Ambroise Thomas: Psyche – György Vashegyi

Premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 26 January 1857, Ambroise Thomas’s Psyché tells the story of the nymph loved by Eros, the god of love, and who are manipulated by the cynical Mercury and envied by Daphné and Bérénice, the heroine’s own sisters. The style of the work represents the nec plus ultra of mid-nineteenth-century French opéra-comique, notably in the Italianate influence of Rossini, which gives the singers of the two leading roles – one of which, Éros, is a breeches part for mezzo-soprano – a chance to shine in the territories of coloratura virtuosity, artful lyricism, and passionate love duets. The librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carré achieved an inspired blend of comedy and tragedy by contrasting a quartet of cruel and grotesque characters (Psyché’s sisters and their suitors) with the noble hero and heroine. Ambroise Thomas’s music does not merely foreshadow the future triumphs of Mignon and Hamlet: it is worthy to stand beside them at the pinnacle of his operatic legacy. This obituary confirms their judgment.