La circassienne

La circassienne (The Circassian Woman) is an opera (opéra comique) in three acts composed by Daniel Auber to a French-language libretto by Eugène Scribe based on Louvet de Couvrai's 1787 novel Une année de la vie du chevalier de Faublas. It was premiered on 2 February 1861 by the Opéra-Comique at the second Salle Favart in Paris. Set in Russia during the Russian-Circassian War, the opera was also known under the titles Morte d'amour (Died of Love), La révolte au Sérail (The Revolt in the Seraglio), Alexis, and Faublas.

La circassienne was one of Auber's last operas, composed when he was nearly 80 years old. His librettist, Eugène Scribe, had been Auber's regular collaborator since 1823 and had written the libretto for his greatest success, Fra Diavolo. The opera was premiered by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 2 February 1861 in a production directed by Ernest Mocker. In his review of the premiere for Le Ménestrel, Jacques Heugel praised the score as Auber's "most youthful, clever, and refined music", admirably adapted to Scribe's witty libretto and demonstrating once again that he was "the French musician par excellence". He went on to describe the opening night as "a true success" with the audience "in raptures". An English vocal score translated by Thomas Oliphant was published shortly after the premiere as were numerous parlour music versions and instrumental fantasies on the score by various composers, including Eugène Ketterer.

However, the opera's success proved to be short-lived. In October 1861 an adapted English version of La circassienne was given three performances by the Caroline Richings opera company in Philadelphia, but it received no performances in Europe outside France. It remained in the Opéra-Comique's repertoire for only one year with a total of 49 performances. In his reminiscences of an encounter with Auber shortly after the premiere, Wagner described it as "an uncommonly childish piece of patchwork, scarcely credible as coming from its grey-haired author" and wrote that Auber refused to talk about it, telling him "Ah, let us leave the farces in peace!" The opera's overture was still occasionally played as a concert piece in the late 19th century and was recorded in the 1970s by Arthur Dennington conducting the Modern Symphony Orchestra (released on the Rare Recorded Editions label).

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