Le Roi de Lahore

Opera in five acts by Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
Libretto by Louis Gallet
based on a story from the Mahabharata

First performed at the Palais Garnier in Paris on 27th April 1877

Cast in order of appearance:

Chorus of people, priestesses, priests, temple servants, soldiers, celestial beings and the blessed.

The action takes place in India at the time of the eleventh century Islamic invasion.

Jules Massenet scored his first operatic success with Le roi de Lahore . Born in 1842, Massenet first came to notice as a writer of orchestral music, incidental music to plays and two very popular oratorios, work which saw him appointed to the Légion d'honneur as early as 1876. From the start of his career he had tried his hand at writing operas, but only two had reached the stage and neither won great popularity. The complete assurance Massenet displayed in Le roi de Lahore , therefore, came as a great surprise and audiences at the 1877 premiere were immediately won over by his melodies, skilful orchestration (especially his use of “exotic” touches) and strong dramatic sense. Italian audiences were particularly enthusiastic and it was mainly in Italian translation that Le roi de Lahore made its rapid way round the world's great opera houses.

The story is based on a popular Italian legend. Alim, the king of Lahore, has fallen in love with Sita, a priestess. She is the niece of Scindia, the king's first minister, who also wishes to marry her. When Alim dies in battle, Scindia seizes the throne. Alim's soul goes to paradise, where he cannot find happiness without Sita. The god Indra permits him to return to earth, not as king but as an ordinary man, and remain there as long as Sita lives. Alim's reappearance in the midst or preparations for Scindia's coronation creates a sensation, the priests hailing him as a messenger from heaven. Scindia forces Sita into marriage, but she takes refuge in the priestly sanctuary. She and Alim are briefly reunited, but Scindia's threats are too much for Sita and she stabs herself. Alim becomes a spirit once more and joins Sita in an eternity of happiness.

Le roi de Lahore is an example of an opera written early in a composer's career which has been overshadowed unfairly by the excellence of his later works. In Massenet's case the shadow is all the deeper because he found his true voice and greatest fame in intimate emotional dramas like Manon and Werther rather than Meyerbeerian grand operas like Le roi de Lahore , but it remains a beautiful score which deserves to be heard. Opera lovers who have enjoyed COG's performances of Thaïs , Hérodiade, Esclarmonde , Cendrillon and Don Quichotte are bound to find it makes for a rewarding evening.

© Simon Bainbridge 2014