Messaline

Messaline (Messalina) is an operatic tragédie lyrique in four acts by Isidore de Lara. The librettists were Paul Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand.

Messaline
Tragédie lyrique by Isidore de Lara
The composer in 1907
Librettist	Paul Armand Silvestre Eugène Morand
Language	French
Premiere	21 March 1899 (1899-03-21) Opéra de Monte-Carlo

The opera premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 21 March 1899 where it was received enthusiastically. Messaline was de Lara's most successful opera and subsequent productions were performed throughout Europe, including the first opera by an Englishman to be mounted at La Scala in 1901. Other notable performances include Covent Garden in 1899, Paris Opéra in 1903, Warsaw in 1904, and Cairo in 1907. The opera made its United States premiere at the Metropolitan Opera on 22 January 1902. The opera remained a regular part of the repertory, particularly in France, until 1943.^[1]

Roles

Role[2]	Voice type[2]	Premiere Cast, 21 March 1899[3] (Conductor: Leon Jehin)
Messaline	soprano	Meyrianne Héglon
Harès	baritone	Max Bouvet
Hélion	tenor	Albert Alvarez
Herold	baritone
Kytharödin	soprano
Leuconoë	soprano
Gallus	bass	Léon Melchissédec
Myrrhon	baritone	Gabriel Soulacroix
Myrtille	baritone	Vinche
Tsylla	soprano
Tyndaris	soprano	Jane Leclerc

Synopsis

Setting: Rome, AD 45

The Empress Messaline loves Harès, a poet and then Hélion, his brother (who is a gladiator) with fatal results.