About the work
Héléna is a three-act opéra comique by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul to a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. It premiered on 1 March 1803 at the Théâtre Favart of the Paris Opéra-Comique.
Plot
Constantin, Count of Arles, is falsely accused of patricide and flees with his wife Héléna. Disguised as the shepherd "Petit Jacques", she lives with the farmer Maurice, who raises their son. Only once the real culprit is exposed can the family reveal its identity, and the opera ends happily.
Cultural significance
Bouilly was accused of modelling the plot too closely on Cherubini's "Les deux journées"; the opera nonetheless ran for 36 performances over 20 months. Méhul scholar Elizabeth Bartlet has suggested that Héléna's trumpet signal may have inspired the famous trumpet call in Beethoven's "Fidelio".