''Cléopâtre'' is an opera in four acts by
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...
to a French
libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
by
Louis Payen. It was first performed at the
Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 23 February 1914, nearly two years after Massenet's death.
''Cléopâtre'' is one of three operas by Massenet to be premiered posthumously; the others are ''
Panurge'' (1913) and ''
Amadis'' (1922). The piece has seen limited revival since its premiere and has a modest modern recording history.
Performance history
Though the opera was written for the mezzo
Lucy Arbell, the role of Cléopâtre was created by the soprano
Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova. The
Chicago Opera Association presented the first American performance on 10 January 1916 with Kuznetsova. The first
New York performance was on 23 January 1919 with
Mary Garden. It was revived at the
Massenet Festival in
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...
in 1990 conducted by
Patrick Fournillier with
Kathryn Harries in the title role. This production yielded a live recording (on two CDs) issued by
Koch Schwann.
New York saw a revival of ''Cléopâtre'' on June 26, 1997 by Opera Manhattan at Alice Tully Hall with Marion Capriotti in the title role (having filled in for Florence Quivar at the last minute), conducted by Gabriel Guimarães. In 2004, a concert version was performed at the
Liceu in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
with
Montserrat Caballé
María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch or Folc (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), also known as Montserrat Caballé (i Folch), was a Spanish operatic soprano from Catalonia. Widely considered to be one of the best sopranos ...
. A concert performance conducted by
Vladimir Fedoseyev as part of the
Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2012 featured
Sophie Koch in the title role,
Ludovic Tézier as Marc-Antoine and
Véronique Gens as Octavie.
Rodney Milnes described the opera as "enjoyable, emotionally vigorous Massenet in his grand opera manner", and noted that "by this stage of his career (1912) the composer wasted little time with
grand opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on o ...
trappings - he gets through the plot (including obligatory ballet) in under two hours", while pointing out "the simplicity, the superb word-setting impress the most, as well as the clarity with which he delineates the opposing sound-worlds - sinuous
chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic scale, diatonic pitch (music), pitches and chord (music), chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses o ...
for Egypt, near-
Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
ian noblesse for Rome".
[Milnes, Rodney. Opera on disc - Cléopâtre, Massenet. '']Opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
'', February 1994, Vol.45 No.2, p248.
Roles
Synopsis
The story concerns the ill-fated love of
Cléopâtre and
Marc-Antoine. Marc-Antoine sees Cléopâtre for the first time following the conquering of Egypt and is instantly entranced by her beauty. Dismissing his obligations in Rome, Marc-Antoine goes with Cléopâtre, and even after returning to fulfill his promise of marriage to Octavia, he is lured back by lust and jealousy. Being told, falsely, that Cléopâtre has been killed, Marc-Antoine falls on his own sword and is then brought to Cléopâtre. As she watches him die by her side, she pulls a poisonous snake from a basket of fruit and clutches it to her breast.
Noted arias
* Act 3 – Cléopâtre: "J'ai versé le poison dans cette coupe d'or"
References
Notes
External links
LibrettoCD recording
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleopatre
Operas
1914 operas
French-language operas
Operas by Jules Massenet
Opera world premieres at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Operas set in ancient Egypt
Depictions of Cleopatra in opera
Cultural depictions of Augustus