''Frédégonde'' is an 1895 French opera (''drame lyrique'') in five acts with music by

Ernest Guiraud Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor *Ernest, M ...

, Camille Saint-Saëns, and

Paul Dukas Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...

and a libretto by

Louis Gallet Louis Gallet (14 February 1835 in Valence, Drôme Valence (, ; oc, Valença ) is a commune in southeastern France, the prefecture of the Drôme department and within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is situated on the left bank of the ...

based on Augustin Thierry's ''Récits des temps mérovingiens'' (1840).Lesley A. Wright (1992), "Guiraud, Ernest", vol. 2, p. 576, in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan. The opera was incomplete upon Guiraud's death in 1892. He had only composed the first three acts (in

short score Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, Ara ...

), and these were subsequently fully orchestrated by Paul Dukas. The music for the fourth and fifth acts and the ballet in the third act was composed by Saint-Saens.

Performance history

''Frédégonde'' was premiered by the

Opéra This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

at the Palais Garnier in Paris on 18 December 1895. The ''

mise-en-scène ''Mise-en-scène'' (; en, "placing on stage" or "what is put into the scene") is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, a ...

'' was by

Alexandre Lapissida Alexandre Lapissida (9 March 1839, Volkrange - 16 February 1907, Paris) was a French operatic tenor, producer, director and theatre manager. Life First singing at Strasbourg, he was taken on by Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1868, whe ...

, the costumes were designed by , and the choreography was by Joseph Hansen. The set designers for Act 1 were

Philippe Chaperon Philippe Chaperon (2 February 1823 – 21 December 1906) was a French painter and scenic designer, particularly known for his work at the Paris Opera. He produced stage designs for the premieres of numerous 19th-century operas, including Verdi's ...

and his son, Émile Chaperon; Act 2,

Eugène Carpezat Eugène Louis Carpezat (Paris, 4 November 1833 – Paris, 26 February 1912) was an acclaimed French scenographer in the Belle Époque. Career Carpezat was the son of lemonade makers Claude François Carpezat and Jacqueline Caniou. After conside ...

; Act 3, and Alexandre Bailly; and Acts 4 and 5, Amable.''Frédégonde'' piano-vocal score, 1895
Stéphane Wolff (1962; reprint 1983). ''L'Opéra au Palais Garnier (1875–1962)''. Paris: Deposé au journal L'Entr'acte . Paris: Slatkine (1983). p. 100. . The opera only received nine performances, with the last on 14 February 1896. Guiraud's music was considered foreign to his style, and, although the music by Saint-Saens was deemed better, the result was a work that was very uneven. The first modern revival took place at the

Saigon Opera House The Municipal Theatre of Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon Municipal Opera House ( vi, Nhà hát Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh), is an opera house in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is an example of French Colonial architecture in Vietnam. Buil ...

on 20 October 2017. The production was a collaboration with

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

's La Fabrique Opéra, whose founder, Patrick Suouillot, conducted the Ho Chi Minh City Orchestra. The six main roles were sung by French singers, including Valerie Altaver as Brunhilda, Matthieu Lécroart as Hilpérick and Richard Bousquet as Mérowig. The opera was revived in Saigon because that is where Saint-Saens completed the score, which he had brought with him when he was on a trip to

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

. The opera was also performed by

Theater Dortmund Theater Dortmund is a theatrical organization that produces operas, Musical theatre, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Dortmund, Germany. It was founded as the Stadttheater Dortmund in 1904. Supported by the German Government, the organiza ...

in 2021 (a video was made) and a concert performance was given by Opéra de Tours in June 2022.

Roles

Recordings

''Frédégonde'' was scheduled for revival by

in May 2021 in partnership with the Palazzetto Bru Zane but cancelled due to the corona pandemic."Frédégonde"
Bru Zane
Archive copy (25 July 2021)
The opera was finally performed and live streamed on 20 November 2021 with further performances."Frédégonde – Theater Dortmund"

Operabase Operabase is an online database of opera performances, opera houses and companies, and performers themselves as well as their agents. Found at operabase.com, it was created in 1996 by English software engineer and opera lover Mike Gibb.Edward Sc ...

. Retrieved 1 September 2022
"'Lost opera' Frédégonde opens at Theater Dortmund with Sergey Romanovsky as Mérowig - free live stream available!"
19 November 2021, Rayfield Allied
Archive copy (1 September 2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fredegonde Operas Operas by multiple composers Operas by Camille Saint-Saëns Operas by Paul Dukas French-language operas 1895 operas Operas based on literature Operas completed by others