About the work
Opera in five acts by Édouard Lalo to a libretto by Édouard Blau, drawing on a Breton legend of the city of Ys, swallowed by the sea. Lalo began work on it as early as 1875 and had to wait years for a stage before the opera was first performed on 7 May 1888 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
Plot
To end the war with the spurned Prince Karnac, the elder princess Margared is to marry him, though she secretly loves the returning warrior Mylio. Mylio, however, loves Margared's younger sister Rozenn and marries her instead. Out of jealousy, Margared joins forces with Karnac and, on the wedding night, opens the dykes that protect Ys from the sea. As the city threatens to drown, Margared recognises her guilt and sacrifices herself to the floodwaters, saving the rest of the population.
Cultural significance
Le roi d'Ys became Lalo's greatest success on stage, reaching almost 500 performances at the Opéra-Comique by 1941 and travelling internationally, including a New Orleans premiere in 1890. Mylio's aubade in the third act went on to a life of its own as a concert piece.