Dimitri, text and context

Dimitri had been conceived, if not as ‘grand opera’, at least as an ambitious operatic work that (despite what Servières said) was perfectly suited to the Opéra-Comique, and indeed it was later revived there in 1890. Adapted from Demetrius, an unfinished tragedy by Schiller, Dimitri was undoubtedly intended to be a grandiose work, and above all to represent Joncières’s conception of modern music. In order to show his qualities to the full he needed an experimental theatre, one that welcomed young composers and new ideas. Furthermore Vizentini was not afraid to champion upholders of the German style – or styles, those of Mozart, Weber and Wagner. What exactly was the challenge that Joncières took up – he who was so critical of music that did not bear the Wagnerian stamp – in composing this work?