Le Timbre d'Argent
Le timbre d'argent is an opéra fantastique in four acts by composer Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Although completed in 1865, the opera did not receive its premiere performance until 23 February 1877, when it was presented by Albert Vizentini's Théâtre National Lyrique at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris. It includes the well-known aria "Le bonheur est chose légère".
Synopsis
Conrad, an artist, has an unhealthy obsession for gold, and is further engrossed by his own painting of Circe, embodied in the living world by Fiametta, a ballerina. Conrad is given a silver bell by Dr Spiridion: when he strikes the bell he will receive all the gold he craves for, but at the cost of someone's death. The opera concludes with the realization that all of the events have only occurred within Conrad's own fevered mind.
- for soprano, violin and piano, R 289: La bonheur est chose légère
- Le Timbre d’argent: Valse
Synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.