Andréa Chénier

Andréa Chénier

Hi everybody, Mary here.

So, I am very sorry if my uploads haven't been regular lately, I am very sick at the moment (goddammit flu, why do you appear in July when I am FINALLY in holidays ?), so Hannibal will be uploaded tomorrow. Anyway, here's today post, with a review of a wonderful opéra, Andréa Chénier from Umberto Giordano. So, without any further ado, let's get started, shall we ?

Andréa Chénier : a revolutionary man killed for his beliefs

The first point that I will talk about is the historical setting of the show : the show is set in France, during the French revolution, and is thrown before, during and after the events that led to the end of the show : Andréa and Maddalena's deaths on the guillotine. We can see the changes in the characters, especially Carlo, the man who was in love with Maddalena but was too poor to do anything, and had accused Andréa of high treason to get rid of him and have Maddalena for himself. As the setting goes from the Ancien Régime to the Terror, we can also see the change of the mentality in this short period of time, and the consequences on the characters.

The second point that I will talk about is the love story between Maddalena and Andréa : while the man is a poet and a revolutionary who, in the beginning of the show, goes to a nobility party to express his honest opinions in front of roch, powerful people that are discussing the emerging revolution from the poor people who are starving and asked to give more money to the priviledged and have basically nothing for themselves, the woman is a young noble woman who's a little bit educated, but nt too much, ans so is impressed by Andréa's skills and poetry, and thus, that's how they both fall in love, until Andréa is accused of high treason and sent to the death penalty, and dies with Maddalena who had chosen to follow him, even for death.

The third and very last point that I will talk about is the Terror, and what happened : after the Revolution, the people was so afraid of losing the newly established Republic that they basically told that anyone could report ANYBODY as a traitor to the Republic and they would get arrested and judged for high treason. And thus, there was such a bad feeling and atmosphere that Andréa was accused... well, for nothing, and then condemned to death. However, it seems that they don't check the identity of the people that they kill, they just want to kill ANYONE who would be against the Republic, that Maddalena took the place of a noble woman condemned to death on order to die with her lover, since she can't live without him. Oh, and Andréa Chénier DID exist and this opéra is made after the story of his life.

Okay, that's it for today, I hope that you enjoyed this post and I will see you very soon with another one !

And as usual, our last word : KIDNEYS !