Giaccomo Meyerbeer: Dinorah or Le Pardon de Ploërmel

Giaccomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864): Dinorah or Le Pardon de Ploërmel
opera in 3 acts on a libretto by Jules Barbier & Michel Carré.
Premiered on 4th April 1859 at the Paris Opéra Comique.

Complete version including added recitatives and arias.

Isabelle Philippe, Dinorah
Armand Arapian, Hoël
Frédéric Mazzotta, Corentin
Lucile Vignon, a shepherd
Céline Victores-Benavente, a goatherd
Séverine Delforge, a goatherd
Philippe le Chevalier, a hunter
Pierre Espiaut, a harvester

Cori Spezzatti Chamber Choir
The Failoni Hungarian State Opera Orchestra
Olivier Opdebeeck, conductor

Pierre Jourdan, artistic direction, staging and film direction
Pierre Tanto, choreography
Yacine Perret, mime direction

Restored, upscaled and remastered in Altea Media Studios using careful use of Artificial Intelligence software and complete sound and picture remastering, under Michel Swierczewski's artistic direction.

Synopsis
Act 1
In the Breton village of Ploërmel, a rugged and wild site illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun with, in the foreground, Corentin's cottage

During the annual pilgrimage to the chapel of the Virgin, Dinorah has gone mad because her bridegroom Hoël disappeared following a storm that interrupted their wedding on the same day the previous year. Dinorah has lost her pet goat Bellah but, believing she has found it, she sings a lullaby to the goat and then walks away (Berceuse: Bellah, ma chèvre chérie). Hoël returns to the village, having discovered the whereabouts of a treasure. He enlists Corentin to help him recover the riches, but not without sinister intent, since according to the legend, the first to touch them will perish.

Act 2
Scene 1
A birch wood lit by the moon

Dinorah imagined she heard Hoël's voice and followed it into the wood, but once there, she weeps to find herself alone (Romance: Me voici, Hoël doit m’attendre ici). A moonbeam falls on her and casts its shadow on her feet. Imagining that it is the day before her wedding, she sings and dances with her shadow (Air: Ombre légère).

Scene 2
A mysterious valley

Hoël and Corentin descend upon the cache where Dinorah also happens to be. From her, Corentin learns about the legend, and later he and Hoël invite each other first to inspect the treasure. During that time, Dinorah, in pursuit of her pet goat, steps on a tree trunk by a river as it is hit by lightning, and falls in the water and is swept away by the current. Hoël having witnessed the scene leaps to her rescue.

Act 3
Hoël admits his love and regrets to Dinorah as she regains consciousness (Romance: Ah ! mon remords te venge). She recognizes him and regains her sanity. The villagers arrive and sing a hymn of forgiveness and lead the two lovers to the chapel where they will be married.