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| Offenbach: La princesse de Trébizonde – Anthony Flaum, Meriel Cunningham – New Sussex Opera in 2021 (Photo Colin Chapman) |
Under Léon Carvalho, the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris had something of a miracle period in the 1860s. In 1859 it produced the original version of Gounod’s Faust (with spoken dialogue), going on to then produce Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and Mireille, Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth and Berlioz’s Les Troyens à Carthage as well as the Paris premiere of Wagner’s Rienzi. So it was perhaps not surprising that Saint-Saens was intended to be on the list too.
He began Le timbre d’argent in 1864 and finished it a year later, but first the theatre’s financial difficulties and then the Franco-Prussian war rather delayed things and the opera was not premiered until 1877, by an entirely different theatre.
Described as an opéra fantastique, the libretto is by by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, who penned the librettos for Gounod’s Faust and Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, and Saint-Saëns’s opera serves as a significant link between these two.
In May 2025, UK audiences will get a chance to appreciate the work as New Sussex Opera will be presenting a production directed by Paul Higgins and conducted by Toby Purser (the same team as was in charge of their 2024 production, Lampe’s The Dragon of Wantley, see my review). Anthony Flaum will feature as Conrad with the remaining casting to be announced. The New Sussex Opera Chorus will be joined by St Paul’s Sinfonia, and the work requires a much larger orchestra than their recent productions.
New Sussex Opera will be presenting it in a newly commissioned English translation.
The first performance is in Lewes on 5 May, with subsequent performances in London, Eastbourne, Worthing, and Winchester.
Full details from New Sussex Opera’s website.
