Polyeucte () is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod. The libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, after the play of the same name (1643) by Pierre Corneille, about Saint Polyeuctus, an early Roman martyr in Armenia. Originally intended for the Salle Le Peletier in Paris, the premiere was delayed when that theatre was destroyed by fire in October 1873. The work eventually premiered in the new Palais Garnier on 7 October 1878.
The libretto is more faithful to its source than , Scribe's adaptation for Gaetano Donizetti, and Gounod hoped to express "the unknown and irresistible powers that Christianity has spread among humanity". The subject had occupied Gounod for some ten years. An initial delay was caused by the fire which destroyed the Salle Le Peletier. Further delay came about because the first draft remained in the hands of the jealous Georgina Weldon when Gounod left England in 1874 to return to Paris. He had to resort to a lawsuit before resigning himself to recomposing the work from memory, although towards the end of that endeavor, Weldon did return it.
The opera finally premiered at the Paris Opera's new house, the Palais Garnier on 7 October 1878, in stage sets designed by Jean Émile Daran (Act I), Louis Chéret (Act II), Auguste Alfred Rubé and Philippe Chaperon (Act III), Eugène Carpezat and Antoine Lavastre (Act IV), and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (Act V). Despite the splendid staging, the premiere was a failure – "the sorrow of my life", noted Gounod – and closed after 29 performances. Polyeucte's aria is sometimes heard in concert.
A 2004 co-production by Jean-Louis Pichon [with whom?] was seen that year in Martina Franca, then in 2006 in Saint-Etienne conducted by Laurent Campellone and Jean-Pierre Furlan in the title role.
Roles
Synopsis
Place: Melitene, the capital of ancient Armenia
Time: 3rd century AD
The subject is taken from Corneille's tragedy. The story, however, has here been somewhat differently treated. Félix, Proconsul of Armenia, has a daughter Pauline, who was at one time sought in marriage by the Roman general Sévère. Circumstances divided them, and Pauline gave her heart to Polyeucte, an Armenian Prince. At the opening the Christian faith is being propagated in Melitene, and Polyeucte has listened with a willing ear to the teachings of the new creed. Naturally the converts are subject to persecution, and a butchering is anticipated, when Sévère, who is approaching Melitene, after a successful campaign, enters in triumph.
Act 1
Pauline's chamber, with its private altar and its "household gods"
Pauline and her servants, Stratonice at their head, are in the room, while the mistress meditates before the altar. In answer to Stratonice, Pauline explains her melancholy by reference to a dream presaging evil; she says that she has seen Polyeucte bowing before Christian altars, and destroyed by the vengeance of Jove. However, he comes back, looking sad and oppressed, and his wife, demanding the reason, learns that certain Christians are doomed to death on the morrow. Pauline attempts to justify the sacrifice, but Polyeucte in return so manifests his sympathy with the victims, that her worst anticipations are realised, and she makes a passionate appeal, when Polyeucte reassures her, and speaks of the coming of Sévère, in whose honour the Christians are to perish. Pauline thought Sévère to be dead, and explains to her husband the relation in which they formerly stood. But Polyeucte has no fear of the meeting.
A public place in Melitene
An enthusiastic crowd awaits the victorious general, who is welcomed by Félix. Sévère assures the governor that he has brought with him fond remembrances, but Pauline at once defines the actual situation by introducing Polyeucte as her husband. The blow strikes home, and all present notice the agitation it causes.