About the work
"Les martyrs" is Donizetti's four-act grand-opéra reworking of his "Poliuto", composed in 1838 for Naples, where the censors had banned it over its Christian martyr subject. After moving to Paris, Donizetti had the libretto reworked by Eugène Scribe and expanded the score with a new overture, a ballet and a large-scale finale; it premiered at the Paris Opéra on 10 April 1840, with Gilbert Duprez and Julie Dorus-Gras in the leading roles.
Plot
The Roman governor Polyeucte secretly converts to Christianity and destroys a pagan altar. His wife Pauline is torn between her love for her husband and loyalty to her father Félix and to her former suitor Sévère, who returns as a Roman proconsul. In the end Pauline too embraces the Christian faith, and the couple go to their deaths together.
Cultural significance
Donizetti carried over roughly eighty percent of the music from "Poliuto" but reshaped the roles for star tenor Duprez and for the conventions of grand opéra. The opera was a commercial success in its first season, with twenty performances, though critics disagreed over whether its Italian roots sat well with the French style. The original Italian version, "Poliuto", did not reach the stage until after Donizetti's death, at La Scala in 1848.