Thérèse is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 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 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 Jules Claretie. It was first performed at the Opéra in Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....

 on 7 February 1907, with Lucy Arbell

Lucy Arbell

Lucy Arbell , was a French mezzo-soprano whose operatic career was mainly centred in Paris, and who was particularly associated with the composer Jules Massenet.-Life and career:...

 in the title role. For the Paris premiere at the Opera Comique in 1911, Arbell and Clément repeated their roles, while the off-stage harpsichord in the minuet was played by Louis Diémer

Louis Diémer

Louis-Joseph Diémer was a French pianist and composer.- Life :Diémer studied at the Paris Conservatoire, winning premiers prix in piano, harmony and accompaniment, counterpoint and fugue, and solfège, and a second prix in organ...

.

Thérèse belongs to Massenet's later works that are considered outmoded for their date of composition, although the piece has spawned a number of recent revivals and recordings, most notably the 1973 recording with Huguette Tourangeau

Huguette Tourangeau

Huguette Tourangeau, is a French-Canadian operatic mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories.- Life and career :...

 in the title role, under the baton of Massenet champion, 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...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, February 7, 1907 (Conductor: Léon Jehin Léon Jehin Léon Jehin, born Spa, Belgium 17 July 1853, died Monaco 14 February 1928, was a conductor and composer, especially associated with musical life and the opera house in Monte Carlo.-Life and career:... )
Thérèse	mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...	Lucy Arbell Lucy Arbell Lucy Arbell , was a French mezzo-soprano whose operatic career was mainly centred in Paris, and who was particularly associated with the composer Jules Massenet.-Life and career:...
Armand de Clerval	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...	Edmond Clément Edmond Clément Edmond Clément was a French lyric tenor who earned an international reputation due to the polished artistry of his singing....
Morel	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Victor Chalmin
André Thorel	bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...	Hector Dufranne Hector Dufranne Hector Dufranne was a Belgian operatic bass-baritone who enjoyed a long career that took him to opera houses throughout Europe and the United States for more than four decades...
City official	baritone
Officer	tenor	Gluck
Another officer
A male and a female voice offstage; chorus: Soldiers.

Synopsis

The story takes place during the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 and concerns Thérèse, who is torn between duty and affection, between her husband André Thorel, a Girondist

Girondist

The Girondists were a political faction in France within the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention during the French Revolution...

, and her lover, the nobleman Armand de Clerval. Although she had decided to follow her lover into exile, when her husband is being led to execution she shouts "Vive le roi!" (Long live the king!) amid the frenzied crowd and is dragged to her husband's side and marched to the guillotine

Guillotine

The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...

.

External links

• Thérèse at Bob's Universe