Fairies in Opera, Part 1 - Bright and Ill Wishes

Perhaps it is not entirely facetious to observe that opera, as an art unto itself, might not be here but for the magic of a "peri" -- Jacopo Peri, who in the late 16th century was a leading figure in the development of the opera as put forth by a group of musicians known as the Florentine Camerata.

According to my huge Oxford English Dictionary, a "peri," derived from the Persian, is a supernatural being who grants wishes. A malevolent genie is one form a peri might take; a fairy godmother, another. Whether Jacopo emerged from a rubbed lantern is probably disputed by church records, but certainly a number of operas feature fairies, fair and square.

One of the most splendid must surely be La Fée of Massenet's 1899 Cendrillon (Cinderella). When Lucette, aka Cendrillon, falls asleep by the hearth after her stepsisters leave for the ball, La Fée appears, singing that she has heard the plaintive voice of her godchild (yes, she actually does identify herself as Lucette's godmother). As Lucette continues to sleep, the fairy -- in a scintillating, stratopherically high aria with exquisitely poetic lyrics -- calls forth spirits and goblins to create a ball gown from the rays of the brightest stars, the harmonies of rainbows, and of moonlight; for Lucette's bouquet, she demands a virtual philtre d'amour -- a love philtre. She appoints one goblin coachman; another, a page; and all the other spirits, postillons. She declares that dragonflies, butterflies, and moths will join with birds to draw the carriage; while other brilliant-hued insects will become Cendrillon's jewels, and fireflies will serve as lanterns. Dewdrops -- larmes de la nuit as she romantically terms this, "tears of night," will become her goddaughter's diamonds. When all is ready, she awakens Lucette who been transformed, via a beautiful gown and mantle, into a princess. Success is ensured with the gift of glass slippers, and the girl happily departs for the ball.

After the ball, though, Lucette is in utter despair at having to return to the life she has led, and she runs into the forest to die beneath the "Fairies' Oak." Here follows a mystical scene in which the fairy and her spirit staff are in their own natural environment of moors, sea, and greenery. La Fée magically creates a wall of flowers and foliage that will allow Lucette and also the Prince, each separately come to ask her to end their torment at having been separated by the midnight chime, to express themselves without being visible to each other. Lucette, hearing a stranger in distress, offers to assume his own pain with hers, to ease his suffering; he in turn appreciating her gesture confesses his love for Cendrillon. Within their passionate empathy they realize that they know and deeply love each other. Together, they beg the fairy, much moved, to allow them to see each other, and she parts the branches. As spirits and dewdrops lull the lovers to an innocent sleep at the base of the oak, La Fée sings that they will believe this encounter all a dream when they wake again. Back home, Lucette insists upon seeing her Prince once more, when she hears that he has been fading away with despair at not being able to match the slipper to the right girl. La Fée appears silently at the end of that scene to whisk Lucette to the palace, where the Prince has indeed collapsed. There, La Fée commands, "Prince Charmant, rouvrez les yeux!" - "Prince Charming, open your eyes!" The very sight of Lucette (no shoe-fitting necessary) revives him. Throughout the opera, the fairy has served not so much as a wish-granter as an enabler, arranging situations that have allowed the lovers merely to speak their own hearts, for their dearest wish to be granted.

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