Callirhoé

It proved very difficult during the 1880s to have a ballet staged in Paris. For Callirhoé, Cécile Chaminade solved the problem by turning to the Grand-Théâtre in Marseille. Based on a libretto by the Provençal poet Elzéard Rougier, her “symphonie ballet” relates how Alcmeon wins the heart of his captive princess Callirhoé who, dreaming only of being allowed to return to her native land, persistently remains aloof. The goddess Venus steps in and, after many vicissitudes, including the heroine being turned into a marble statue, the tale ends happily. The work was well received at its premiere on 16 March 1888 and Chaminade was seen as a worthy successor to Delibes. It was subsequently revived several times in the southern part of France, notably in Lyon (1891), Bordeaux (1901) and Cannes (1913). But the music circulated primarily in concert form. As early as 1889, Charles Lamoureux programmed excerpts from an orchestral suite based on Callirhoé. The complete suite was premiered in November 1890 at the Concerts Colonne in Paris. It proved very popular at that time, and was even taken into the bandstand repertoire. Contemporaries were particularly taken by the third movement, Scherzettino, which was encored at the premiere. Although some critics found it too similar to Le Rouet d'Omphale by Saint-Saëns, Callirhoé was seen as attesting to the composer’s many qualities, although the praise occasionally concealed misogynistic prejudices, as in the article that appeared in Parisian literary periodical Gil Blas: “The ideas have a feminine side that contrasts delightfully with the composition, which shows a masculine sureness of hand.”