''Éros vainqueur'' is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

or conte lyrique in 3 acts and 4 scenes by composer Pierre de Bréville. The work uses a French language

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 th ...

by the poet and novelist

Jean Lorrain Jean Lorrain (9 August 1855 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime – 30 June 1906), born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school. Lorrain was a dedicated disciple of dandyism and spent much of his time am ...

and was dedicated by Bréville to composer

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Pa ...

Performance history

The opera premiered on 7 March 1910 at the

Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (, ; , ; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is ho ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

with Sylvain Dupuis conducting. The original production was staged by Merle Forest and choreographed by François Ambroisiny. The original cast included mezzo-soprano

Claire Croiza Claire Croiza (14 September 1882 – 27 May 1946) was a French mezzo-soprano and an influential teacher of singers. Career Claire Croiza (née Conelly, or O'Connolly) was born in Paris, the daughter of an expatriate American father and an Italia ...

as Éros, soprano Mary Beral as Argyne, baritone Étienne Billot as the King, and bass Henri Artus as Cardinal-Évêque. In 1918,

Jane Bathori Jane Bathori (14 June 1877 – 25 January 1970) was a French mezzo-soprano. She was famous on the operatic stage and important in the development of contemporary French music. Life and career Born Jeanne-Marie Berthier, she originally studied ...

gave a concert performance of the opera at the Théâtre du Vieux Colombier in Paris. In 1932, the first staged performance in France was produced at the Opéra-Comique (Salle Favart) under the direction of Louis Masson.

Roles

*Argyne (soprano) *Tharsyle (soprano) *Éros (

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

) *Floriane (mezzo-soprano) *Lisbeth (mezzo-soprano) *Le roi (baritone) *Sénéchal (baritone) *Cardinal-évêque (bass) *Terkau (bass) *Capitaine des lansquenets (bass)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eros Vainqueur Operas French-language operas 1910 operas Operas by Pierre de Bréville Opera world premieres at La Monnaie