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Adrien defeats the Parthians and falls in love with captive princess Émirène, though he is engaged to Sabine. He ultimately frees Émirène’s father and allows her to marry Prince Pharnaspe; after becoming emperor, Adrien asks Sabine to become his empress and makes peace with the Parthians.
The original version of Méhul and Hoffmann’s opera retained Hadrian’s imperial title and included a triumphal scene. Authorities banned its planned 1792 performance amid political tensions; Méhul later revised the work, removed “emperor” from the title, and cut the triumphal march.
Princess Ina loves the knight Ariodant, but her rejected suitor Othon plots to ruin her with her maid Dalinde. Othon deceives Ariodant and the king by having Dalinde impersonate Ina, leading to Ina’s arrest. At trial, Dalinde appears in disguise, exposes the scheme, and tells how Ariodant saved her from Othon’s men.
On Salamis, the poet Bion welcomes Agénor and Cratès to his home. Agénor and Nysa, whom Bion freed from slavery and raised, fall in love, though Nysa worries that she owes Bion a debt. Bion pretends to leave and says he will marry Nysa on his return. When he interrupts their wedding, he reveals that he knew of their love and staged events to test them. He blesses their marriage.
Méhul's four-act opera adapts Jean-François Marmontel's novel Les Incas. Its roles include Ataliba, king of Quito; Alonso, a Spanish general; Cora; and her parents Zémor and Zélia.
Andrea Doria plots to free Genoa from its foreign governor, using his wedding to conceal the conspiracy. He warns the governor to flee, but Vivaldi betrays him and he is imprisoned. Doria's supporter Sporta leads the people to besiege the fortress. Sporta kills the governor during the rescue, and Doria's younger brother kills Vivaldi.
Adrien defeats the Parthians and falls in love with captive princess Émirène, though he is engaged to Sabine. He ultimately frees Émirène’s father and allows her to marry Prince Pharnaspe; after becoming emperor, Adrien asks Sabine to become his empress and makes peace with the Parthians.
The original version of Méhul and Hoffmann’s opera retained Hadrian’s imperial title and included a triumphal scene. Authorities banned its planned 1792 performance amid political tensions; Méhul later revised the work, removed “emperor” from the title, and cut the triumphal march.
Princess Ina loves the knight Ariodant, but her rejected suitor Othon plots to ruin her with her maid Dalinde. Othon deceives Ariodant and the king by having Dalinde impersonate Ina, leading to Ina’s arrest. At trial, Dalinde appears in disguise, exposes the scheme, and tells how Ariodant saved her from Othon’s men.
On Salamis, the poet Bion welcomes Agénor and Cratès to his home. Agénor and Nysa, whom Bion freed from slavery and raised, fall in love, though Nysa worries that she owes Bion a debt. Bion pretends to leave and says he will marry Nysa on his return. When he interrupts their wedding, he reveals that he knew of their love and staged events to test them. He blesses their marriage.
Méhul's four-act opera adapts Jean-François Marmontel's novel Les Incas. Its roles include Ataliba, king of Quito; Alonso, a Spanish general; Cora; and her parents Zémor and Zélia.
Andrea Doria plots to free Genoa from its foreign governor, using his wedding to conceal the conspiracy. He warns the governor to flee, but Vivaldi betrays him and he is imprisoned. Doria's supporter Sporta leads the people to besiege the fortress. Sporta kills the governor during the rescue, and Doria's younger brother kills Vivaldi.
Euphrosine, one of three orphaned girls under the tyrant Coradin’s guardianship, seeks to reform him by marrying him. The jealous Countess of Arles turns Coradin against Euphrosine and encourages him to poison her, but Euphrosine feigns death; remorseful, Coradin prepares to kill himself before she reveals she is alive and forgives him.
Méhul's three-act opera concerns the love affair of King Henri IV of France and Gabrielle d'Estrées. It was removed from the repertoire after its sixth performance; accounts differ over whether this was due to the work's weakness or political reasons.
During an Etruscan siege, Horatius vows to defend Rome’s new republic. He guards the bridge while Roman forces cut it down, plunging into the Tiber but surviving. Mucius Scaevola recounts his failed assassination attempt and self-punishment; impressed, Porsenna abandons his conquest, and Publicola returns with the freed captives, including Horatius’s son.
Constantin, count of Arles, is falsely accused of murdering his father. He and his wife Héléna flee, entrusting their young son to a farmer. Héléna later hides with the farmer in disguise, while Constantin returns to Arles and is hunted by the new count Edmond. The people threaten Héléna and her son unless Constantin surrenders. Edmond then reveals that his own father, Romuald, confessed to the murder on his deathbed, clears Constantin's name, and the opera ends happily.
In Madras, Amélie lives with her husband under the name Joanna, while he works as a carpenter under the name Charles. Charles grows jealous of the young officer Édouard and challenges him to a duel. The governor intervenes and discovers that Charles and Édouard are both his sons. Édouard is only lightly wounded, and the brothers embrace.
Years after his brothers sold him into slavery, Joseph has risen to power in Egypt under the name Cleophas. During a famine, his brothers come to his palace for food without recognizing him. He learns that Jacob has also come to Egypt, and Simeon admits the brothers’ crime to their father. Joseph and Benjamin plead for mercy; Jacob relents, and Joseph reveals his identity and secures sanctuary for his family.
Méhul's one-act opéra bouffon premiered at the Opéra-Comique in 1803 and received only two performances.
The hot-tempered Pandolphe plans to disinherit his nephew Lysandre and marry Isabelle to his former tutor, Balouard. With help from Scapin and Nérine, Isabelle feigns fickleness so Balouard rejects the match; after a drunken diversion and escape from confinement, Lysandre and Isabelle win Pandolphe’s blessing.
Villagers prepare to celebrate Nazir and Amasie's wedding, but news arrives that the Saracens are ravaging the land. They postpone the wedding and, inspired by a knight carrying Charles Martel's oriflamme, take up arms and sing patriotic hymns before going to battle.
Alvar plans to elope with Léonore, but a coach accident delays him. Her fiancé, who is Alvar's friend, offers him a sedan chair. Meanwhile, Gil Blas robs Léonore's uncle Ambrosio. In a robbers' cavern, Gil Blas frees the kidnapped Léonore, and she and her rescuers escape. In the forest, the characters reunite amid gunshots, and the story ends to everyone's satisfaction.
Méhul's three-act opéra comique was a major success at the Opéra-Comique and helped remedy the theatre's financial problems. It was later revived in a German translation in Berlin.
Méhul's one-act French comédie lyrique was composed in 1797–1798, but its planned 1799 staging was prevented by political censorship.
This three-act opéra bouffon by four composers premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1803 and ran for four performances.
At an imagined congress in Prussia, European monarchs plan to divide France. Cagliostro and six women secretly manipulate the gathering, while staged ghosts foretell revolution. French patriots seize the palace, the monarchs flee in disguise, and the patriots celebrate the republic and the fall of tyranny.
This two-act comédie mêlée de musique is based on an episode from the life of Henri IV of France. Its overture, known as La chasse du jeune Henri, depicts a hunt from dawn to the killing of a stag; the opera itself has no plot summary in the source.
Cliton, a teenager intent on appearing wise, wants to arrange a marriage between his libertine father Merval and the sensible Rose, while he plans to marry Rose’s prudish aunt Élise. Rose is secretly in love with Cliton, so Merval persuades his son to marry her while he takes Élise; after comic confusion, Élise accepts the arrangement.
An Austrian commander abducts Corine, the wife of the boatman Paolo. Distraught, Paolo joins the French, who demand that the commander surrender the fort. During the French assault, the courage of a reluctant officer, aided by Paolo, wins the battle. Corine is freed, and Paolo is made a captain.
Méhul's one-act opéra comique features Guillaume IX, Count of Poitou and Duke of Aquitaine; Bérenger, his troubadour; and members of the Touraille family. The opera had a short initial run of 13 performances.
Dorval loves Lucile, but her uncle Géronte forbids their relationship while seeking to buy Dorval's house cheaply. Crispin exploits Géronte's habit of eavesdropping by inventing a story about a buried treasure in Dorval's cellar. Géronte buys the house to claim the treasure, but the chest is empty except for a note praising work and thrift. Dorval agrees to cancel the sale if Géronte permits his marriage to Lucile; news that Dorval's father has made a fortune helps secure the uncle's consent.
This three-act opera concerns the reconciliation of two warring peoples and centers on the Amazons and the founding of Thebes. Its intended allegory was the peace between France and Austria.
The opera's characters include two blind musicians, Nuguez and Don Brusco; Mendoce, who poses as Pedro and as their pupil; Flora, Nuguez's niece; and Jacinthe, the musicians' housekeeper.
Mélidore and Phrosine plan to elope, but her brothers oppose their marriage. After Mélidore appears to kill Aimar, he disguises himself as a dead hermit and secretly guides Phrosine to him with a nightly beacon. A storm extinguishes the light; Jule mistakes his torch for it and leaves Phrosine to drown, but Mélidore rescues her, and the brothers finally consent to the marriage.
Persée et Andromède (Perseus and Andromeda) is a French ballet-pantomime created in 1810 by Pierre Gardel and performed at the Opéra de Paris.
Prince Antiochus falls ill from love for Stratonice, who is intended to marry his father, King Seleucus. The physician Erasistratus discovers the cause and helps the king understand it; Seleucus gives Stratonice to his son to save his life and happiness.
Florival loves Armantine, the ward of painter Cerberti. Florival first tries to approach Cerberti disguised as a Flemish art merchant, but is discovered. His valet then persuades Cerberti to use Florival as a model for a painting of Bayard with Armantine. After their identities are revealed, Florival and Armantine insist on their choice, and Cerberti consents to their marriage.
Du Puy’s comic opera was created for the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen after a planned production of Méhul’s Une folie was cancelled. It uses Jean-Nicolas Bouilly’s French libretto for that opera, translated into Danish. The entry gives no plot summary.
Uthal seizes the lands of his father-in-law Larmor. Malvina, Uthal’s wife and Larmor’s daughter, is torn between them and tries to prevent a war. Uthal loses the battle and is sentenced to exile. When Malvina offers to follow him, Uthal admits his wrongdoing and reconciles with Larmor.
In late 14th-century Milan, Valentina loves Louis of Orléans, though her father Gian Galeazzo is at war with the French. After the French defeat Milan, Valentina persuades her father to accept peace. Louis is shot during treaty negotiations, nearly rekindling the war. Valentina disguises herself to find a pharmacist who saves him. The true assassin is exposed as an agent of Burgundy, and Valentina and Louis marry.
Epicurus loves his pupil Aspasia but believes she sees him only as a friend. Four suitors for her hand suspect Epicurus and denounce him to the Areopagus. In prison, his philosophy helps him and converts his warder; he also dreams of Wisdom. At trial, Aspasia exposes the accusers' motives, Epicurus is acquitted, and he pardons them.