The misfortunes of La Princesse jaune

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27/08/2021

It is not possible to discuss Saint-Saëns’s opera without alluding to the aftermath of the ‘terrible year’ that went from the fall of Napoleon III in September 1870 to the crushing of the Paris Commune in the spring of 1871. Invoking the orientalist vein and playing the card of exoticism provided a means of escaping from the tragic situation the country had just lived through. Looking towards distant horizons helped to distance the drama that had just been played out there.

CD-Book Camille Saint-Saëns. La Princesse jaune (2021). Translation: Charles Johnston.