About the work
Opera in two acts by Jacques Ibert after Jules Laforgue's 'Moralités légendaires', with a libretto by Michel Jean Veber ('Nino'). Ibert composed the work in 1921 during his stay in Rome as a Prix de Rome laureate; after a concert excerpt in 1924 at the Paris Conservatoire, the staged premiere followed on 15 May 1929 at the Paris Opéra (Palais Garnier) under Henri Büsser.
Plot
Andromède is chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster, but the monster Cathos has fallen in love with her and refuses to harm her. When the hero Persée arrives and kills Cathos, Andromède rejects him for his callousness toward the creature. A transformation then reveals that an enchanted prince was hidden within Cathos, whose curse is broken by Andromède's compassion.
Cultural significance
Ibert approaches the ancient myth with ironic distance, turning the classical heroic tale tragicomic by giving the supposed monster the more human traits. Alongside 'Angélique', the work shows the other side of Ibert's 1920s stage output – an irreverent reworking of antiquity rather than contemporary farce.