Cigale is a divertissement

Divertissement

Divertissement is used, in a similar sense to the Italian 'divertimento', for a light piece of music for a small group of players, however the French term has additional meanings....

-ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

 in two acts by Jules Massenet

Jules Massenet

Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...

 to a scenario by Henri Cain

Henri Cain

Henri Caïn was a French dramatist, opera and ballet librettist. He wrote over forty librettos from 1893 to his death, for many of the most prominent composers of the Parisian Belle Epoque....

. It was first performed at the Opéra Comique

Opera Comique

The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 on February 4, 1904. The story is a retelling of the fable The Grasshopper and the Ant, in this case the grasshopper being a cicada and the ant referred to only as "La Pauvrette" (the poor little one). La Pauvrette, after being taken in, fed and fêted by La Cigale, is rude and heartless when the situation is reversed. Cigale is left to die in the snow at the close of the ballet. The music, recorded by conductor Richard Bonynge

Richard Bonynge

Richard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...

and available commercially, is astounding in its charm and vitality, if possibly outmoded for the date of composition. The ballet is rarely, if ever, revived and is not part of the standard ballet repertory.

Characters

• Female
  • Cigale
  • La Pauvrette
  • Le Petit Ami

• Male
  • Madame Fourmi
  • Le Garçon de Banque