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L'Aiglon
Drame musical by Arthur Honegger Jacques Ibert
At the première in Monte Carlo in 1937: Fanny Heldy (seated), Honegger (3rd from left), Ibert (2nd from right), Vanni Marcoux (1st from right)
Translation	The Eaglet
Librettist	Henri Cain
Language	French
Based on	L'Aiglon by Edmond Rostand
Premiere	11 March 1937 (1937-03-11) Opéra de Monte-Carlo

L'Aiglon is an opera (drame musical) in five acts composed by Arthur Honegger and Jacques Ibert. Honegger composed acts 2, 3, and 4, with Ibert composing acts 1 and 5. A 2016 reviewer described it as "a singular piece of work" with its "blend of operetta, divertissement, conversation piece, historical pageant and, in the disturbingly powerful fourth act set on the Napoleonic battlefield at Wagram, phantasmagoria peopled with living figures onstage and dead voices off".

Background

The libretto by Henri Cain was based on Edmond Rostand's 1900 play, L'Aiglon ("The Eaglet"), about the life of Napoleon II, who was the son of Emperor Napoleon I and his second wife, Empress Marie Louise.

It premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo on 11 March 1937 in a production by Pierre Chéreau. The principal roles were sung by Fanny Heldy and Vanni Marcoux.

At the Paris Opera that August, Heldy repeated her performance alongside Vanni-Marcoux under François Ruhlmann. The work was revived there in 1952 with Géori Boué in the title role under André Cluytens.

The work was revived in February 2016 at the Opéra de Marseille with Stéphanie d'Oustrac in the title role and conducted by Jean-Yves Ossonce.

A 1956 French radio recording with Boué conducted by Pierre Dervaux was later issued on CD, and a full studio Decca recording under Kent Nagano, following concert performances in Montreal, was released in 2016.

Roles

Synopsis

The Duke of Reichstadt (Napoleon II), with his faithful footman Séraphin Flambeau, escapes from Austrian imprisonment and visits the old site of the Battle of Wagram, before eventually dying of tuberculosis.

References

1. Max Loppert. Review of Decca recording of L'Aiglon. Opera, July 2016, Vol 67, No 7, p. 913.
2. ^ L'Aiglon Archived 2022-10-15 at the Wayback Machine, art-lyrique.fr, accessed 24 June 2016.
3. Laurent, François. "Le petit prince ". Diapason No. 645, April 2016, p. 60.

Further reading

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "L´Aiglon, 11 March 1937". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
• Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4
• Spratt, Geoffrey K., The Music of Arthur Honegger, Cork University Press, 1987, p. 544. ISBN 0-902561-34-0
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5

v t e Arthur Honegger
List of compositions Discography
Operas and operettas	L'Aiglon Antigone Les aventures du roi Pausole
Orchestral works	Symphony No. 1 Symphony No. 2 Symphony No. 3 Symphony No. 4 Symphony No. 5 Pacific 231 Pastorale d'été
Concertante	Concerto da camera
Instrumental music	Danse de la chèvre
Vocal music	A Christmas Cantata Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher Le Roi David
Film music	Le Capitaine Fracasse Cavalcade d'amour The Idea Mayerling Napoléon La Roue
Collaborations	L'Album des Six La guirlande de Campra Les mariés de la tour Eiffel
Related articles	Harry Halbreich Les Six Neoclassicism Poetic realism Revolt (ballet)
Category

• Opera

• Operas
• French-language operas
• 1937 operas
• Operas set in the 19th century
• Operas set in Austria
• Operas by multiple composers
• Operas by Arthur Honegger
• Operas by Jacques Ibert
• Opera world premieres at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo
• Adaptations of works by Edmond Rostand
• Operas based on real people
• Operas based on plays
• Cultural depictions of Klemens von Metternich
• Cultural depictions of Napoleon II
• Cultural depictions of Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma