''Le roi de Lahore'' ("The king of

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

") is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in five 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 Gallet Louis Gallet (14 February 1835 in Valence, Drôme – 16 October 1898) was a French writer of operatic libretti, plays, romances, memoirs, pamphlets, and innumerable articles, who is remembered above all for his adaptations of fiction —and ...

. It was first performed at the

Palais Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on 27 April 1877 in costumes designed by Eugène Lacoste and settings designed by Jean Émile Daran (Act I, scene 1),

Auguste Alfred Rubé Auguste Alfred Rubé (20 June 1817 – 13 April 1899) was a French painter. Biography Born in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, Rubé was an innovator in the field of theatrical set design. This "decorator of rare ingenuity", focused on a local ...

and

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 ...

(Act I, scene 2; Act V), Louis Chéret (Act II),

Jean-Baptiste Lavastre Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (24 August 1839 – 24 April 1891) was a French landscape painter and scenic designer. Biography A student of Édouard Desplechin as soon as 1854 when he was only fifteen (and then his associate from 1864 to 1870), J ...

(Act III), Antoine Lavastre and

Eugène Louis Carpezat Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

s of his time.

Performance history

Within a year of the premiere the opera was performed, for instance, in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. The

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, presented it in London in 1879, and in 1906 it premiered in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

. The US premiere took place in 1883 at the

French Opera House The French Opera House, or ''Théâtre de l'Opéra'', was an opera house in New Orleans. It was one of the city's landmarks from its opening in 1859 until it was destroyed by fire in 1919. It stood in the French Quarter at the uptown lake corner o ...

in New Orleans. By the time of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

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 six performances and has never been revived there since.Record of the Met premiere of ''Le roi de Lahore'' (with Review)
/ref> Contemporary performances include a revival by the

Vancouver Opera Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada. Its mainstage performances occur in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, other venues in Vancouver and occasionally els ...

in 1977 starring

Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s. She possessed ...

and conducted by

Richard Bonynge Richard Alan Bonynge ( ) (born 29 September 1930) is an Australian conductor and pianist. He is the widower of Australian dramatic coloratura soprano Dame Joan Sutherland. Bonynge conducted virtually all of Sutherland's operatic performances ...

. The same production was mounted at the

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when he ...

and subsequently recorded. A more recent revival occurred at the

Teatro La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (, "The Phoenix") is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th century, La Fenice bec ...

in 2005 under the baton of

Marcello Viotti Marcello Viotti (29 June 195416 February 2005) was a Swiss classical music conductor, best known for opera. Viotti was born in Vallorbe, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland, to Italian parents. He studied cello, piano and singing at the ...

, a performance of which was released on CD and DVD.

Roles

Synopsis

:Time: 11th century.

Act 1

:Place: The temple of Indra,

The citizens of Lahore gather at the temple to pray for divine protection against the Moslem invaders, and receive encouragement from Timour, the high priest. Scindia, minister of King Alim is in love with Sita, his niece, who is also a priestess at the temple. Scindia asks Timour to release Sita from her vows, and points out that she has been meeting a young man. In Indra's sanctuary, Scindia gets Sita to admit her interest in this young stranger, but she refuses to name him; Scindia accuses her of sacrilege, and the priests demand that she sing the evening prayer to lure the young man. A secret door opens and a young man appears: it is King Alim who confesses his love and asks for Sita's hand in marriage. Timour demands that the king expiate his actions by leading his army against the Muslims. Scindia schemes to arrange an ambush and kill the king.

Act 2

:Place: The desert of Thôl At the king's encampment, where Sita has followed and pitched camp near the king as she awaits his return from the fighting, resolved to declare her love for him. The soldiers have been routed. Scindia gets them to join with him to usurp the throne. Alim enters, wounded, and realizes that Scindia must have betrayed him, he dies in Sita's arms. Scindia returns and triumphs over Alim's body; he declares himself the king and leaves for Lahore with Sita prisoner.

Act 3

:Place: The Paradise of Indra,

Mount Meru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritu ...

There are songs and dances by the apsaras. Alim’s soul arrives but he admits to Indra that he misses the presence of Sita. Indra takes pity and agrees to restore Alim to life – as the humblest of beings – for as long as Sita lives, after which they will both die together; Alim happily agrees.

Act 4

:Place: a palace room in Lahore Sita laments her fate and begs Indra to re-unite her with Alim. Fanfares announce the approach of Scindia, and she renounces the crown, praying for death. :Place: the palace square Alim awakens back in Lahore at the entrance to the royal palace where the crowd is gathering for Scindia's coronation. Scindia enters, on his way to persuade Sita to marry him, but a vengeful vision blocks his path. Alim appears to the onlookers like a poor madman, and is ordered to be seized, but Timour says that he must be a visionary inspired by god. As Sita's palanquin enters, Scindia welcomes her as his queen.

Act 5

:Place: The sanctuary of Indra Sita has sought refuge in Indra's sanctuary having fled forced marriage with Scindia. Alim is admitted to the sanctuary by Timour and the lovers meet again. Scindia arrives and threatens them both; Sita stabs herself and at once Alim again becomes a spirit, thus foiling the designs of Scindia. The temple walls change into a vision of paradise and Sita and Alim are united in celestial happiness, while Scindia falls to the ground in terror.

Recordings

References

;Notes ;Sources *

External links

* *
Le roi de Lahore
': Visual documentation of the premiere o
Gallica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roi De Lahore, Le Operas by Jules Massenet French-language operas Operas 1877 operas Opera world premieres at the Paris Opera Lahore in fiction Operas set in Pakistan Operas set in India