Nephté

Nephté is an opera by the French composer Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opéra) on 15 December 1789. It takes the form of a tragédie lyrique in three acts. The libretto, by François-Benoît Hoffman, is set in Ancient Egypt but is based on the story of Camma, Queen of Galatia taken from the ancient historian Plutarch.

The plot concerns Nephté, Queen of Egypt, whose husband King Séthos has been murdered by his brother Pharès. The widowed queen seeks revenge with the help of the high priest Amédès. However, Pharès has the support of the army and aims to take the throne and to marry Nephté himself. He also threatens the life of Nephté's son. Eventually, Nephté agrees to marry Pharès but she poisons the wedding cup, killing both the usurper and herself and allowing her son to succeed to the throne as king of Egypt.

Hoffman based Nephté on the story of Camma, Queen of Galatia, which occurs in Plutarch's essay Virtues in Women Hoffman summarised Plutarch thus:

"Camma, daughter of Leonorius, married Silatus, King of Galatia. Sinorix, Silatus' kinsman, had him assassinated so he could seize his crown and his wife. As he was loved by the soldiers, he took the throne with ease; but Camma continued to maintain an inflexible resistance to him. Finally, the queen, abandoned by everyone, threatened by Sinorix, little respected by her rebellious people, was forced to give her hand in marriage to the murderer of her husband. But, faithful to her previous vows, and preserving in her heart as much love for Sinatus as horror for his murderer, she poisoned the wedding cup, and died with the usurper."

In his preface to the printed libretto, Hoffman noted that the story had been used before on the French stage. In 1661, Thomas Corneille (brother of the more famous Pierre) had presented his tragedy Camma, Reine de Galatie. However, Hoffman avoided using Corneille because, to suit the fashion of the times, Corneille had introduced love interest to the plot. The widowed queen is not devoted to her dead husband but in love with a young prince she wishes to make king in the usurper's place. Hoffman writes that he had preferred to "preserve the historical episode in all its purity", refusing such additions.

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