The Roman theatre of Orange before Les Barbares

The ancient theatre of Orange was built by the Romans in the first century of our era, and its restoration was carried out in the nineteenth century thanks to the work of two architects: Augustin Caristie (1783-1862) and later Jean-Camille Formigé (1845-1926). Its use as a venue for staged performances dates from the end of the Second Empire, by which time it had been partially restored. On 21 August 1869, under the auspices of Félix Ripert and Antony Réal, active members of the Félibrige (the regionalist movement founded by the poet and activist Frédéric Mistral), the first large-scale artistic event, a project entitled ‘Fêtes romaines’, was launched, intended to be devoted entirely to opera. The evening began with Joseph, a ‘drame lyrique’ of 1807 by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, a work that was then experiencing a revival at various theatres in France, having been restaged at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris in 1862. It was followed by the tomb scene from Roméo et Juliette by the Italian composer Nicola Vaccai, then the première of Les Triomphateurs, a secular cantata by the local Avignonnais composer Germain Fuzet Imbert (1812-1886) to a libretto by Orange-born Antony Réal. The leading roles were taken by renowned artists who travelled down from Paris: Genevois, a recent recruit of the Paris Opéra, Bataille, from the Opéra-Comique, and Mlle Palmyre Wertheimber (Théâtre-Lyrique). However, most of the singers, as well as the orchestra, conducted by Imbert, came from the theatre at Avignon.

From the CD-Book Les Barbares de Saint-Saëns (Palazzetto Bru Zane, collection Opéra français, 2014). Translation: Mary Pardoe.