Ys is one of those mythic cities, it's to Brittany as Atlantis is to the Atlantic, (or the Mediterranean, depending on which theory you subscribed to), a place submerged beneath the waves.

Le Roi D'Ys is the opera by Edouard Lalo (libretty by Edouard Blau) based on the Breton folktales of the lost city, and today Saturday Afternoon At The Opera (Saturday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) presents the tale of what lies beneath the Bay of Biscay, in a production conducted by Canadian conductor Yves Abel,from the Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse. It features mezzo soprano Sophie Koch, soprano Inva Mula, Charles Castronovo, tenor, and bass-baritone Paul Gay.

The story is based on a Breton legend about Margared and Rozenn, the daughters of the King of Ys. Both princesses love the warrior Mylio, but he has eyes only for Rozenn. In revenge, Margared betrays her father's city to Karnac, his enemy. She gives Karnac keys to the sluice standing between the town and the sea. Just as the town and all of its inhabitants are about to be swept away, Margared throws herself into the sea in remorse. St. Corentin, the patron saint of Ys, accepts her sacrifice and the waters abate. A happy ending in an opera? Is it possible?

For the plot synopsis and opera background, please continue reading:

Photo: Margared and Rozenn, played by Sophie Koch (left) and Inva Mula

Le Roi d'Ys (The King of Ys), opera in three acts

Composer: Edouard Lalo (1823-1892)
Librettist: Edouard Blau (1836-1906)
First performance: Paris, Opéra-Comique (Salle Favart), 7 May 1888

Cast And Characters

Sophie Koch, mezzo-soprano: Margared, one of the King's two daughters, who loves Mylio, but is engaged to an enemy prince, Karnac.

Franck Ferrari, baritone: Karnac, a rival prince whose promised wedding to Margared would bring an end to a long and bitter conflict between Ys and Karnac's kingdom.

Charles Castronovo: tenor, Mylio, the warrior who offers to defend the City of Ys against any enemy.

Inva Mula, soprano: Rozenn, the other princess, who is also in love with Mylio.

Paul Gay, bass: King of Ys, (the title character with the surprisingly small role!)

André Heyboer, bass: Jahel, the King's attendant, master of the palace

Eric Martin-Bonnet, bass-baritone: Saint Corentin, one of the seven founding saints of Brittany whose actions save the city of Ys from destruction.

Ensemble: Capitole Chorus
Chorus Director: Patrick Marie Aubert
Orchestra: Orchestre national du Capitole, Tolouse
Conductor: Yves Abel


Synopsis
Act 1 Margared (mezzo-soprano), daughter of the King of Ys (bass), celebrates her betrothal to Karnac (baritone), their former enemy, but confesses to her sister Rozenn (soprano) that she loves Mylio (tenor), a childhood friend who sailed away. Rozenn too loves Mylio, a love she knows is returned. This is confirmed when Mylio unexpectedly returns. During her wedding ceremony Margared learns that Mylio has arrived, and she refuses to go ahead with the marriage. Karnac curses Ys and threatens vengeance.

Act 2 Margared realizes that Mylio loves not her but her sister. Overcome with jealousy, she overhears the King promising Rozenn’s hand to Mylio when he returns victorious from combat with Karnac. In the second scene Mylio is acclaimed the victor, although he attributes his success to the support of St Corentin, the city’s patron saint. When the victory procession has gone Karnac appears, miserable in defeat. Margared offers to join forces with him in seeking revenge. Heedless of the statue of St Corentin (bass/baritone) warning her to repent, she plans to open the sluices that protect the city from the sea.

As the marriage of Rozenn and Mylio proceeds in Act 3, Margared’s resolve wavers. But Karnac enflames her jealousy and they make for the sluices. The King is troubled that Margared is not there. When she returns, she announces that Ys is doomed: Karnac has opened the sluices. Mylio reports that he has killed Karnac but that the waves are engulfing the city. In scene ii Margared reveals to the terrified citizens that the ocean demands a sacrifice and that it must be she, since she planned the opening of the sluices with Karnac. She hurls herself into the sea from a high rock. At that moment St Corentin appears; appeased by Margared’s death he calms the waves and saves the city.

Opera Background
Ys is a legendary Breton city submerged by the sea many centuries ago. Edouard Blau fashioned the Breton folktale of a consuming tide into a libretto on the lines of Lohengrin with two opposing couples, good and bad. Lalo composed the opera in 1875 but it was refused by the Théâtre Lyrique in 1878 and by the Opéra in 1879. Various extracts were performed in concerts, and the whole opera was revised in 1886. It was finally staged by the Opéra-Comique in 1888, and was a long-lasting success.

The opera’s central character is less the King of Ys himself, who plays little part in the action and who is never named, than Margared, a fine mezzo role written for Lalo’s wife (though sung by her only in concert extracts). Reminiscent of both Ortrud and Senta, Margared redeems herself at the end by self-sacrifice and thus saves the city. Neither Rozenn nor Mylio is subject to the same emotional conflict. St Corentin acts as a benevolent supernatural force.

In the choruses Lalo used Breton folksongs he had learnt from his wife. The score is amazingly compact and forceful, for although there are ceremonial and processional scenes the music is constantly concerned with making a dramatic point or delineating character and mood. Lalo’s language is chromatic (though not Wagnerian), full of augmented chords and varieties of sixth and seventh chords. He uses noisy unisons and strong rhythms for emphasis, with a particular fondness for driving 6/8 metres. His orchestration is full-blooded and imaginative, yet always subservient to the voices.

French opera is often accused of artificiality and sensationalism on the one hand and pretty sentimentality on the other. Le roi d’Ys is innocent of both charges. Lalo felt deeply for his subject; Brittany was not simply an exotic excuse for local colour. Many grand opera conventions are observed, it is true, but the dynamic quality of the music and its rich invention make it a truly dramatic work and – unusual for a French opera – a truly national one.

HUGH MACDONALD, courtesy Oxford University Press and EBU