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Theater Dortmund Presents Gaspare Spontini's Fernand Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique

Mar. 09, 2022

On April 7, Theater Dortmund presents the premiere of the third version (1824) of Gaspare Spontini’s, Fernand Cortez with performance materials by Bärenreiter. 

Gaspare Spontini composed the opera Fernand Cortez thanks to a commission from Emperor Napoleon I following the successful premiere of Gaspare Spontini’s La Vestale (1807). The intention was to pave the way for Napoleon’s Spanish campaign through a propaganda piece. The libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy was based on various historical and dramatic sources and took as its subject the conquest of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, by the Spanish commander Hernán Cortés. The autograph, which is preserved in Paris, reveals that Spontini first set the libretto in its original version. But shortly before rehearsals began, the interior minister demanded a reworking of the text, which was carried out in collaboration with Joseph-Alphonse d’Esménard, eliminating in particular the character of Montezuma as originally envisaged. 

Spontini reworked the score, following Naeopleon's overthrow, and the second version of the score was premiered successfully in 1817. He then reworked the score again. This version, from 1824, was apparently only staged in Darmstadt, but the vocal score, which was published in 1825 with a carefully underlaid German and French text, reveals the fact that Spontini regarded this version the only valid one for French theaters. Despite this, it is only now receiving a first production in Dortmund. A fourth version, announced as such in 1832 in Berlin and also performed in Dresden a year later, included in particular the introduction of an apotheosis of Christianity at the end. 

Bärenreiter's materials allow for the second and third versions to be performed.

Read more about the genesis of this opera, which occupied 24 years of Gaspare Spontini's life here.


Gaspare Spontini
Fernand Cortez (1824)
ou La conquête du Mexique
Opera in three acts
Libretto (Fr) by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy, and Joseph-Alphonse Esménard 
Performance material by Jean-Paul Penin,
Dénouement ed. by Klaus Pietschmann
First performance of the 3rd version in French: April 7, 2022 Theater Dortmund, conductor: Christoph JK Müller, producer: Eva-Maria Höckmayr
Cast: Fernand Cortez, Spanish general (tenor), Amazily, Mexican princess (soprano), Montézuma, King of Mexico (bass), Le Grand Prêtre, nephew of Montezuma, brother of Amazily (bass), Moralès, Cortez’s friend and confidant (baritone), Alvar, Cortez’s brother (tenor), a Spanish prisoner (tenor), a Spanish prisoner (baritone), a Spanish officer (baritone) – Chorus: SSAATTB (Spanish soldiers and sailors, Mexicans, Amazily’s retinue, Telasco’s retinue, and caciques, priests, seers, magicians and jugglers sent from Montezuma to Cortez)
2(2pic).2.2.2–4.2.3.0–timp-perc-str–stage music: 2 tpt
Publisher: Alkor-Edition Kassel, AoE 10640 for the 2nd version.
To perform the 3rd version the Dénouement (3rd Act, scenes 7-12) is also required – BA08822-72, performance material available on hire

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