How an opera set in India propelled the career of one of France’s greatest composers

In the spring of 1877, the Parisian intelligentsia hummed with rumours about an upcoming spectacle at the Grand Opera. Some said it was the myth of Orpheus set in India. Others claimed, no, it was an adaptation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata.

The buzz was heavy amid growing European interest in Sanskrit and Indian religions and philosophy, thanks to the works of Indologists like Max Müller. Tickets sold quickly and, in the last week of April, Jules Massenet’s Le Roi de Lahore (The King of Lahore) premiered, becoming one of the most talked about events in the French and international press.

“It is impossible to do justice to a grand opera in five acts after a single hearing,” the Chicago Tribune said in May 1877, adding that the opera’s libretto was written by Massenet’s friend, the writer Louis Gallet. “He [Massenet] has hit upon a charming subject, not only interesting, but thoroughly new.”

The British daily The Standard carried a dispatch a day after the premiere that was generous and effusive in its praise. “The ballet surpasses anything of the kind ever witnessed, even at the French opera,” it said. “The costumes are simply models of taste, brilliancy and beauty.”

Another British newspaper, The Era, which sent a correspondent for the grand opening, took a more nuanced view: “To say that the Roi de Lahore is a work of the first order, or to launch into enthusiasm about its merits, would be exaggeration, but its score contains some delightful colour, and written in fine dramatic style. But if anyone goes to the opera under the hope that his ear will be charmed by some brilliant morceau, that he will carry away with him one of those catching melodies that imprint themselves unbidden on the memory, or that his mind will be impressed by some imposing scene, he will find himself deceived.”

Whether praiseful or disapproving, what most critics didn’t realise, out of their ignorance about India, was that the opera took some leeway as a work of fantasy.

Dramatis personae

The opera was set in 11th-century Lahore when it was on the verge of an invasion by Mahmud of Ghazni. The main protagonist, a devotee of the god Indra, is named Alim, the villain Scindia (seven centuries before the house of the Gwalior royal family was founded), and the high priest of the Indra temple has the name Timur.

If the names sound perplexing, it should come as no surprise. The libretto was based on a story that originated in India and was modified as it travelled West. It is probable that Gallet could not even tell the difference between Hindu and Muslim-sounding names.

In the opera, the temple of Indra has a charming priestess, Sita, who is courted by both King Alim and his minister Scindia. The priestess, however, loves Alim and at night he secretly enters the temple to be with her. A bitter Scindia gets his own back when Mahmud of Ghazni invades Hindustan. Scindia gets the troops to revolt against Alim and then murders the king.

When Alim’s soul goes to Mount Meru, he requests Indra to let him return to Lahore in human form. Indra grants him his wish. He is allowed back into the physical realm but on the condition that his life will last only as long as Sita’s.

By the time Alim gets back, Scindia is the king of Lahore and he has forced Sita to be his wife. Disguised as a common man, Alim goes to Indra’s temple for Sita, who at first thinks it is a vision but realises he is there in flesh and blood. Just when the couple are united, Scindia turns up and bursts into a jealous rage, threatening both of them.

In the end, Sita stabs herself and Alim dies with her, the two becoming united forever in paradise.

“This is a hurried outline of the novel plot of the opera,” the Chicago Tribune reporter wrote. “I can’t altogether say I was pleased with it.”

Critical success

For their part, Parisians lapped up the love story. They enjoyed the sets that were some sort of European fantasy of India. The cast too was mostly European: Sita was played by Polish soprano Josephine de Reszke, Alim by tenor Marius Salomon, Scindia by baritone Jean Lassalle, and Indira by bass singer Georges-François Menu.

Critics, who attended the premiere, were impressed by the performances. “Lassalle creates the role of Scindia with the consummate authority of a great artist,” The Era wrote. “His fine voice, excellent diction and deep sentiment justify once more in this instance the legitimate reputation that he has acquired.” The Era also liked Salomon and de Reszke, whose acting and singing, it said, were “beyond praise”.

Like the audiences, the critics were left impressed by the sets, which were designed and painted by the renowned Philippe Chaperon. The Era reporter was clearly awestruck by them when he wrote:

“The third act introduces us to the Paradise of Indra, a radiant vision of a celestial garden, brilliant with light, overgrown with gigantic plants and a profusion of gaudy-coloured flowers – a paradise such as it was known to the imagination of the ancient East. At the back of the stage rises the mountain of gold and precious stones of Meru. Indra seated in the state on an eminence presides over the festivities of his court. Apsaras are dancing and the whole stage is crowded with houris, clothed and unclothed in every form and colour of Eastern magnificence and luxury – a truly marvellous scene, one of those gems of stage decoration to which no words can do adequate justice.”  

The successful premiere set the stage for Massenet’s ascent as France’s most celebrated operatic composer. Before the staging of Le Roi de Lahore, he was a moderate success. An unknown outside France, he had to depend mainly on his teaching income. But after the opera, which took several years to finalise, there was no looking back.

Expensive spectacle

With critical acclaim, Le Roi de Lahore began touring. It was staged in Venice, Bologna and Rome in Italy – where it was clearly in high demand – as well as in London and the United States.

Massenet died at the age of 70 in 1912, and is best remembered for his operas Werther and Manon. Le Roi de Lahore, his other triumph, would continue to be staged for another decade, making its debut in New York City in January 1924. Before the Big Apple performance, a newswire report appeared in the Tampa Tribune estimating the production cost at a staggering $60,000. What made the cost this high was the “striking ensembles”, “elaborate costuming” and “brilliant spectacle of the Hindu paradise”, the wire report said.

The sets in New York were designed and painted by an artist of great repute who was born in present-day Moldova. “For the premier production of this opera in New York, Boris Anisfeld, the Russian painter, devoted most of the summer,” the report said. “He is responsible for the designs, painting of the scenery and the costume designing, which will be among the most elaborate seen at the Metropolitan Opera House this season.”

The opera was initially well received in New York, but interest in it waned over the 1920s It was revived in Italy in the 2000s. And in 2023, it made a comeback in Britain at the 2023 Dorset Opera Festival, where Alim was played by Bombay-born Amar Muchhala. It may take a while before a largely South Asian cast performs a French opera set in 11th-century Lahore, but Jules Massenet’s bold 19th-century attempt at a Indo-French fantasy opera will continue to reach out to new audiences.

Ajay Kamalakaran is a writer, primarily based in Mumbai. His Twitter handle is @ajaykamalakaran.