About the work
La caverne is a three-act opéra comique by Étienne-Nicolas Méhul to a libretto by Nicolas-Julien Forgeot, based on episodes from Alain-René Lesage's novel "Gil Blas". It premiered on 5 December 1795 at the Paris Opéra-Comique.
Plot
The greedy canon Ambrosio is abandoned by his niece Léonore, who flees with her lover Alvar and falls into the hands of a band of robbers in their cave. Gil Blas, who also lives among the robbers, helps rescue her; when the robber chief Rolando discovers he is related to Léonore, he repents, and Gil Blas is able to overpower the band with the help of reinforcements.
Cultural significance
Méhul's version competed with Jean-François Le Sueur's hugely popular opera of the same title and subject, already premiered in 1793, and was overshadowed by it, managing only 22 performances. Even so, Méhul, with his innovative orchestration, ranks among the defining opera composers of the Revolutionary era, his influence reaching as far as Beethoven, Weber and Berlioz.