Les Huguenots at the Paris Opera house in 1875 by John Ames Mitchell
Photo Credit: Wiki Commons
Performed at L'Opéra in Paris, Les Huguenots was Meyerbeer's most famous Grand Opera. Even after his diminished popularity due to Wagner's anti-semitic lashings, Les Huguenots continued to be performed. This picture shows a packed opera house.
Paris Opera
Photo Credit: Medicine Opera
Although this photo is not from the 19th century, and it has indeed been digitally altered, I believe that the grand splendor of L'Opéra portrayed here, is exactly how a 19th-century person would have viewed it (pre-modern media and effects would not have desensitized people to the actual brillant colors of the house).
Caricature of Jakob Meyerbeer by Alcide Joseph Lorentz
Photo Credit: Wiki Gallery
Common to the 19th century, as it still is today, caricatures of composers could be found all over. This particular picture shows Meyerbeer wielding an almost god-like (or prohet-like as it actually goes with his opera The Prohpet) ability to burst open the stones with his musical skills. This not only brings to light the Romantic sense of looking to the past and "becoming" one of the greats--an ancient, but it also shows that emphasis on the composer was beginning to surface.
Joan Sutherland as the Queen in Les Huguenots
Photo Credit: The Age
Although composers' popularity was on the rise, true emphasis was still given to the Prima Donnas. Arguably the best soprano of all time, Dame Joan Sutherland beautifully acts out the role of the Queen of Navarre. Just as Meyerbeer originally supported wagner, Sutherland coincidentally began her musical training with the goal of becoming a Wagnerian soprano.
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich
Photo Credit: BlogSpot
Quote from The Cave of the Huguenots; a Tale of the XVIIth Century, and Other Poems by Madame La Viscomtesse de Saté St. Jean Page 1
This painting wonderfully reflects the idea of Romanticism. It draws attention to the individual looking out to the sublime. When one searches inward, the past often surfaces. Meyerbeer, born Jewish and persecuted for it, seems to have related to the Huguenots and emulated his and their lives into the opera.
Huguenot Lovers on St. Bartholomew's Day by John Everett Millais
Photo Credit: Wiki Commons
A story of star-crossed lovers, albeit twisted from Shakespeare's original, Les Huguenots brings forth the past, into a sort of "museum work" a tradition typical of 19th-century art.
Letter to a Music Critic
Photo Credit: Wurlitzer Bruck
In a letter written to English music critic James William Davison, he invites him to a dinner party that includes Berlioz at the "petit moulin rouge." This invitation brings to mind the tradition of salons in the 19th century. Although this was not a "Bohemian cocktail party for the arts," it was a meeting to speak about music in general; quite possibly for publicity since it was to be a meeting of critics.
Photo Credit: Deviant Art
Quote from The Cave of the Huguenots; a Tale of the XVIIth Century, and Other Poems by Madame La Viscomtesse de Saté St. Jean Page 2
Richelieu, the right-hand man to King Louis XIII of France, is one of the main reasons that France began to draw in more power to the throne. He effectively paved the way for Louis XIV's complete control of the state. Richelieu did not think that the Protestants respected the King's position and would one day attempt to overthrow the throne.
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre by Francois Dubois
Photo Credit: Wiki Commons
Tensions between the Protestants and and the French throne and Catholics eventually lead to the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
Un matin devant la porte du Louvre by Édouard Debat-Ponsan
Photo Credit: Wiki Commons
Ophelia by John Everett Millais
Photo Credit: Wiki Commons
Quote from The Huguenot Society of America
The painting of Shakespeare's Ophelia not only references history as a "museum" by evoking the past, but the story behind it is fascinating:
"Incapable of her own distress," she sings songs while unaware of the danger she's in. "Her clothes spread wide, / And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up." For some time the air left in her dress has helped her to stay afloat, but as they become heavy she sinks and ultimately drowns-- "her garments, heavy with their drink, / Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay" down "to muddy death." Surprisingly, this is similar to how the Huguenots's demise came to be.
This quote, to me, mentions the beginning of the end. As the Protestants began to gain popularity and influence, the French Catholics in power decided to stop them for fear of losing their authority--they never knew what would come of their increased stature (they simply floated in the water singing songs). As it started a period of upheaval that last for years and in great part led to the dual Revolutions, it is interesting that a 19th-century composer would write about this--a composer's whose art was loosely made possible by the very massacre to begin with. I truly wonder if Meyerbeer made this connection.