“La Esmeralda” (1836), an opera by Louise Bertin & Victor Hugo
Tune in next week for an exclusive interview with the world's leading expert on Louise Bertin, musicologist Dr. Denise Boneau! On this episode of the world’s first podcast about “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (“Notre-Dame de Paris”), we discuss the opera “La Esmeralda” (1836), the only “Hunchback” adaptation Victor Hugo participated in creating. Composed by Louise Bertin, a young disabled woman, this controversial opera was only performed six times during its original run. Bertin was so traumatized by the backlash against it that she never composed another opera. What’s to blame for the failure of “La Esmeralda”? Government censorship? Sexist critics? Audiences of hecklers, including “The Three Musketeers” author Alexandre Dumas? Joins us as we grapple with this nearly 200-year-old question. LISTEN TO “LA ESMERALDA” WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tEP6_VCwyI RING THAT NOTIFICATION BELL to be automatically updated when new episodes are released! GET FREE BONUS CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram: @TheHunchcast (https://www.instagram.com/thehunchcast/) Tumblr: @TheHunchcast (https://www.tumblr.com/thehunchcast) TikTok: @TheHunchcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@thehunchcast) GET IN TOUCH: thehunchcast@gmail.com CHAPTERS FOR THIS EPISODE: (00:00) Intro (01:18) Who Was Louise Bertin? (02:58) The Opera's Development (20:28) The Opera's Premiere (25:19) The Opera's Legacy (27:53) Plot Synopsis (30:45) The Opera vs. the Novel (42:40) Clopin’s Role (46:22) Phoebus’s Role (49:45) Quasimodo’s Role (52:52) The Music (01:01:31) How “La Esmeralda” Influenced Future “Hunchback” Adaptations (01:03:11) Overall Thoughts (01:10:06) Inn, Dust, Throw (01:17:07) Outro SOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE: “Louise Bertin and Opera in Paris in the 1820s and 1830s,” a dissertation by Dr. Denise Boneau The French History Podcast: “Notre-Dame in Adaptation: Louise Bertin’s La Esmeralda by musicologist Dr. Emma Kavanagh” “Music and Manners in France and Germany” (1844) by Henry Chorley “Historique De La Esmeralda” (1905), an essay by Paul Meurice “Victor Hugo By A Witness Of His Life” by Adèle Hugo “Mémoires de Hector Berlioz” (1870) Podcast logo by Ryan Grimm (Instagram: @grimmstar2002). Episode cover art by Louis Boulanger. “The Hunchcast of Notre Dame” is a production of 1482 Media. All rights reserved.