Philémon et Baucis is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in three acts by Charles Gounod

Charles Gounod

Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:...

 with a libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by Jules Barbier

Jules Barbier

Paul Jules Barbier was a French poet, writer and opera librettist who often wrote in collaboration with Michel Carré...

 and Michel Carré

Michel Carré

Michel Carré was a prolific French librettist.He went to Paris in 1840 intending to become a painter but took up writing instead. He wrote verse and plays before turning to writing libretti. His libretto for Mirette was never performed in France but was later performed in English adaptation in...

. The opera is based on the tale of Baucis and Philemon

Baucis and Philemon

In Ovid's moralizing fable , which stands on the periphery of Greek mythology and Roman mythology, Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple in the region of Tyana, which Ovid places in Phrygia, and the only ones in their town to welcome disguised gods Zeus and Hermes , thus embodying the...

 as told by La Fontaine (derived in turn from Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...

's Metamorphoses Book VIII). The piece was intended to capitalise on the vogue for mythological comedy started by Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....

's Orpheus in the Underworld

Orpheus in the Underworld

Orphée aux enfers is an opéra bouffon , or opéra féerie in its revised version, by Jacques Offenbach. The French text was written by Ludovic Halévy and later revised by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux....

, but Philémon et Baucis is less satirically biting and more sentimental.

Originally intended as a two-act piece for the music festival at Baden-Baden

Baden-Baden

Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...

, it was instead first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique

Théâtre Lyrique

The Théâtre Lyrique was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century . The company was founded in 1847 as the Opéra-National by the French composer Adolphe Adam and renamed Théâtre Lyrique in 1852...

, Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 on 18 February 1860 because of the political situation in 1859

Second Italian War of Independence

The Second War of Italian Independence, Franco-Austrian War, Austro-Sardinian War, or Austro-Piedmontese War , was fought by Napoleon III of France and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia against the Austrian Empire in 1859...

. The new version added a middle act with chorus depicting Jupiter's destruction of the impious neighbours (by fire instead of flood) .

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 3 Act version, February 18, 1860 (Conductor: Adolphe Deloffre Adolphe Deloffre Louis Michel Adolphe Deloffre was a French violinist and conductor active in London and Paris, who conducted several important operatic premieres in the latter city, particularly by Charles Gounod and Georges Bizet.... )	Revised 2 Act version, 16 May 1876 (Conductor: Charles Constantin Charles Constantin (French conductor) Titus Charles Constantin was a French conductor, violinist and composer.He studied at the Paris Conservatoire and in June 1858 entered the composition class of Ambroise Thomas... )
Philémon	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Froment	Charles-Auguste Nicot
Baucis	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Marie Caroline Miolan-Carvalho Marie Caroline Miolan-Carvalho Marie Caroline Miolan-Carvalho was a famed French operatic soprano, particularly associated with light lyric and coloratura roles....	Marguérite Chapuy Marguérite Chapuy Marguérite Chapuy was a French operatic soprano, born 1850, the daughter of a former dancer at the Opéra, whose short professional career was concentrated on Paris but included appearances in London; she created several roles at the Opéra Comique....
Jupiter	bass	Charles Amable Battaille	Jacques Bouhy Jacques Bouhy Jacques-Joseph-André Bouhy a Belgian baritone, most famous for being the first to sing the Toreador Song in the role of Escamillo in Carmen....
Vulcan	bass	Mathieu Emile Balanqué	Alfred-Auguste Giraudet
Bacchante	soprano	Marie Sax

Act 1

Jupiter comes to Philémon's hut, accompanied by Vulcain, to seek refuge from a storm which the god himself has caused. He had come to earth to verify Mercury's tale of the people's badness, and finding this only too true, being received discourteously by people around, he is glad to meet with a kindly welcome at Philémon's door. This worthy old man lives in poverty but contentedly with his wife Baucis, with whom he has been married for sixty years. Jupiter, seeing at once that the old couple form an exception to the evil rule, resolves to spare them, and to punish only the bad people. The gods partake of the kind people's simple meal, and Jupiter, changing the milk into wine, is recognized by Baucis, who is much struck by this discovery. But Jupiter reassures her and promises to grant her only wish, which is to be young again with her husband, and to live the same life. The god sends them to sleep. There follows an intermezzo.

Phrygians are resting after a festival, bacchants rush in and wild orgies begin afresh. The divine is mocked and pleasure praised as the only god. Vulcain comes, sent by Jupiter to warn them, but they only laugh at him, mocking Olympus and the gods. Jupiter himself appears to punish the sinners, and a tempest arises, sending everything to rack and ruin.

Act 2

Philémon's hut is now a palace; he awakes to find himself and his wife young again. Jupiter, seeing Baucis' beauty, orders Vulcain to keep Philémon away while he courts her. Baucis, though determined to remain faithful to Philémon, nevertheless is flattered at the god's attentions, and dares not refuse him a kiss. Philémon witnesses it, and violently reproaches her and his guest; though Baucis suggests who the latter is, the husband does not feel inclined to share his wife's love, even with a god. The first quarrel takes place between the couple, and Vulcain hearing it, consoles himself with the reflection that he is not the only one to whom a fickle wife causes sorrow. Philémon bitterly curses Jupiter's gift; he wishes to go back to how he was, with peace of mind. Throwing down Jupiter's statue, he leaves his wife to the god. Baucis, replacing the image, which happily is made of bronze, repents her behaviour towards her husband. Jupiter finds her weeping and praying that the gods may turn their wrath upon herself alone. The god promises to pardon both, if she is willing to listen to his love. She agrees to the bargain on the condition that Jupiter shall grant her a favour. He consents, and she entreats him to make her old again. Philémon, listening behind the door, rushes forward to embrace the true wife and joins his entreaties to hers. Jupiter, seeing himself caught, would fain be angry, but their love conquers his wrath. He does not recall his gift, but giving them his blessing, promises never more to cross their happiness.