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PH_Raymonda_Umschlag:PH_Raymonda_Umschlag 16.7.2010 14:25 Uhr Seite 1

PrologueJean de Brienne, a crusading knight from Provence, must go to war. As a pledge of his love, he giveshis bride-to-be Raymonda a scarf. Raymonda, her mother, Countess de Doris, and her aunt Sybille bidhim farewell.

Act One

Scene 1

Raymonda’s friends are celebrating her birthday. Sybille, Raymonda’s strait-laced aunt, inter-

rupts the festivities and admonishes the gathering that they should not forget the White Lady.

This mysterious figure, whose statue can be seen in the background, has always accompanied

the fortunes of the house of Doris, appearing to warn them at critical moments.

However, the young people ridicule Sybille and will not be dissuaded from dancing. A messen-

ger announces that Jean de Brienne will soon return to marry Raymonda. When Raymonda joins

the party, the news is brought to her. She shares her joy at the approaching wedding with her

guests.

An unexpected visitor appears: the Saracen Abderakhman with his retinue, including a lady of

his harem, Galiana. Word of Raymonda’s beauty has reached him, and he has come to pay her

his respects. He falls in love with her at once. From the hand of a child, he offers Raymonda

gifts,which she refuses. A chain decorated with a precious stone falls to the ground.

Raymonda’s friends, the troubadours Bertrand de Ventadour and Béranger, are mistrustful of the

importunate stranger, as are their fiancées, Raymonda’s friends Henriette and Clémence. Sybille

urges them that it is already late, and the guests withdraw. Only Raymonda’s four intimates re-

main with her. The scarf reminds her of her bridegroom-to-be. Finally, it is also time for the two

couples to leave. At that moment, the White Lady appears to transport Raymonda into the realm

of nocturnal visions.

Scene 2

Raymonda abandons herself to her dreams. The White Lady has Jean de Brienne appear to

her. However, without Raymonda being aware of it, Abderakhman, to whom she feels instincti-

vely attracted, takes the place of her bridegroom-to-be in the dream. The White Lady appears,

holding Abderakhman’s chain with the precious stone in her hand, and explains the meaning of

the dream to a dismayed Raymonda. Her thoughts return to Jean, whose scarf she still has with

her. The morning dawns. When Sybille, her mother and friends wake Raymonda, she is utterly

bewildered, but attempts to dissimulate her feelings.

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Act Two

Scene 1

Raymonda and her mother are presiding over a cour d’amour. A large crowd of guests has al-

ready gathered when Abderakhman once again appears with an even larger retinue and eagerly

pays court to Raymonda. Bernard and Béranger try to restrain him. Henriette and Clémence also

want to protect Raymonda. While the party is in full swing, Abderakhman attempts to abduct

Raymonda with the help of his men.

The abduction is thwarted by the appearance of Jean de Brienne, who has just arrived. Andre-

wII, King of Hungary, with whom he went towar, accompanies him. The king wants to avoid ge-

neral bloodshed. He defuses the situation by asking the two rivals to resolve their discord in

single combat. As a sign of her constancy, Raymonda places the scarf around Jean’s neck.

Although Abderakhman is in the ascendancy, the White Lady decides the conflict in favour of

Jean de Brienne. Forced to admit defeat, Abderakhman is marched off. Jean declares his love

to Raymonda.

Scene 2

The wedding is celebrated. Both a folk dance and a court dance from King Andrew II’s Hunga-

rian homeland are performed in his honour. The child from Abderakhman’s retinue gives Ray-

monda the chain with the precious stone as a wedding present. Raymonda cannot ward off a

fleeting moment of melancholy, and her wistful air shows us that her marriage to Jean de

Brienne cannot satisfy all her desires.

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