Ferdinand Hérold - Zampa ou La Fiancée de marbre (Erik Nielsen)

Information

Composer: Ferdinand Hérold

• Zampa

Julien Henric; Hélène Carpentier; Cyrille Dubois

Héloïse Mas; François Rougier

Pierre Derhet; Lukas Mayr

Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Münchner Rundfunkorchester

Erik Nielsen, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: Bru Zane

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French composer Ferdinand Hérold (1791–1833) was a pivotal figure in the evolution of 19th-century French opéra comique, bridging the gap between Daniel Auber and Jacques Offenbach. A Prix de Rome winner who studied under Catel and Méhul, Hérold launched his operatic career in Naples before returning to Paris, where he produced a prolific string of works. Beyond collaborating with contemporaries like Boieldieu and Auber, he achieved enduring fame with successful ballets, such as La Fille mal gardée, and masterwork operas like Zampa and Le Pré aux clercs, which defined the early Romantic French stage before his untimely death.

Hérold’s opera Zampa scored a major triumph at the Opéra-Comique following its May 1831 premiere. Featuring Mélesville’s Don Giovanni-inspired libretto about a ruthless pirate dragged to Hell by a statue, the work deftly blends comic and tragic elements within a Sicilian setting. Harmonically and orchestrally adventurous, Hérold’s score captures Romantic sensibilities through subtle Gothic touches and vivid local color. By incorporating grand-opera conventions, including hybrid Franco-Italian vocalism, large-scale collective scenes, and spectacular stage effects like the eruption of Mount Etna, Zampa expanded the boundaries of opéra-comique in direct response to contemporary developments by Meyerbeer and Berlioz.