About the work
Francesco Cilea's four-act opera was premiered in 1902 at the Teatro Lirico Milan and is based on a well-documented real person—the celebrated eighteenth-century French actress Adrienne Lecouvreur of the Comédie-Française. The libretto by Arturo Colautti adapts Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé's 1849 play and involves real historical figures including Voltaire and the Maréchal de Saxe.
Plot
Adriana Lecouvreur, celebrated star of the Comédie-Française, is in love with the soldier Maurizio—unaware that he is the Count of Saxony and also involved with the Princesse de Bouillon. The jealous Princess and Adriana, each aware of the other only by voice in the dark, confront each other obliquely. At a performance, Adriana recites Phèdre's speech on jealousy while staring directly at the Princess—the great performative revenge in all opera. The Princess responds by sending Adriana a bouquet of violets laced with poison. Adriana inhales the flowers, goes mad from the poison, and dies in Maurizio's arms as the Princess's revenge is complete.
Cultural significance
Adriana Lecouvreur is the one work of its composer to have achieved lasting international repertoire status and contains two arias that remain central to the dramatic soprano repertoire: Io son l'umile ancella and Poveri fiori. The title role has been a signature part for great Italian sopranos from Magda Olivero through Renata Tebaldi, Renata Scotto, and Mirella Freni, and more recently Angela Gheorghiu and Anna Netrebko. The opera combines verismo intensity with a slightly older melodic tradition, making it beloved by audiences devoted to big-voiced Italian singing.