About the work
La magicienne is a five-act grand opera by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, based on the legend of Mélusine. It premiered on 17 March 1858 at the Paris Opéra in the presence of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie; it was the last opera Halévy completed.
Plot
The fairy Mélusine has made a pact with the devil and falls in love with the knight René, newly returned from the Crusades, whom she magically turns against his betrothed Blanche. When the devil's agent Stello reveals Mélusine's true nature to René, he is overcome with remorse. In the final act, Mélusine resists the demons, embraces Christian faith and dies in Blanche's arms as a cross appears in the sky.
Cultural significance
Unlike the anticlerical La Juive, this opera places a Christian redemption story at its centre, which observers linked to the Second Empire's warmer relations with the Church; Hector Berlioz praised the score's power and grandeur, while other critics were disappointed. After 45 performances the work disappeared, returning only in 2011 in an abridged concert version in Montpellier.