику других в рутину и консерватизм. Но когда красивая и плавная последовательность удавалась ему, наперекор предвзятым взглядам, как он был счастлив. Я был свидетелем этого не один раз.» The Song of the Balearic Islander (, Pesn' baleartsa) was included by the composer in a collection of his [juvenilia](https://bliptext.com/articles/juvenilia) composed between 1857 and 1866 called Youthful Years (, Yunïye godï, 1866). The song is No. 17 in the series of manuscripts consisting of 17 songs and one duet. Several measures of Salammbô's dialogue with the crowd were used in the 1867 tone poem [St. John's Eve on the Bare Mountain](https://bliptext.com/articles/night-on-bald-mountain) (but appear rather to have been used in the later adaptation of this work, Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad, 1880): Several musical themes from this project were recycled and played important roles in the composer's subsequent opera [Boris Godunov](https://bliptext.com/articles/boris-godunov-opera) (1869–1872). The borrowings concern the orchestral accompaniments only, which are fitted to new vocal lines. The correspondence in narrative detail, mood, or atmosphere in each case is often quite close: The War Song of the Libyans (, Boyevaya pesn' Liviytsev) from Act 1 became the basis of the chorus Iisus Navin, better known as Joshua, for alto, baritone, chorus, and piano, composed in 1877. An orchestral edition prepared by [Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov](https://bliptext.com/articles/nikolai-rimsky-korsakov) was published in 1883. The theme of the middle section of Joshua, a solo for alto and a brief women's chorus, "The women of Canaan weep", said to be of Jewish origin by [Vladimir Stasov](https://bliptext.com/articles/vladimir-stasov) and Rimsky-Korsakov, is based on part of Mathô's monologue in the dungeon, "I shall die alone" (Act 4, Scene 1). The 'Chorus of Priestesses' (Act 4, Scene 2) was orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov (1884), and published and performed as an independent piece after Mussorgsky's death (1881). # [600px | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Salammb%C3%B4///theme///used///in///Night///on///the///Bare///Mountain.png]

Versions by other hands

Zoltán Peskó was the first to orchestrate the rest of the numbers.

Recordings