Music: Parīzes Dievmātes Katedrāle

Coppenole addresses the crowd

If you recall from my review of La Esmeralda (1836), I'm not an expert on music. I certainly am not an expert on opera. I like what I like. I probably am not ideal to ask about the quality of a composition or the flow of the lyrics. Especially because I do not speak a word of Latvian.

It would seem that this would be a disaster for me, right? Well no. I loved the music of Parīzes Dievmātes Katedrāle. That's not a word I tend to throw around loosely. The music moved me, in an emotional sense. The music is fully orchestrated, unlike a certain other stage version, and the voices of the singers are instruments on their own. The drama is made through the harmony of the both of them. It's also light when it needs to be, like during the election of the pope of fools and Phoebus's argument with what he thinks is a ghost.

My personal favorite pieces were the "Garden of Flowers" scene with Quasimodo and Esmeralda and the scene when Gudule grieves over her lost daughter. With my only reference being the often spotty subtitles, I think the lyrics are very well done. I couldn't even imagine someone trying to make an English translation. It seems like something that can only work in its native language.

I thoroughly enjoyed the music of Parīzes Dievmātes Katedrāle.

Next: Conclusion