Hérodiade (Herodias / 1881 Massenet / Milliet, Grémont), opera & libretto

Brussels premiere (1881)

Marthe Duvivier as Salome (Brussels 1881)

Hérodiade <French> / Herodias (1881) is an opera by Jules Massenet (mus.), and Paul Milliet and Henri Grémont (libr.). Based on Hérodias (1877 Flaubert), novel.

Abstract

Deserted as a child by her mother Herodias, Salome is a slave of Herod Antipas, who lusts after her not knowing that the girl is his wife’s daughter. At the end, Salome would share the same destiny of death with John the Baptist of whom she is tenderly in love. An international success, performed in all major European theaters.

The Two librettists were Paul Milliet (1848-1924) and Henri Grémont (pseudonym of Georges Hartmann, 1843-1900)

Characters

• Salome (soprano)
• Herodias (mezzo-soprano)
• John the Baptist (tenor)
• Herod Antipas (baritone)

Editions, performances

Premiered in Brussels [Belgium]: Théâtre de la Monnaie, 19 December 1881. Massenet added some scenes for the Italian premiere in Milan in 1882. In 1882 the opera also premiered in Hungary (in Hungarian). It was then performed in France (1883) and Germany (1883). Finally, in 1884 Massenet revised the entire work and turned it into a 4-act grand-opera, which premiered in France (1884) and Italy (1886). The opera reached the United States (New Orleans) in 1892, Monaco and the United Kingdom (London) in 1904, Argentina in 1907 (in Italian), and Spain in 1924 (in Italian)

Brussels 1881 (world premiere; stage production)

• Brussels [Belgium]: Théâtre de la Monnaie, 19 December 1881.

• Marthe Duvivier (Salome); Blanche Deschamps-Jéhin (Herodias); Edmond Vergnet (John the Baptist); Théophile-Adolphe Manoury (Herod Antipas) -- Joseph Dupont (conductor)

Milan 1882, Italian ed. (stage production)

• Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy (23 February 1882).

• Medea Borelli (Salome); Elena Teodorini (Herodias); Ladislao Mierzwinski (John the Baptist); Gustavo Moriami (Herod Antipas) -- Franco Faccio (conductor).

• After the 1881 Brussels premiere, Massenet's Hérodiade was performed at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy. The original 3-act version was translated into Italian by Angelo Zanardini (Milan, Italy: Ricordi, 1882). The composer wrote two additional arias for this performances. See Libretto (1882).

Hamburg 1883, German ed. (stage production)

• Herodias, German ed. (1883 Massenet / @1881 Massenet), Hamburg production (opera) premiere: 20 January 1883, conducted by the Composer, in German translation by G. Fr. Reiss. Libretto published in Paris

Paris 1884, Italian ed. (stage production)

• Erodiade, Italian ed. (Herodias / 1884 Gialdini / @1881 Massenet), Paris production (opera)

Bologna 1886, Italian ed. (stage production)

• Erodiade, Italian ed. (Herodias / 1886 Mascheroni / @1881 Massenet), Bologna production (opera)

New Orleans 1892, Italian ed. (stage production)

• Hérodiade (Herodias / 1892 @ 1881 Massenet), New Orleans production (opera) French Opera House, 13 February 1892 with Cagniant, Dulin, Marthe Duvivier (Salome), Guillemot Rey, Rossi

Trieste 1902, Italian ed. (stage production)

• Erodiade, Italian ed. (Herodias / 1902 @1881 Massenet), Trieste production (opera) 18 January 1902 (15 repliche)

Monte Carlo 1903 (stage production)

• Hérodiade (Herodias / 1903 @1881 Massenet), Monte Carlo production (opera)

Paris 1903 (stage production)

• Hérodiade (Herodias / 1903 Luigini / @1881 Massenet), Paris production (opera)

London 1904 (stage production)

• Salomé = Hérodiade (Herodias / 1904 Lohse / @ 1881 Massenet), London production (opera)

New York 1909 (stage production)

• Hérodiade (Herodias / 1909 Fuente / @1881 Massenet), New York production (opera)

Turin 1910, Italian ed. (stage production)

• Erodiade, Italian ed. (Herodias / 1910 Serafin / @1881 Massenet), Turin production (opera)

Venice 1910, Italian ed. (stage production)

• Erodiade, Italian ed. (Herodias / 1910 Giarnieri / @1881 Massenet), Venice production (opera)

Paris 1911 (stage production)

• Hérodiade (Herodias / 1911 Amalou / @1881 Massenet), Paris production (opera)

Parma 1911, Italian ed. (stage production)

• Erodiade, Italian ed. (Herodias / 1911 Giarnieri / @1881 Massenet), Parma production (opera)

Paris 1921 (stage production)

• Hérodiade (Herodias / 1921 / @1881 Massenet), Paris production (opera)

1928 (sound recording)

• Hérodiade (Herodias / 1928 Cloëz / @1881 Massenet), sound recording (opera)

Paris 1931 (stage production)

• Hérodiade (Herodias / 1931 / @1881 Massenet), Edinburgh production (opera) -- Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland: 13 April 1931

1957 (sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1957 Wolff / @1881 Massenet), sound recording (opera)

1961 (sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1961 Etcheverry / @1881 Massenet), sound recording (opera)

New York 1963 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1963 Lombard / @1881 Massenet), New York production, sound recording (opera)

1963 (sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1963 Dervaux / @1881 Massenet), sound recording (opera)

1963 (sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1963 Prêtre / @1881 Massenet), sound recording (opera)

1974 (sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1974 Lloyd-Jones / @1881 Massenet), sound recording (opera)

New Orleans 1975 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1975 Andersson / @1881 Massenet), New Orleans production, sound recording (opera)

Wexford 1977 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1977 Stapleton / @1881 Massenet), Wexford production, sound recording (opera)

Barcelona 1984 (stage production; video recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1984 Delacôte / @1881 Massenet), Barcelona production, video recording (opera)

Nice 1987 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1987 Prêtre / @1881 Massenet), Nice production, sound recording (opera)

San Francisco 1994 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1994 Gergiev / @1881 Massenet), San Francisco production, sound recording (opera)

Toulouse 1994 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1994 Plasson / @1881 Massenet), Toulouse production, sound recording (opera)

New York 1995 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1995 Queler / @1881 Massenet), New York production, sound recording (opera)

Vienna 1995 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 1995 Viotti / @1881 Massenet), Vienna production, sound recording (opera)

Saint-Étienne 2001 (stage production; video recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 2001 Fournillier / @1881 Massenet), Saint-Étienne production, video recording (opera)

Liege 2002 (stage production; sound recording)

1. Hérodiade (Herodias / 2002 Lacombe / @1881 Massenet), Liege production, sound recording (opera)

Internal links

• Salome (music) -- Herodias (music) -- Herod Antipas (music) -- John the Baptist (music)

External links

• Wikipedia
• Herodiade