About the work
Opera in four acts and ten tableaux by Jules Massenet after Pierre Corneille's tragicomedy 'Le Cid' (1637), with a libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery, Louis Gallet and Édouard Blau. It premiered on 30 November 1885 at the Paris Opéra in the presence of President Jules Grévy, with Jean de Reszke as Rodrigue.
Plot
The young knight Rodrigue kills the father of his fiancée Chimène in a duel after the man publicly insults him, sealing his own fate. While Chimène demands revenge, Rodrigue leads Spain's army to victory against the Moors and earns the honorary title 'Cid'. In the end the king grants him mercy and Chimène's hand.
Cultural significance
At the premiere, Le Figaro praised the 'dramatic temperament' now emerging from Massenet's sensuous orchestral writing. What endured best was the Spanish-flavoured ballet music; the opera itself reached some 150 performances by 1919 but then largely disappeared, not returning to the Paris Opéra stage until 2015.