Esclarmonde
Music by Jules Massenet · libretto by Louis de Gramont · premiered 1889 · at Théâtre de la Ville
Esclarmonde (French pronunciation: [ɛsklaʁmɔ̃d]) is an opéra (French: opéra romanesque) in four acts and eight tableaux, with prologue and epilogue, by Jules Massenet, to a French libretto by Alfred Blau and Louis Ferdinand de Gramont. It was first performed at the Exposition Universelle on 15 May 1889 by the Opéra-Comique at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Place du Châtelet in Paris. Esclarmonde is perhaps Massenet's most ambitious work for the stage and is his most Wagnerian in style and scope. In orchestral coloring and structure of melody, however, it follows French traditions. The opera has been revived sporadically in the modern era, most notably during the 1970s with Joan Sutherland, conducted by Massenet champion Richard Bonynge. The role of Esclarmonde is notoriously difficult to sing, with challenging stratospheric coloratura passages.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Esclarmonde", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (French pronunciation: [ʒyl emil fʁedeʁik masnɛ]; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music. While still a schoolboy, Massenet was admitted to France's principal music college, the Paris Conservatoire. There he studied under Ambroise Thomas, whom he greatly admired. After winning the country's top musical prize, the Prix de Rome, in 1863, he composed prolifically in many genres, but quickly…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Jules Massenet", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Jules Massenet
- Cendrillon (1697)
- Don César de Bazan (1844)
- Hérodiade (1877)
- Grisélidis (1891)
- Chérubin (1905)
- Ariane (1906)
- Bacchus (1909)
- Don Quichotte (1910)