Henry VIII

Henry VIII is an opera in four acts by Camille Saint-Saëns, from a libretto by Léonce Détroyat and Armand Silvestre, based on El cisma en Inglaterra (The schism in England) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. The action covers the period in Henry VIII's life when the king was discarding Queen Catherine of Aragon in favour of Anne Boleyn, a move rejected by the Church. In an effort to evoke the historical context, Saint-Saëns researched English music f... more

Henry VIII is an opera in four acts by Camille Saint-Saëns, from a libretto by Léonce Détroyat and Armand Silvestre, based on El cisma en Inglaterra (The schism in England) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. The action covers the period in Henry VIII's life when the king was discarding Queen Catherine of Aragon in favour of Anne Boleyn, a move rejected by the Church. In an effort to evoke the historical context, Saint-Saëns researched English music from the period and incorporated several English, Scottish, and Irish folk melodies into his score, as well as an air by William Byrd, contained in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Henry VIII received its first performance on 5 March 1883 at the Opéra de Paris, where it remained in the repertoire until 1919. It was seen at the Royal Opera House, London in 1889 with Maurice-Arnold Renaud in the title role, Lina Pacary as Catherine d'Aragon, and Meyriane Héglon as Anne Boleyn. It was revived in 1991 at the Théatre Impérial de Compiègne in a... less