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Medea

Medea or Médée is a French opéra-comique based on Medea, a tragedy by Euripides and Médée, a play by Pierre Corneille. The opera is by Luigi Cherubini with the libretto by François-Benoît Hoffman. It first premiered in March 1797 at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris.

The opera wasn’t initially popular with the audience. In fact, even in the 20th century, opera companies used the Italian version of the opera instead of the original French. It was translated into Italian and German many times. These versions were popular throughout the 19th century.

This also meant that the original story and music changed with each translation. The 1909 version by Carlo Zangarini had Ester Mazzoleni in the lead role. This version was revived in 1953 for Maria Callas, with Vittorio Gui as the conductor. It became so famous that Maria Callas continued to be the lead singer in the opera throughout the 1950s and 60s.

Background Information and More

The opera is divided into three acts. The story is set in Corinth, an ancient city in Greece. Médée leaves her family to be in a relationship with Jason, and they have two kids. However, he abandons her to marry Dircé. Médée swears vengeance when Jason refuses to cancel the wedding and get back with her.

Médée’s slave, Néris, tells her to leave the city, and the king orders the same. However, she asks for a day to spend with her kids and sends two gifts to Jason and his would-be bride. Chaos ensues when Dircé dies because of the gift. Médée and her kids hid in a temple. Soon, two women bring Médée out with a knife in her hands. She kills her children, curses Jason, and disappears. The temple burns, and the crowd flees.

The opera companies have gone back to using Luigi Cherubini’s original music only in recent times. Furthermore, the last aria, which was lost for decades, was finally discovered by using an X-ray technique. The researchers at Stanford University and the University of Manchester worked on this project.

The original French version was revived and performed between 1984 and 1995. New York-based opera company, Opera Quotannis, presented the unabridged version in 1997 at the Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. Critics said that this performance shows the original Medea was a masterpiece and the other versions were a weak substitute.