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Knights at the Opera, Part 7 – Le Cid and Those Lombards

© Iris Bass

Immortalized in the Spanish Cantar de mio Cid and Pierre Corneille's 1637 play, Le Cid, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar was an 11th-century Spaniard whose operatic life spins off his exile following the murder of his patron, Castilian king Sancho, by the king's brother Alphonse; and his exploits as a warrior and duellist. Exiled to the Moorish city of Valencia, Rodrigo became its ruler not quite so much by valor as by starving out those residents who opposed him. Duing some periods of his life he joined with the Moslems (and it was they who gave him the respectful name sidi, meaning "lord") when circumstances seemed profitable. All in all, the real Cid doesn't much come across as admirable, but nonetheless he was much romanticized as the hero of some twenty operas, as well as not the subject of a Ginastera opera that one might assume relates to him.

Massenet's 1885 Le Cid is probably the best-known opera based on the Corneille play that was also the source for Cornelius's Lohengrin-like Der Cid of 1805. Set in Seville, we see Rodrigue lauded for his triumphs in battle, only to duel with and kill Gormas, the father of his lover, Chimène, to avenge the death of his own father. The duel of the elders seems based rather more upon wounded pride and temper than upon true honor, but in medieval times the concept of the Ego (not to mention "rage" as an excuse for murder) had not yet been invented, and so we must take Rodrigue's obligation to kill Gormas utterly seriously. As such, the opera has much to do with the timeless demands of unconditional loyalty to one's parent. One of the high points of the work is the tenor's prayer, "O souverain! ô juge! ô père!" - "Oh Lord, oh judge, oh father"), in which his heroic oath to his earthly father as well as to God as the Heavenly Father merge as one. It is with this faith that he goes off to fight the Moors, before any punishment for killing Gormas can be meted out.

After her father's deminse, Chimène has emotionally tormented aria, "Pleurez, mes yeux" - "Weep, my eyes," in which she painfully recalls how she had once admired her knight/lover's lethal skills. These skills continue to prevail in battle: Rodrigue returns in even more glory than at his initial entrance, though now his murder of Gormas is brought before the king, Ferdinand...who cleverly grants Chimène the right to sentence Rodrigue to death. She cannot bring herself to order her own lover's execution. Rodrigue, admitting his guilt, offers to fall on his own sword to solve the matter. Of course Chimène cannot bear to let him, and they agree to marry, hoping their parents' spirits will forgive them.