Bacchus (opera)

Bacchus is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Catulle Mendès after Greek mythology. It was first performed at the Palais Garnier in Paris on 5 May 1909.

The story is based on the mythology surrounding Bacchus and Ariadne (Ariane). The Gods, among them demi-god Bacchus, appear in human form in ancient India to attempt to persuade the people away from the pervading Buddhist influence. Ariane has followed them, convinced that Bacchus is in fact Theseus, her unrequited love. In the end, Ariane sacrifices herself to save humanity and in doing so, Bacchus becomes a God.

Although not a proper sequel, as Ariane dies in both pieces, Bacchus is a companion to Massenet's earlier opera, Ariane. Of Massenet's twenty-five operas, Bacchus is probably the least known, without a modern performance history or single modern recording of even an excerpt.

The story of this opera is also related to that of Ariadne auf Naxos from Richard Strauss.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast[1] Conductor: Henri Rabaud
Bacchus	tenor	Lucien Muratore
Ariane	soprano	Lucienne Bréval
Queen Amahelli	mezzo-soprano	Lucy Arbell
Révérend Ramavacon	bass	André Gresse
Kéléyi	soprano	Antoinette Laute-Brun
Silène	baritone	Marcelin Duclos
Mahouda	baritone	Triadou
Pourna	tenor	Nansen
Ananda	baritone	Cerdan
Manthra, a mime	mute	Blanche Kerval
Clotho	spoken role	Brille
Perséphone	spoken role	Renée Parny
Andéros	spoken role	de Max
Chorus: Followers of Perséphone, Nuns, Monks, Warriors, Priests, Bassarides, Fauns, Bacchantes, Heavenly voices.

References

Notes

1. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005).[http://www.amadeusonline.net/almanacco?r=&alm_giorno=05&alm_mese=05&alm_anno=1909&alm_testo=Bacchus "Bacchus, 5 May 1909"]. Almanacco Amadeus (Italian).

External links

• Bacchus at Bob's Universe at the Wayback Machine (archived July 24, 2011)