About the work
Louise Bertin's grand opera in four acts premiered on 14 November 1836 at the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris, with Cornélie Falcon in the title role. Victor Hugo wrote the libretto himself, adapting his 1831 novel Notre-Dame de Paris — the only opera text he ever wrote.
Plot
In Paris in 1482, the dancer Esmeralda is caught between several men: Captain Phoebus loves her, while the archdeacon Frollo desires her and turns on her, having her falsely accused of Phoebus's murder. Unlike the novel, Hugo's libretto lets his heroine escape execution at the opera's close.
Cultural significance
The premiere turned into a scandal: opponents of the influential Bertin family shouted that Hector Berlioz had secretly composed the score, an accusation Berlioz publicly denied. Withdrawn after only six performances, the opera became Bertin's last for the stage, though she lived another forty years.