L'Aiglon (opera)

L'Aiglon is an operetta (drame musical) in five acts composed by Arthur Honegger and Jacques Ibert. Honegger composed Acts II, III, and IV, with Ibert composing Acts I and V.

The libretto by Henri Cain was based on Edmond Rostand's 1900 play, L'Aiglon ("The Eaglet"), about the life of Napoleon II, who was the son of Emperor Napoleon I and his second wife, Empress Marie Louise.

It premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 11 March 1937. The principal roles were sung by Fanny Heldy and Vanni Marcoux.

Synopsis

At the première in Monte Carlo in 1937: Fanny Heldy (seated), Arthur Honegger (3rd from left), Jacques Ibert (2nd from right), Vanni Marcoux (1st from right)

The Duke of Reichstadt (Napoleon II), with his faithful footman Séraphin Flambeau, escapes from Austrian imprisonment and visits the old site of the Battle of Wagram, before eventually dying of tuberculosis.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 11 March 1937 (Conductor: F. Wolfes)
L'Aiglon/The Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon	soprano	Fanny Heldy
Séraphin Flambeau, his footman	bass	Vanni Marcoux
The French attaché	tenor	Victor Pujol
Countess Camerata	contralto	Germaine Chellet
Le Chevalier de Prokesch-Osten	bass	Luigi Cérésole
Maréchal Marmont	baritone	Robert Marvini
Prince Metternich	bass-baritone	Arthur Endréze
Marie-Louise	mezzo-soprano	Mlle. Gadsden
Comte de Sedlinsky	tenor	Barone
Frédéric de Gentz	tenor	Fraikin
Thérèse de Lorget	soprano	Marie Branèze
Fanny Elssler	mezzo-soprano	Schirman

Sources

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "L'Aiglon". Amadeus Almanac Retrieved 14 June 2014 (Italian).
• Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4
• Spratt, Geoffrey K., The music of Arthur Honegger, Cork University Press, 1987, p. 544. ISBN 0-902561-34-0
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5