About the work
Ariodant is an opéra comique in three acts by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, with a libretto by François-Benoît Hoffman based on the same episode from Ariosto's Orlando furioso that later inspired Handel's Ariodante. It premiered on 11 October 1799 at the Théâtre Favart in Paris.
Plot
At the court of King Edgard of Scotland, the knight Ariodant loves Princess Ina. The villain Othon deceives Ariodant with a staged nighttime encounter suggesting Ina's infidelity, and she is put on trial for unchastity; only her maid Dalinde eventually exposes Othon's conspiracy and his attempt on Ina's life.
Cultural significance
Méhul dedicated the score to his friend Luigi Cherubini. Scholars point to the dark night scene scored for solo cellos and unison basses and to a recurring reminiscence motif that anticipates the later leitmotiv technique; the work strongly influenced German Romantic opera, notably Weber's Euryanthe (1823).