La Juive

Opera in French language with German surtitles.

First performed in Paris in 1835, Halévy's La Juive stood very high in the public's favor for many decades. This is in no way surprising, because the composer, who was one of the most popular representatives of his art in his time, captivates his audience with music that is as opulent and elegant as it is emotionally charged, hitting the heart at the decisive moments.
At the same time, the audience experiences a plot that draws them into an intense emotional roller coaster. One suffers with the protagonist Rachel, whose happiness in life is destroyed by hatred and prejudice. And one follows the fate of Rachel's father, the Jewish goldsmith Eléazar, who is shattered by a long-kept secret that is connected to Rachel's true origins. On the surface, Halévy and Scribe's opera presents itself as a cross between Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore (The Troubadour) and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Nathan the Wise. But when one experiences this opera on stage, one quickly learns that Halévy takes an independent position on the themes of anti-Semitism, revenge, and forgiveness.