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''La reine de Chypre'' (''The Queen of Cyprus'') is an 1841 grand opera in five acts composed by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. ==Performance history== ''La reine de Chypre'', first performed at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opéra on 22 December 1841 with Rosine Stoltz in the title role and Gilbert Duprez as Gérard, was regarded in its time as one of the composer's greatest achievements. Joseph Mazilier was the choreographer, and the ballet starred Adéle Dumilâtre, Natalie Fitzjames, and Pauline Leroux with Marius Petipa and Auguste Mabile.〔Pitou, pp. 1088–1090.〕 The publisher Maurice Schlesinger was reputed to have paid the enormous sum of 30,000 francs for the rights to the opera. The opera prompted an extended eulogy from Richard Wagner, who was present at the first night, in the ''Dresden Abend-Zeitung'', for which he was a correspondent. However, since the 19th century it has been rarely revived. The libretto, or a version of it, was used by several other composers within a three-year period: Franz Lachner (1841), Michael Balfe (1844), and Gaetano Donizetti (1843), whose ''Caterina Cornaro'' is based on an Italian translation. The historical background was well summarised by Wagner in his review: :() In the latter half of the fifteenth century, with predatory designs on the isle of ''Cyprus'', - then ruled by the French house of ''Lusignan'' - ''Venice'' hypocritically took the part of a prince of that house, whose right to the throne was disputed by his family, (), helped him to his crown, and sought to saddle him with its baleful influence by giving him for his wife ''Catarina'', daughter of the Venetian senator ''Andreas Cornaro''. This King died soon thereafter, and, as is generally supposed, by Venetian poison () Conspiracies came to a head to rob the royal widow of the regency over her son; Catarina's obstinate refusal to give up the reins of government, together with her spirited resistance, this time frustrated Venice's plan.〔Wagner, p. 213.〕 Now, adds Wagner, 'let us see how Herr Saint-Georges has used this historical find for a five-act ''lyric'' drama'. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「La reine de Chypre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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