About the work
Benvenuto Cellini is Hector Berlioz's first opera, premiered on 10 September 1838 at the Paris Opéra. The libretto by Léon de Wailly and Auguste Barbier, with contributions from Alfred de Vigny, draws on episodes from the memoirs of the Renaissance sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. The technically demanding score overwhelmed singers and audience alike, and the Opéra withdrew the work after only a few performances.
Plot
During the Roman carnival of 1532, Cellini loves the goldsmith's daughter Teresa, whom her father has promised to his rival Fieramosca. A fatal incident amid the carnival chaos puts Cellini in danger of execution; Pope Clement VII pardons him only on condition that he complete his bronze statue of Perseus that same evening. Working against the clock, Cellini melts down his own artworks to save the casting and wins both his freedom and Teresa.
Cultural significance
Franz Liszt rescued the opera from oblivion in 1852 with a shortened German-language version for Weimar; the original version did not return to the stage until 1966, at London's Royal Opera House. Its overture supplied the material for Berlioz's independent concert piece Le carnaval romain.