About the work
Lyric drama in five acts to a libretto by Louis Gallet, left unfinished by Ernest Guiraud at his death in 1892 with three acts completed. Camille Saint-Saëns completed the opera by composing acts four and five and the third-act ballet, while Paul Dukas orchestrated Guiraud's portions; the work was first performed on 18 December 1895 at the Paris Opéra.
Plot
The plot is based on the story of the Merovingian queen Frédégonde: King Hilpéric and his wife Frédégonde strip Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia of her power. Hilpéric's son Mérowig falls in love with Brunhilda and secretly marries her; after a military defeat, the couple take refuge in a church. Frédégonde eventually forces Mérowig's banishment, and in despair he takes his own life.
Cultural significance
Audiences perceived a stylistic rift between Guiraud's and Saint-Saëns's contributions, and the opera closed after only nine performances in 1896. It received no modern revival until 2017, in Saigon — the city where Saint-Saëns had worked on completing the score during a journey through Indochina.