Eliza, ou Le voyage aux glaciers du Mont St Bernard (Eliza, or The Journey to the Glaciers of Mont St Bernard) is an opéra-comique

Opéra-Comique

The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...

 in two acts by Luigi Cherubini

Luigi Cherubini

Luigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....

 with a French libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by Jacques-Antoine de Reveroni de Saint-Cyr. It was first performed at the Théâtre Feydeau

Théâtre Feydeau

The Théâtre Feydeau, , a former Parisian theatre company, was founded in 1789 with the patronage of Monsieur, Comte de Provence , and was therefore initially named the Théâtre de Monsieur...

, 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 13 December 1794.

Cherubini made great use of local colour in his music for Eliza. Its setting in the Swiss Alps

Swiss Alps

The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....

 was probably inspired by the contemporary popularity of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...

. The score includes a ranz des vaches

Ranz des Vaches

A Ranz des Vaches or Kuhreihen is a simple melody traditionally played on the horn by the Swiss Alpine herdsmen as they drove their cattle to or from the pasture...

, a traditional melody played by Swiss herdsmen. Eliza marked an important stage in the development of French Romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

 and was also popular in Germany. Cherubini's musical evocation of nature (nightfall, the storm) influenced Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....

, who was particularly fond of the opera.

Roles

Cast	Voice type	Premiere, 13 December 1794
Eliza	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Julie-Angélique Scio Julie-Angélique Scio Julie-Angélique Scio was a leading French soprano. Born in Lille as Julie-Angélique Legrand, she married the composer Etienne Scio. She made her debut in Paris in 1792...
Laure, her chambermaid	soprano
Florindo, a painter from Genoa	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Pierre Gaveaux Pierre Gaveaux Pierre Gaveaux was a French operatic tenor and composer, notable for creating the role of Jason in Cherubini's Médée and for composing the first operatic version of the story that later found fame as Fidelio....
Germain, his servant	bass
The Prior of the Hospice of Mont Saint Bernard	bass	Jean-Blaise Martin Jean-Blaise Martin Jean-Blaise Martin, full name Nicolas Jean-Blaise Martin was a French operasinger whose tessitura lay between tenor and baritone, which became later known as "baryton-martin"....
A mountain guide	soprano
Michel, a muleteer	tenor

Synopsis

Florindo and Eliza are in love but Eliza's father forbids the couple to marry. Florindo and his servant Germain travel to the Great Saint Bernard Pass where they are welcomed by the prior of the local monastery. Florindo receives a letter which makes him believe that Eliza is now engaged to another man. He sets off for the nearby glacier

Glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

, intending to kill himself. Eliza arrives at the monastery bringing news of her father's death which will enable her to marry Florindo. She finds his farewell note and goes to rescue him with the help of the monks and mountain guides.
A violent storm blows up and starts an avalanche which engulfs Florindo, but the monks save him and he is finally reunited with Eliza.