ANDRÉ CHÉNIER

"André Chénier" was produced at La Scala, Milan, March 23, 1896. It was given in London, in English, April 26, 1903. Long before that, November 13, 1896, New York heard it at the Academy of Music, under Maples on. It had a single performance, under the management of Oscar Hammer stein, at the Manhattan Opera House in 1908, and eight years later was given by, and endured through the season of, the Boston-National Opera Company, both in Boston and on tour. Historical as a character though André Chénier be, Giordano's librettist, Luigi Illica, has turned his life into fiction. Chénier was a poet, dreamer, and patriot. Born at Constantinople, he went to Paris for his education. Later he became a participant in and victim of the French Revolution. Characters | André Chénier | Tenor | | Charles Gérard | Baritone | | Counte de Coigny | Soprano | | Madeleine, her daughter | Soprano | | Bersi, her maid | Mezzo-Soprano | | Roucher | Ba | | Mathieu | Baritone | | Madelon | Soprano | | Fléville | Tenor | | The Abbé | Tenor | | Schmidt, jailer at St. Lazare | Ba | | A Spy | Tenor | Guests at ball, servants, pages, peasants, soldiers of the Republic, masqueraders, judges, jurymen, prisoners, mob, etc. Time —Just prior to and during the French Revolution. Place —Paris. Act I. Ballroom in a château. Gérard , a servant, but also a revolutionist, is secretly in love with Madeleine , the Counte 's daughter. Among the guests at a ball is André Chénier , a poet with revolutionary tendencies. Madeleine asks him to improvise a poem on love. Instead, he sings of the wrongs of the poor. Gérard appears with a crowd of ragged men and women, but at the Counte 's command servants force the intruders out. Chénier and Madeleine , the latter weary of the routine of fashion, have been attracted to each other. Act II. Café Hottot in Paris, several years later. Chénier has offended the Revolutionists by denouncing Robes pierre. A spy is watching Bersi , Madeleine's old nurse, and sees her hand Chénier a letter. It is from Madeleine . She loves him. She is dogged by spies, begs him come to her aid, and arranges a meeting. Robes pierre pa es, followed by a mob. Gérard , now high in favour, seeks to po e Madeleine , who comes to meet the poet. They are about to flee, when Gérard , notified by the spy, interposes. Chénier and Gérard fight with swords. Gérard is wounded. The lovers escape. Act III. Revolutionary Tribunal. The crowd sings the "Carmagnole." Chénier has been captured. Gérard writes the indictment for his rival. Madeleine pleads for her lover, finally promising to give herself to Gérard if Chénier is spared. Gérard , moved by the girl's love, agrees to save Chénier if he can. At the trial he declares that the indictment against Chénier is false. But the mob, thirsting for more blood, demands the poet's death. Act IV. Prison of Lazare at midnight. Madeleine enters to Chénier with Gérard . She has bribed the jailer to allow her to substitute for another woman prisoner. If she cannot live for her lover, she can, at least, die with him. Together she and Chénier go to the scaffold. Two other operas by Giordano have been heard in America—"Fedora," after Sardou, Metropolitan Opera House, December 16, 1906, with Cavalier i and Caruso; and "Siberia," Manhattan Opera House, February 5, 1908. They have not lasted. modern Italian Opera