About the work
Padmâvatî is an opéra-ballet in two acts by Albert Roussel to a libretto by Louis Laloy, based on an Indian legend about the queen of Chitor. It premiered on 1 June 1923 at the Paris Opéra under Philippe Gaubert.
Plot
During the siege of the fortress of Chitor by the Muslim ruler Alaouddin, he demands the beautiful queen Padmâvatî as the price for withdrawing his troops. To avert dishonour, Padmâvatî's husband Ratan-Sen kills her with her consent, before she and the women of the city choose death by fire.
Cultural significance
With its extensive dance scenes and choreography by Léo Staats, Padmâvatî is regarded as Roussel's most significant work for the stage and as one of the last great opéras-ballets in French operatic history; it reached 39 performances at the Paris Opéra by 1947.