''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 era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

to a French

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") 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 the t ...

Louis Payen Albert Liénard, known as Louis Payen (1875 – 1927) was a French librettist. He was secretary general of the Comédie-Française. He wrote several librettos for Massenet, Kunc etc. Works *1908: ''La Victoire à Orange.'' Revival at the Arè ...

. 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 Panurge (from el, πανοῦργος / ''panoûrgos'' meaning "knave, rogue") is one of the principal characters in ''Gargantua and Pantagruel'', a series of five novels by François Rabelais. Especially important in the third and fourth books, ...

'' (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 Lucy Arbell (''née'' Georgette Gall, Georgette Wallace) (8 June 1878 – 21 May 1947) was a French mezzo-soprano whose operatic career was mainly centred in Paris and who was particularly associated with the composer Jules Massenet. Life and ...

, the role of Cléopâtre was created by the soprano

Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova (25 April 1966) (russian: Мария Николаевна Кузнецова, also spelled Maria Kuznetsova-Benois) was a 20th century Russian opera singer and dancer. Prior to the Revolution, Kuznetsova was one of ...

. The

Chicago Opera Association The Civic Opera Company (1922–1931) was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theatre from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financi ...

presented the first American performance on 10 January 1916 with Kuznetsova. The first

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

performance was on 23 January 1919 with

Mary Garden A Mary garden is a small sacred garden enclosing a statue or shrine of the Virgin Mary, who is known to many Christians as the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady, or the Mother of God. In the New Testament, Mary is the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Mary ...

. It was revived at the

Massenet Festival Massenet Festival (''Festival Massenet'') is a biennale festival of music by French composer, Jules Massenet held in Saint-Étienne, France, close to the area where the composer was born. The first Massenet Festival took place in November 1990 when ...

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

in 1990 with

Kathryn Harries Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: * Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher best known for her Disn ...

in the title role. This production yielded a live recording (''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 coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

with

Montserrat Caballé Montserrat Caballé i Folch or Folc (full name: María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch (, , ; (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), known simply as Montserrat Caballé, was a Catalan Spanish operatic soprano. She sang a wide va ...

. A concert performance conducted by

Vladimir Fedoseyev Vladimir Ivanovich Fedoseyev ( rus, Владимир Иванович Федосе́ев, p=, links=no; born 5 August 1932, in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian conductor, accordionist, teacher. People's Artist of the USSR (1980). ...

as part of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2012 featured

Sophie Koch Sophie Koch (born 19 February 1969) is a French operatic mezzo-soprano who made an international career, performing Rosina in Rossini's ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' at the Royal Opera House, the Composer in ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' by Richard Straus ...

in the title role,

Ludovic Tézier Ludovic Tézier (born 1968 in Marseille) is a French operatic baritone. Biography Ludovic Tézier trained at the Paris Opéra’s École d’Art lyrique and at the Centre National d’Artistes Lyriques. He was a prize winner at Operalia, The Wo ...

as Marc-Antoine and

Véronique Gens Véronique Gens (born 19 April 1966) is a French operatic soprano. She has spent much of her career recording and performing Baroque music, Baroque music. Gens was born in Orléans, France, and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning fir ...

as Octavie.Cleopatra – Im Labyrinth von Eros und Macht : Salzburger Pfingsfestspiele
accessed 10 August 2014.

Roles

Synopsis

The story concerns the ill-fated love of

Cléopâtre ''Cléopâtre'' is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto 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 ope ...

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

Libretto

CD 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