8959DCA6-E0EB-4087-A12F-28F471DDD8A4

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ID8959DCA6-E0EB-4087-A12F-28F471DDD8A4
TitlecodeR01060
Title NameConcert Suite from Madame Bovary
Marketing CopyThe Don Freund/Jacques Cesbron ballet, Madame Bovary is based on the celebrated (and once notorious) mid-19th century novel by Gustave Flaubert. The score is divided into four parts with 20 sections; 9 of these are heard in this suite.
Instrumentation2(1d AFl)+Picc.2(1d EH).2(1d Eb Clar)+BCl.2(1d Cbsn).ASax: 4.3.3.1: Pno.Hp: Str
Commission(not set)
Dedication(not set)
Program NotesThe Don Freund/Jacques Cesbron ballet, Madame Bovary is based on the celebrated (and once notorious) mid-19th century novel by Gustave Flaubert. The score is divided into four parts with 20 sections; 9 of these are heard in this suite.

Part I
[1] Scene 1 – Con­vent School Rever­ies: We first meet Emma Roault in her early teens, steeped in the sen­sual mys­ti­cism of her con­vent school. She rev­els in the lan­guor of the incense, the col­ored light of the stained glass, the rit­ual of con­fes­sion. An old seamtress secre­tively brings the girls nov­els, which daz­zle Emma…
[2] Scene 2 – Romance Visions: “They were all love, lovers, sweet­hearts, per­se­cuted ladies faint­ing in lonely pavil­ions, horses rid­den to death on every page, gen­tle­men brave as lions, gen­tle as lambs…”
Emma, return­ing home from the con­vent, encoun­ters Charles Bovary, a sim­ple, unimag­i­na­tive, unex­cit­ing coun­try physi­cian called to her home to set her father’s bro­ken leg. Emma imag­ines Charles as the hero of her visions; she accepts his pro­posal of marriage.

Part II
Charles adores his bride, but Emma soon real­izes that her hus­band and her life are far removed from her roman­tic dreams. The dull rou­tine of the town-folk pass­ing by her win­dow con­trasts with visions from her nov­els.
[3] Scene 2 – The Invi­ta­tion: The somber mood is bro­ken by excite­ment over an invi­ta­tion from a Mar­quis for Charles and Emma to attend a ball at the château La Vaubyessard. The maid helps Emma pick out a gown.
The ball begins with a for­mal entry dance. Emma is entranced by the aris­to­cratic guests and the exotic con­ver­sa­tions. Charles appears awk­wardly out of place.
[4] Scene 4 – Slow Waltz: The waltz­ing begins slowly, ele­gantly…
[5] Scene 5 – Fast Waltz: A dash­ing dandy takes Emma’s hand, the room begins to whirl, and Emma nearly swoons with exhil­a­ra­tion. As the ball scene dis­si­pates, Emma is left to her mem­o­ries and fan­tasies, and is more than ever dis­en­chanted with Charles and her mun­dane life.

Part III
[6] Scene 1 – Infat­u­a­tion with Léon: Back home in their vil­lage, Charles intro­duces to Emma two char­ac­ters: Lheureux, the draper, who wishes to sell her expen­sive fin­ery and lend her money; and Léon, a young, starry-eyed law clerk, who falls in love with Emma. Their infat­u­a­tion is deeply felt, but Pla­tonic; Léon decides to leave for Paris, and Emma is bit­ter that she resisted his love.
[7] Scene 2 – The Fair / Rodolphe’s Advances: The town is abuzz as the regional agri­cul­tural fair begins; Charles re-introduces Emma to wealthy landowner (and heart­less wom­an­izer) Rodolphe Boulanger. While vis­it­ing dig­ni­taries and bureau­crats and Charles address the pub­lic, Rodolphe whisks Emma away from the crowd and woos her with Roman­tic clichés.
[8] Scene 3 – Seduc­tion in the For­est: With Charles’s naive bless­ing, Rodolphe takes Emma to the for­est for some fresh air. At first she fends off his advances, but soon yields, and savors the thrill of hav­ing a lover.
Emma is car­ried away with delight over her role as a mis­tress, and goes into debt buy­ing extrav­a­gant gifts for Rodolphe from Lheureux. She arranges secret rendez-vous at Rodolphe’s château, and demands that he prove his love by run­ning away with her. Rodolphe pre­tends to acqui­esce, and Emma buys expen­sive trav­el­ing attire from Lheureux. Back at his château, Rodolphe cyn­i­cally writes Emma a hack­neyed let­ter of farewell. When Emma receives Rodolphe’s let­ter her world collapses.

Part IV
Emma and Léon redis­cover their love. She becomes obsessed with her affair, mak­ing reg­u­lar trips to Rouen to see Léon, and buy­ing fin­ery from Lheureux. Emma’s love becomes more pas­sion­ate, wild, and vio­lent, over­whelm­ing Léon. Lheureux demands pay­ment on Emma’s debts, and the Bovary’s fur­ni­ture and effects are put on auc­tion. Emma implores first Léon and then Rodolphe (who has returned to his château) to res­cue her from her finan­cial dis­as­ter but they are unable or unwill­ing to help her. All her dreams are shat­tered; she runs to the apothe­cary shop, finds arsenic and eats it straight from her hand.
[9] Scene 6 – Throes of Death: As she is racked with pain from the poi­son, Emma finds her only solace in her visions of reli­gious pas­sion and the con­stant love of Charles, whose life with­ers with the loss of the wife he still sees as beau­ti­ful and guiltless.
Title Brand2
Year Composed1995
Copyright Number(not set)
Copyright Year(not set)
Duration40
Ensemble Size13
Date Created2008-10-31 20:24:08.000000
Date Updated2025-09-30 20:24:08
Inhouse Note(not set)
Bsc Code(not set)
Text Author(not set)
Premier Performance Memo(not set)
Recording Credits(not set)
Review(not set)
Awards(not set)
Title Category7
Title Movements(not set)
Title Grade(not set)
Set Series ID(not set)
Title Instrument Category TextFull Orchestra
Title Sub Category Text(not set)
Title Sub Category31
Title Instrument Header41
Title Grade Text(not set)
Clean Urlconcert-suite-from-madame-bovary-r01060