About the work
Les Troyens (The Trojans) is a grand opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz, composed 1856–1858 after Virgil's Aeneid. The monumental work—Berlioz's principal work for the musical stage—was never performed complete in his lifetime and is today regarded as one of the greatest and most ambitious operas of the nineteenth century.
Plot
The first two acts depict the fall of Troy: despite Cassandra's warnings, the Trojans drag the wooden horse into the city and seal their doom. The hero Aeneas flees with the mission of founding a new Troy in Italy. The last three acts are set in Carthage, where Aeneas and Queen Dido experience a passionate love. But duty calls: Aeneas must follow his destiny and leave Carthage. The abandoned, despairing Dido curses him and takes her life on a pyre while prophesying Rome's future greatness—and revenge.
Cultural significance
Les Troyens is Berlioz's most ambitious work, a synthesis of French grand opera, classical tragedy, and symphonic splendour. Because of its enormous length and forces it was long considered unperformable; only in the twentieth century was its greatness fully recognised. Today it is among the most overwhelming experiences of the operatic repertoire and is regarded as a summit of French Romanticism.