'Le Pardon de Ploermel,' known in Italy and England as 'Dinorah,' shows
Meyerbeer in a pastoral and idyllic vein. The story is extremely silly
in itself, and most of the incidents take place before the curtain
rises. The overture is a long piece of programme music, which is
supposed to depict the bridal procession of Hoel and Dinorah, two Breton
peasants, to the church where they are to be married. Suddenly a
thunderstorm breaks over their heads and disperses the procession, while
a flash of lightning reduces Dinorah's homestead to ashes. Hoel, in
despair at the ruin of his hopes, betakes himself to the village
sorcerer, who promises to tell him the secret of the hidden treasure of
the local gnomes or Korriganes if he will undergo a year of trial in a
remote part of the country. On hearing that Hoel has abandoned her
Dinorah becomes insane, and spends her time in roving through the woods
with her pet goat in search of her lover. The overture is a picturesque
piece of writing enough, though much of it would be entirely meaningless
without its programme. When the opera opens, Hoel has returned from his
probation in possession of the important secret. His first care is to
find some one to do the dirty work of finding the treasure, for the
oracle has declared that the first man who shall lay hands upon it will
die. His choice falls upon Corentin, a country lout, whom he persuades
to accompany him to the gorge where the treasure lies hidden.
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