La Navarraise

Dublin Core

Title

La Navarraise

Description

La Navarraise, or The Girl from Navarre, is a French verismo opera written by Jules Massenet circa 1894, with the libretto written by Jules Claretie and Henri Caïn. The opera's first worldwide premiere was at Covent Garden in London on 20 June 1894, with the poster depicting Emma Calvé as the heroine (see illustration).

The opera tells of a tragic love story between a woman, Anita, of unknown descent from Navarre, and a man, Araquil, a sergeant in the second Carlist war of 1874 against usurpers of the Spanish throne.

The main plot revolves around how Anita must seek a dowry of two thousand douros (an impossible amount for her!), required by Araquil's father to win the acceptance to marry the man of her love. Anita does this by seeking to assassinate the enemy's commander while suffering from Araquil's growing doubts about her. In the end, Araquil passes away from a wound on the battlefield while Anita turns mad.

La Navarraise was performed at the inaugural ceremony of the Saigon Municipal Theatre in 1900 for celebrating the architectural structure, finished in 1899, that remains - though restored after several changes - until nowadays.

References:

Naxos. n.d. "Navarraise, La. (The Girl from Navarre)". (10 April 2022).

Wikipedia. n.d. "La Navarraise". Last modified February 16, 2022 (10 April 2022).

Witts, Roger. 2008. "La Navarraise by Jules Massenet". Opera Plots. Last modified August 19, 2020 (10 April 2022).

Creator

Phan Thi Minh Anh

Rights

Citation

Phan Thi Minh Anh, “La Navarraise,” Augustus in Saigon!?, accessed November 21, 2024, https://augustusinsaigon.uni-trier.de/items/show/26.

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