About the work
An opera in four acts by Georges Bizet to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jules Adenis, based on Walter Scott's 1828 novel The Fair Maid of Perth. After his opera Ivan IV had been rejected, Bizet received the commission from Théâtre-Lyrique director Léon Carvalho in 1866; it premiered on 26 December 1867 at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris.
Plot
Blacksmith Henry Smith loves Catherine Glover, but on the eve of Saint Valentine's Day the Duke of Rothsay courts her. After confusions at a masked ball, a near-duel and a breakdown suffered by Catherine, the misunderstanding is resolved and the lovers are reunited.
Cultural significance
Critics faulted the libretto's conventional devices but praised Bizet's advance in construction and melodic invention over his earlier operas; after only eighteen performances the work had to be withdrawn for lack of available singers.