About the work
Don Sanche is Franz Liszt's only completed opera, which he composed at the age of thirteen to a libretto by Emmanuel Théaulon and de Rancé. The story is based on a tale by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian. The one-act opera premiered on 17 October 1825 at the Paris Opéra (Salle Le Peletier), conducted by Rodolphe Kreutzer.
Plot
The knight Don Sanche loves Princess Elzire, who does not return his feelings. The magician Alidor has built a castle that only loving couples may enter, and conjures a storm to lead Elzire there. To test her love, he stages a fight in which Don Sanche appears to be mortally wounded; only this sight moves Elzire's heart, allowing the couple to enter the castle together.
Cultural significance
After only four performances the opera disappeared from the stage for decades; the score was long thought lost until the musicologist Jean Chantavoine rediscovered it in the library of the Opéra Garnier in 1903. The first modern staged revival did not take place until 1977 in London, and the work saw a further revival during the Liszt bicentenary year of 2011.