L'Amour de Loin
Introduction
This is a relatively recent addition to the opera canon, composed in 2000 by Kaija Saariaho (Finland). Saariaho has been an expatriate in Paris since 1982. She died in Paris June 2, 2023 at age 70. Her opera is only the second by a female conductor presented at the Met (Dec 1, 2016) for more than a century. The first was Dame Ethel Smyth's Der Wald in 1903. The "L'Amour de Loin" is based on a libretto by Amin Maalouf. The protagonist of the story is the 12th century Prince of Blaye, Jaufré Rudel (Blaye sits at the Gironde estruary at the confluence of the Dordogne and Garonne rivers in the Aquitaine region -- near Bordeaux. Besides being the son of the castellan he was also a troubador, a poet, and apparently a hopeless romantic.
Jaufré has heard from a restless pilgrim tales of the beautiful Countess of Tripoli, Clémence. The imagined perfecton of Clémence takes hold of Jaufré much as Dulcinea inspires Don Quixote's love and it becomes his mission to travel to Northern Lebanon to meet her. In actual fact, Jaufre and Clémence may be one of the stories read by Quixote as Jaufre preceded Quixote. Tripoli, Lebanon marked landfall for Crusaders and was a well-known exotic location for Europeans in the Middle Ages. The pilgim returns to Tripoli to tell Clémence of the love she has inspired in Jaufré. Jaufré manages to board a ship to sail to Clémence. He was never very robust and while in transit he becomes more and more ill the nearer he gets to his destination. Finally, the ship anchors off the coast of Tripoli and word reaches Clémence of Jaufré's arrival. Her initial amazement and curiosity from months ago has melted into love and she awaits him eagerly. By this time, Jaufré is on death's doorstep, but he pleads with the crew to row him to shore and take him to her citadel. There, Jaufré and Clémence ignore his obvious ill health, throw caution to the winds, declare their love for each other and embrace as he dies in her arms.
L'Amour de Loin is in French with English subtitles. It's duration is 2 hrs 21 mins.
Whereas I make no apologies for presenting operas that may challenge the members and guests -- take for example, The Coronoation of Poppea -- but L'Amour de Loin stands apart due to Saariaho's barren, stark style. Please bring a sense of adventure to the Theatre.
Robert LePage & Kaija Saariaho
Interview with Robert LePage and Kaija Saariaho on the creation of L'Amour de Loin. Notice LePage's artistic style in the creation of the ocean on stage -- the echoes of his Met Ring creation of "The Machine" is easy to see.
Blaye and the Bordeaux region
This map shows the home of Jaufre Rudel at the Citadelle of Blaye. This version of the Citadelle did not exist in the 12th century, but the strategic nature of the location still meant that Blaye controlled commerce along the Garonne river, and thus was able to accumulate much wealth. This wealth enabled Jaufre, the son of the master of the Citadelle, the life of relative leasure to become a poet and troubador. For long before the 12th century this region of France was important for general agriculture and transport of goods, as well as viticulture in particular.
A pair of verses from from Swineburne's The Triumph of Time, where he summarizes the legend of Jaufre's impossible love. Refer to lines 321-336.