| Jules Massenet |
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Operas
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Le roi de Lahore ("The king of Lahore") is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet. It was first performed at the Palais Garnier in Paris on 27 April 1877.
Le roi de Lahore is Massenet's third extant opera and was his first major success in Paris, spawning performances across Europe and ensuring his place as the most popular composer of his time. Within a year of the world premiere the opera was performed, for instance, in (Turin), Rome, Bologna, and Venice. The Covent Garden presented it in 1879, and in 1906 it premiered in Monte Carlo[1].
By the time of the Metropolitan Opera premiere in 1924, however, Le roi de Lahore in particular, and Massenet's style of romantic opera in general, faded in fashion so much that it received only 6 performances that year alone and has never been revived there since.[2].
Contemporary performances include a revival by the Vancouver Opera in 1977 starring soprano Joan Sutherland and conducted by her husband Richard Bonynge. The same production was later mounted at the San Francisco Opera and subsequently recorded on the Decca label. Another more recent revival occurred at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 2005 under the baton of Marcello Viotti, a live performance of which was recorded and released on CD and DVD by Dynamic Italy in 2007.
Contents |
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 27 April 1877 (Conductor: Édouard Deldevez) |
|---|---|---|
| Sitâ[3], priestess of Indra | soprano | Josephine de Reszke |
| Kaled, the king's servant | mezzo-soprano | Jeanne Fouquet |
| Alim, King of Lahore | tenor | Marius Salomon |
| Scindia, Minister to Alim | baritone | Jean Lassalle |
| Timour, high priest of Indra | bass | Auguste Boudouresque |
| Indra, an Indian deity | bass | Georges-François Menu |
Selected recordings
| Year | Cast (Sitâ, Alim, Scindia) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Joan Sutherland, Luis Lima, Sherrill Milnes |
Richard Bonynge, National Philharmonic orchestra and chorus |
Audio CD: 433 851-2 Decca, DDD, total timing 146 min. |
| 2004 | Ana Maria Sanchez, Giuseppe Gipali, Vladimir Stoyanov |
Marcello Viotti, Teatro La Fenice orchestra and chorus |
Audio CD: Dynamic |
References
- ^ Historical performances found at G. Casaglia Almanac
- ^ Record of the Met premiere of Le roi de Lahore (with Review)
- ^ In some old productions her name was Nair
- Upton, George P.; Borowski, Felix (1928). The Standard Opera Guide. New York: Blue Ribbon Books. pp. 175–6.
External links
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