Sapho (opera)
| Sapho | |
|---|---|
| pièce lyrique by Jules Massenet | |
Poster by Jean de Paleologu for the premiere
|
|
| Librettist | |
| Language | French |
| Based on |
Sapho by Alphonse Daudet |
| Premiere | 27 November 1897 Opéra Comique, Paris |
Sapho is a pièce lyrique ("lyric play", an opera in a declamatory style) in five acts. The music was composed by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Cain and Arthur Bernède, based on the novel of the same name by Alphonse Daudet. It was first performed on 27 November 1897 by the Opéra Comique at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Place du Châtelet in Paris with Emma Calvé as Fanny Legrand. A charming and effective piece, the success of which is highly dependent on the charisma of its lead soprano, it has never earned a place in the standard operatic repertory.
In its first production in 1897 Sapho was presented in a heavily truncated form of four tableaux, due to the limited availability of Calvé, as well as the approaching death of Daudet (who was a close friend of Massenet), and the acting deficiencies of the tenor Lepestre, who was playing the romantic lead role of Jean Gaussin. The climactic scene in which Gaussin forces Sapho to burn letters from her former lovers had to be omitted. In April 1898 the tableau de l'oasis was added and some other additions were made to the score. In this initial run at the Opéra-Comique, the opera received 42 performances.
The letter scene was restored in a revised version in 6 tableaux, first performed on 22 January 1909 at the Salle Favart. The revival was produced by Albert Carré with decor by Amable and Lucien Jusseaume and costumes by Félix Fournery, and featured Carré's wife Marguerite Carré, who carried the show. It was revived again on 17 May 1916 and 23 February 1935 and had received a total of 126 representations by the time of its last performance at the Opéra-Comique in 1936.
The opera was first performed outside France on 14 April 1898 in Italian at the Teatro Lirico in Milan. This was followed by performances in 1898 in Geneva and 1899 in Lisbon, Alexandria, Algiers, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, and Bucharest. It was later given in Antwerp (1901), The Hague (1903), and Brussels (1903).
...
Wikipedia