ABSTRACT
With Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s musical wowing audiences almost the world over (see Plate 8), why would a musician today want to draw inspiration from Les Misérables? Did the successes of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia (1833) and Verdi’s Rigoletto (1851) not also discourage other composers from adapting Hugo’s Lucrèce Borgia (1833) and Le Roi s’amuse (1832) into operas? Notre-Dame de Paris (1831), in contrast, has continually inspired musicians with varying degrees of success.1 Despite momentarily tempting Puccini, Les Misérables has not attracted a distinguished composer to turn it into a world-class opera. The novel has, however, been adapted for the screen at least 60 times, resulting in some universally acclaimed films. Raymond Bernard’s 1934 version is often considered the best (see Plates 15 and 17), yet its success has not dissuaded directors from offering new adaptations (see Gleizes, “Filmographie” 245-52). There is thus no reason why composers should not draw on the source of inspiration that the novel offers. But how would they adapt Les Misérables? How would such a work distinguish itself from its predecessors? And what would inspire the decision to embark on such a project? These are the types of questions that should be asked about new works that are based on an existing source.
