L'ancêtre
Music by Camille Saint-Saëns · libretto by Lucien Augé de Lassus · premiered 1906 · at Opéra de Monte-Carlo
L'ancêtre ("The Ancestor") is a 1905 drame lyrique in 3 acts by Camille Saint-Saëns to a libretto by Lucien Augé de Lassus (1841-1914).
The opera premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on February 24, 1906, and was directed by Raoul Gunsbourg and conducted by Léon Jehin. Celebrated soprano Geraldine Farrar created the role of Margarita. The vocal score, published in 1906 by Durand et Fils of Paris has a dedication to Albert I, Prince of Monaco.
The plot is set during the First French Empire in Corsica, which composer and librettist visited together, looking for local colour.
Text from the Wikipedia article "L", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (UK: , US: , French: [ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃(s)] 9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Second Piano Concerto (1868), the First Cello Concerto (1872), Danse macabre (1874), the opera Samson and Delilah (1877), the Third Violin Concerto (1880), the Third ("Organ") Symphony (1886) and The Carnival of the Animals (1886). Saint-Saëns was a musical prodigy; he made his concert debut at the age of ten. After studying at the Paris Conservatoire he followed a conventional career as a church organist, first at Saint-Merri, Paris…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Camille Saint-Saëns", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Camille Saint-Saëns
- Henry VIII (1627)
- Ascanio (1852)
- Déjanire (1898)
- Hélène (1904)