About the work
Grand opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne, based on an inset tale from Matthew Gregory Lewis's Gothic novel "The Monk" (1796). It premiered on 18 October 1854 at the Paris Opéra (Salle Le Peletier); Hector Berlioz had originally worked on the same libretto before abandoning the project in 1841.
Plot
In eleventh-century Prague, the feuding families of Rodolphe and his beloved Agnès stand opposed. Believing he is eloping with Agnès disguised as a ghost, Rodolphe in fact encounters the vengeful spirit of a murdered nun. Only when Rodolphe's own father is revealed as her killer and sacrifices himself for his son is the curse lifted, clearing the way for Rodolphe and Agnès to marry.
Cultural significance
Despite favourable reviews — Théophile Gautier praised the score's seriousness in "La Presse" — the work vanished from the stage for more than 150 years after its eleven 1854 performances, resurfacing only in a 2008 production at Theater Osnabrück.