Guercoeur 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 the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 composer Albéric Magnard

Albéric Magnard

Lucien Denis Gabriel Albéric Magnard was a French composer, sometimes referred to as the "French Bruckner", though there are significant differences between the two composers...

 to his own 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...

. It was first performed posthumously at the Paris Opéra

Palais Garnier

The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...

 on 24 April 1931, though it had mostly been written between 1897 and 1901. The composer died trying to save his house from the invading Germans at the beginning of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 in 1914 and the score was partially destroyed in the resulting fire. Magnard's friend Guy Ropartz reconstructed the missing sections so the opera could be staged. The music shows the strong influence of Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast Conductor: François Ruhlmann
Guercoeur	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Arthur Endrèze
Heurtal	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...	Victor Forti
Giselle	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...	Marisa Ferrer
La Verité	soprano	Yvonne Gall

Synopsis

Guercoeur, the wise ruler of a Medieval city-state, has died. In Heaven, he begs to be allowed to return to save his city. His wish is granted but he finds his best friend, Heurtal, has become the lover of his widow, Giselle, and is planning to rule as a despot.

Recordings

• Guercoeur José van Dam
  José van Dam
  Joseph, Baron van Damme , known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone.At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplomas and first prizes in voice and opera performance...
  
  , Hildegard Behrens
  Hildegard Behrens
  Hildegard Behrens was a German soprano with a wide repertory including Wagner, Weber, Mozart, Richard Strauss, and Alban Berg roles.-Biography:...
  
  , Gary Lakes
  Gary Lakes
  -Biography:Lakes was born in Woodward, Oklahoma, and raised in Irving, Texas. He made his professional debut with the Seattle Opera in the role of Froh in 1981 in Wagner's Das Rheingold, after attending Southern Methodist University...
  
  , Nadine Denize, Orféon Donostiarra, Toulouse Capitole Orchestra, conducted by Michel Plasson
  Michel Plasson
  Michel Plasson is a French conductor.Plasson was a student of Lazare Lévy at the Conservatoire de Paris. In 1962, he was a prize-winner at the International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors. He studied briefly in the United States, including time with Charles Münch...
  
  (EMI)

Sources

• Penguin Guide to Opera on Compact Discs (1993)
• Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
• Amadeus Online