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This is a complete list of operas by the French composer Jules Massenet (1842–1912). Several of Massenet's operas were premiered by the Opéra-Comique in Paris, first at the second Salle Favart (Favart 2), followed by the Théâtre Lyrique on the Place du Châtelet (Lyrique), and then the third Salle Favart (Favart 3).
| Title | Genre | Acts | Libretto | Premiere | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | ||||
| Esméralda | opéra | after Victor Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris | composed c. 1865, but unfinished | ||
| La coupe du roi de Thulé | opéra | 3 acts | Édouard Blau and Louis Gallet, based on Goethe's 1774 poem "Der König in Thule" | composed c. 1866, but unperformed | |
| La grand'tante | opéra comique | 1 act | Jules Adenis and Charles Granvallet | 3 April 1867 | Paris, Opéra-Comique (Favart 2) |
| Manfred | opéra | Jules Ruelle, after Byron's Manfred | composed c. 1869, but unfinished | ||
| Méduse | 3 acts | Michel Carré | composed 1870 | ||
| Don César de Bazan | opéra comique | 3 acts | Adolphe d'Ennery, Philippe François Pinel Dumanoir and Jules Chantepie, after Victor Hugo, Ruy Blas | 30 November 1872, revised 20 January 1888 | Paris, Opéra-Comique (Favart 2); revision Geneva |
| L'adorable Bel'-Boul | opérette | 1 act | Louis Gallet | 17 April 1874 | Paris, Cercle des Mirlitons |
| Les templiers | composed c. 1875, but lost | ||||
| Bérangère et Anatole | sainete | 1 act | Henri Meilhac and Paul Poirson | February 1876 | Paris, Cercle de l'Union artistique |
| Le roi de Lahore | opéra | 5 acts | Louis Gallet | 27 April 1877 | Paris, Opéra Garnier |
| Robert de France | drame lyrique | composed c. 1880, but unperformed, lost | |||
| Les Girondins | opéra | composed 1881, lost | |||
| Hérodiade; rev. as: Erodiade | opéra | 3 acts; rev.: 4 acts | Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann, after Gustave Flaubert, Hérodias, Nr. 3 der Trois Contes | 19 December 1881, revised 1 February 1884, | Brussels, Théâtre de la Monnaie, revision Paris, Théâtre Italien |
| Manon | opéra comique | 5 acts | Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, after Antoine François Prévost, L'histoire du chevalier Des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut | 19 January 1884 | Paris, Opéra-Comique (Favart 2) |
| Le Cid | opéra | 4 acts | Adolphe d'Ennery, Louis Gallet and Édouard Blau, after Pierre Corneille | 30 November 1885 | Paris, Opéra Garnier |
| Esclarmonde | opéra romanesque | 4 acts | Alfred Blau and Louis-Ferdinand de Gramont | 15 May 1889 | Paris, Opéra Comique (Lyrique) |
| Le mage | opéra | 5 acts | Jean Richepin | 16 March 1891 | Paris, Opéra Garnier |
| Werther | drame lyrique | 4 acts | Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann, after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Die Leiden des jungen Werther (German translation for Vienna: Max Kalbeck) | 16 February 1892 (in German), 16 January 1893 (in French) | Vienna, Hofopera; Paris, Opéra-Comique (Lyrique) |
| Thaïs | opéra | 3 acts | Louis Gallet, after the novel of the same name by Anatole France | 16 March 1894, revised 13 April 1898 | Paris, Opéra Garnier (and revised) |
| Le portrait de Manon | opéra comique | 1 act | Georges Boyer | 8 May 1894 | Paris, Opéra-Comique (Lyrique) |
| La Navarraise | épisode lyrique | 2 acts | Jules Claretie and Henri Cain, after Claretie, La cigarette | 20 June 1894 | London, Royal Opera House Covent Garden |
| Sapho | pièce lyrique | 5 acts | Henri Cain and Arthur Bernède, after Alphonse Daudet | 7 November 1897, revised 22 January 1909 | Paris, Opéra-Comique (Lyrique); revised Opéra-Comique (Favart 3); |
| Cendrillon | conte de fées | 4 acts | Henri Cain, after Charles Perrault, Cendrillon ou La Petite Pantoufle | 24 May 1899 | Paris, Opéra-Comique (Favart 3) |
| Grisélidis | conte lyrique | prologue and 3 acts | Armand Silvestre and Eugène Morand | 20 November 1901 | Paris, Opéra-Comique (Favart 3) |
| Le jongleur de Notre-Dame | miracle | 3 acts | Maurice Léna, after Anatole France, L'etui de nacre | 18 February 1902 | Monte Carlo, Opéra |
| Chérubin | comédie chantée | 3 acts | François de Croisset and Henri Cain | 14 February 1905 | Monte Carlo, Opéra |
| Ariane | opéra | 5 acts | Catulle Mendès | 31 October 1906 | Paris, Opéra Garnier |
| Thérèse | drame musical | 2 acts | Jules Claretie | 7 February 1907 | Monte Carlo, Opéra |
| Bacchus | opéra | 4 acts | Catulle Mendès | 5 May 1909 | Paris, Opéra Garnier |
| Don Quichotte | comédie héroïque | 5 acts | Henri Cain, after Jacques Le Lorrain, Le chevalier de la longue figure | 19 February 1910 | Monte Carlo, Opéra |
| Roma | opéra tragique | 5 acts | Henri Cain, after A. Parodi, Roma vaincue | 17 February 1912 | Monte Carlo, Opéra |
| Panurge | haulte farce musical | 3 acts | Maurice Boukay and Georges Spitzmüller, after François Rabelais, La vie inestimable de Gargantua and Faits et dits héroïques du grand Pantagruel | 25 April 1913 | Paris, Théâtre de la Gaîté |
| Cléopâtre | opéra | 4 acts | Louis Payen (A. Liénard) | 23 February 1914 | Monte Carlo, Opéra composed c. 1895 |
| Amadis | opéra légendaire | 4 acts | Jules Claretie | 1 April 1922 (composed c. 1895) |
Monte Carlo, Opéra |
Sources