Frédégonde

Frédégonde is an 1895 French opera (drame lyrique) in five acts with music by Ernest Guiraud, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Paul Dukas and a libretto by Louis Gallet based on Augustin Thierry's Récits des temps mérovingiens [Tales from the time of the Merovingians] (1840).^[1][2]

Frédégonde
Opera by Ernest Guiraud, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Paul Dukas
Act 1 set design, a vast hall in a Gallo-Roman bath house, by Philippe Chaperon and his son Émile for the 1895 premiere
Librettist	Louis Gallet
Language	French
Based on	Récits des temps mérovingiens by Augustin Thierry
Premiere	18 December 1895 (1895-12-18) Opéra Garnier

Frontispiece for the vocal score by Paul Steck, 1895

The opera was incomplete upon Guiraud's death in 1892. He had only composed the first three acts (in short score), and these were subsequently fully orchestrated by Paul Dukas. The music for the fourth and fifth acts and the ballet in the third act was composed by Saint-Saens.^[1]

Performance history

Frédégonde was premiered by the Opéra at the Palais Garnier in Paris on 18 December 1895. The mise-en-scène was by Alexandre Lapissida, the costumes were designed by Charles Bianchini [Wikidata], and the choreography was by Joseph Hansen. The set designers for Act 1 were Philippe Chaperon and his son, Émile Chaperon; Act 2, Eugène Carpezat; Act 3, Marcel Jambon [Wikidata] and Alexandre Bailly; and Acts 4 and 5, Amable.^[3][4][5]

The opera only received nine performances, with the last on 14 February 1896. Guiraud's music was considered foreign to his style, and, although the music by Saint-Saens was deemed better, the result was a work that was very uneven.^[6]

The first modern revival took place at the Saigon Opera House on 20 October 2017. The production was a collaboration with Grenoble's La Fabrique Opéra, whose founder, Patrick Suouillot, conducted the Ho Chi Minh City Orchestra. The six main roles were sung by French singers, including Valerie Altaver as Brunhilda, Matthieu Lécroart as Hilpérick and Richard Bousquet as Mérowig. The opera was revived in Saigon because that is where Saint-Saens completed the score, which he had brought with him when he was on a trip to Indochina.^[7]

The opera was also performed by Theater Dortmund in 2021 (a video was made)^[8] and a concert performance was given by Opéra de Tours in June 2022.^[9]

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 18 December 1895 Conductor: Paul Taffanel[3][4]
Brunhilda, queen of Austrasia	soprano	Marie Lafargue [fr][10]
Frédégonde, queen of Neustria	mezzo-soprano	Meyrianne Héglon
Mérowig [fr]	tenor	Albert Alvarez
Hilpérik, king of Neustria, his father	baritone	Maurice Renaud
Prétextat, bishop	bass	René Fournets
Fortunatus	tenor	Albert Vaguet
Landéric	bass	Louis Ballard
Four Gothic seigneurs	basses	Euzet Denoyé Palianti Chancelier
A servant	baritone	Lacome

Recordings

Frédégonde was scheduled for revival by Theater Dortmund in May 2021 in partnership with the Palazzetto Bru Zane but cancelled due to the corona pandemic.^[11] The opera was finally performed and live streamed on 20 November 2021 with further performances.^[8]