Béatrice et Bénédict
Béatrice et Bénédict (Beatrice and Benedick) is an opéra comique in two acts by French composer Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based in general outline on a subplot in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.
| Béatrice et Bénédict | |
|---|---|
| Opéra comique by Hector Berlioz | |
Cover of the first edition vocal score, with illustration by A. Barbizet | |
| Librettist | Hector Berlioz |
| Language | French |
| Based on | Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare |
| Premiere | 9 August 1862 Theater Baden-Baden |
Berlioz had been interested in setting Shakespeare's comedy since his return from Italy in 1833, but only composed the score of Béatrice et Bénédict following the completion of Les Troyens in 1858. It was first performed at the opening of the Theater Baden-Baden on 9 August 1862. Berlioz conducted the first two performances of a German version in Weimar in 1863, where, as he wrote in his memoirs, he was "overwhelmed by all sorts of kind attention."
It is the first notable version of Shakespeare's play in operatic form, and was followed by works by, among others, Árpád Doppler, Paul Puget, Charles Villiers Stanford, and Reynaldo Hahn.
Berlioz biographer David Cairns has written: "Listening to the score's exuberant gaiety, only momentarily touched by sadness, one would never guess that its composer was in pain when he wrote it and impatient for death".