''Hélène'' is a drame in four acts and five tableaux of 1891, with

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

words by

Paul Delair Paul Alexandre Delair (24 October 1842 – 19 January 1894) was a 19th-century French playwright, poet, chansonnier and novelist. An administrator at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, he took an active part to the organization of the Exposition univ ...

and incidental music by

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

.Wagstaff J. André Messager. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. The story, found by the author in the fait divers of a newspaper concerns a child, Hélène, who, learning that her father has been murdered by his mother, swears vengeance; there are shades of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. Starting with a first act march for returning soldiers, the authors of the ''Annales'' praised Messager's

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

, despite echos of

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

and particularly

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

and his '' L'Arlésienne''.Noel E & Stoullig E. ''

Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique ''Les Annales du Théâtre et de la Musique'' ("The Annals of Theatre and Music") was an annual French periodical which covered French dramatic and lyric theatre for 42 years, from 1875 to 1916. The volumes also covered concert series and ne ...

, 17eme edition, 1891.'' G Charpentier et Cie, Paris, 1886. The play was first performed at the

Théâtre du Vaudeville The Théâtre du Vaudeville was a theatre company in Paris. It opened on 12 January 1792 on rue de Chartres. Its directors, Piis and Barré, mainly put on "petites pièces mêlées de couplets sur des airs connus", including vaudevilles. Af ...

on 15 September 1891, running for only 16 performances. The cast included Brandès in the title role, Adolphe Candé, Marie Sammary, Laroche and André Michel, and the orchestra was conducted by Gabriel-Marie.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helene Incidental music 1891 operas