Hérodiade

Opera in four acts by Massenet to a libretto by P. Milliet, H. Grémont (G. Hartmann) and Zamadini after Flaubert (1881, Brussels).

Hindemith wrote a ballet (with recitation after Mallarmé) on the same story (1944).

Modern dance work in one act with choreography by Graham, music by Hindemith, set by Noguchi, and costumes by Edythe Gilfond. Premiered under the title Mirror Before Me on 28 Oct. 1944 at Library of Congress, Washington, DC, with Graham and O'Donnell. It is based on Mallarmé's poem and portrays Herodias, mother of Salome, as she looks into a mirror and, seeing images of her past and future life, struggles to come to terms with the prospect of age and death. Its New York premiere was on 15 May 1945 at the National Theater. Darrell choreographed a ballet on the same story, Herodias, for Scottish Theatre Ballet, 1970.

Operas by Jules Massenet

La grand'tante (1867) Don César de Bazan (1872) Le roi de Lahore (1877) Hérodiade (1881) Manon (1884) Le Cid (1885) Esclarmonde (1889) Le mage (1891) Werther (1892) Thaïs (1894) Le portrait de Manon (1894) La Navarraise (1894) Sapho (1897) Cendrillon (1899) Grisélidis (1901) Le jongleur de Notre-Dame (1902) Chérubin (1903) Ariane (1906) Thérèse (1907) Bacchus (1909) Don Quichotte (1910) Roma (1912) Panurge (1913) Cléopâtre (1914) Amadis (1922)

Hérodiade is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Paul Milliet and Henri Grémont, based on the novella Hérodias by Gustave Flaubert. It was first performed at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels on December 19, 1881.

The opera is a retelling of the story of John the Baptist, Salome, Herod Antipas and Herodias, but is strikingly less psychological and bloody than Richard Strauss's Salome. The opera premiered in Brussels because Vaucorbeil, Manager of the Paris Opera house refused to stage the work; "I do like your music," he had said to Massenet, "but as for the libretto, you badly need an author who knows how to build the skeleton of a play."

Principal characters

• Salomé (soprano)
• Hérodiade (mezzo-soprano)
• Jean (tenor)
• Hérode (baritone)
• Phanuel (bass)

Noted Arias

• Act I - Salomé: "Il est doux, il est bon"
• Act I - Hérodiade: "Ne me refuse pas"
• Act II - Hérode: "Vision fugitive"

References

• Hérodiade at Jules-Massenet.com
• Dorset Opera

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