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Andrea Chénier
Background: Andrea Chénier was a real poet who was guillotined three days before the end of the French Revolution.
André Chénier was born in Constantinople on 30 October 1762, the third son of Louis de Chénier, an officer at the French embassy. His mother was Greek. Moving to France as a child, Chénier proved popular in Paris salons and with women, but remained a sensitive poet who connected Greek classic literature with lyrical French poetry.
In 1789, he began a short career as a political journalist, fighting against anarchy, injustice, and tyranny. On 4 March 1794, he was arrested by mistake while visiting friends and taken to police headquarters in Luxembourg; he was subsequently sent to St. Lazare Prison where he spent the last months of his life. While there, he met the poet Jean-Antoine Roucher, Louise de Laval-Montmorency, abbess of Montmartre, and 23-year-old Aimée de Coigny, Duchess of Fleury, alias Citizeness Franquetot, who became his last muse. It is likely that in this appropriation, Chénier was reflecting awareness of upcoming doom, since Aimée proved to be less than an honorable ideal of pure love and womanhood he depicted.
André Chénier was sentenced to immediate death on 24 July 1794 and was executed with his friend Roucher.
Fast Facts: Andrea Chénier is an opera in four acts by Umberto Giordano to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica, based on the life of the French poet André Chénier (1762-1794).
The European premiere was at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1896.
Main Cast: Andrea Chénier (tenor), a poet; Carlo Gérard (baritone), a servant; and Maddalena di Coigny (soprano).
“The role of Chenier is tailor-made for him: there is something viscerally exciting about his platform presence.” Opera, UK May 1998
Last Updated: Sunday, June 18, 2006
© Copyright: Kira
