CYRANO

Opera in four acts by Walter Damrosch. Book by William J. Henderson after the drama by Edmond Rost and. First performance on any stage at the Metropolitan Opera House, February 27, 1913, with Pasquale Amato as Cyrano , Frances Alda as Roxane , and Riccardo Martin as Christian . Characters | Cyrano de Bergerac | Baritone | | Roxane | Soprano | | Duenna | Alto | | Lise | Soprano | | A Flower Girl | Soprano | | Ragueneau | Tenor | | Christian | Ba | | De Guiche | Ba | | Le Bret | Ba | | A Tall Musketeer | Tenor | | Montfleury | Ba | | First Cavalier | Ba | | Second Cavalier | Tenor | | Third Cavalier | Ba | | A Cadet | Tenor | Act I. Interior of the Hôtel de Bourgogne. Act II. "The Poet's Eating House," Ragueneau's cook and pastry shop. Act III. A small square in the Old Marais. Act IV, Scene 1. Entrenchment at the siege of Arras. Scene 2. A convent garden near the field of battle. Rost and's play was first produced, October, 1898, by Richard Mans field, and repeated in subsequent seasons. In 1900 it was given in French by Bernhardt and Coquelin. The libretto of the opera follows the play closely. Mr. Henderson retained and succe fully remodelled the main incidents of the drama. The operatic version begins at the Hôtel de Bourgogne where "La Clorise" is to be played. Cyrano orders the leading actor off the stage because he has dared to cast insolent glances at his cousin Roxane , whom Cyrano loves but dares not woo because of the deformity of his hideous nose. Roxane , from a box, sees in the audience the man with whom she has fallen in love, although she has never met him. Cyrano fights a duel with De Guiche , a married suitor of Roxane , and pricks him in the arm. Elated at the prospect of a meeting with his cousin arranged through her duenna, Cyrano rushes off to disperse one hundred men who are waiting to kill one of his friends. In Act II, Cyrano is at Ragueneau's shop waiting for his cousin. He writes an ardent love letter, intending to give it to her. His hopes are high, but they are dashed to the ground when Roxane tells him of her love for Christian , who is to join her cousin's regiment that day. Cyrano promises to watch over Christian . He bears his insults and agrees to woo Roxane for Christian by his wit and verse. He even sacrifices his own love letter. In Act III, Christian rebels at the second-hand love-making. But when Roxane is disgusted with his common places he is glad to turn again to Cyrano . Under cover of night, Cyrano courts Roxane beneath her balcony. She is delighted and rewards her lover with a ki . De Guiche sends a priest with a letter in which he attempts to gain an interview with her. Roxane tells the priest that the letter contains an order for him to perform the marriage ceremony. While Cyrano keeps De Guiche outside the lovers are married. In revenge, De Guiche orders the Gascon regiment of which Cyrano and Christian are both members to the war. In the last act, Roxane visits the entrenchment at the siege of Arras. Her carriage is driven by the faithful Ragueneau . Cyrano's love letters, ostensibly from Christian , have prompted her coming. Her husband realizes that the man she really loves is Cyrano , although she believes it to be Christian . He leaves the cousins alone, urging Cyrano to tell the truth. He is soon brought back, mortally wounded. Cyrano a ures him that he has told Roxane of the deception and that Christian is the man she loves. The second scene takes place in a convent. Cyrano , wounded and dying, visits Roxane . He begs to see her husband's last letter. Forgetting himself, he recites it in the dusk. Thus he betrays his love. But when Roxane realizes the truth he denies it, "dying," as he declares, "without a stain upon his soldier's snow-white plume."