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'''''Salammbô''''' is an [[opera]] in four acts composed by [[Ernest Reyer]] to a [[French language|French]] [[libretto]] by [[Camille du Locle]]. It is based on the novel ''[[Salammbô (novel)|Salammbô]]'' by [[Gustave Flaubert]]. The opera was first performed at the [[La Monnaie|Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie]] in [[Brussels]] on [[February 10]] [[1890]]. It debuted at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in [[New York City]] on [[March 20]], [[1901]].
[[History]] -- [[Military history]] -- [[List of battles]]
==Characters==
'''The Battle of the Nile''', also known as ''The Battle of [[Abukir]] Bay'', was an important [[naval battle]] of the [[Wars of the French Revolution]] between a [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] fleet commanded by [[Admiral]] [[Horatio Nelson]] and a [[France|French]] fleet under Vice-Admiral [[François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers]]. It took place on the evening and early morning of [[August 1]] and [[August 2]], [[1798]]. French losses were as high as 1,700 dead (including Brueys) and 3,000 captured. British losses were 218 dead.
*Salammbô (Soprano), Hamilcar's daughter
*Shahabarim (Tenor), High Priest of Tanit
*Narr'Havas (Basse chantante), King of Numidia
*Giscon (Bass), Carthaginian general
*Mathô (Tenor), Lybian mercenary
*Hamilcar (Baritone), Carthaginian Suffete
*Spendius (Baritone), Greek slave
*Autharite (Bass), Gaulish mercenary
*Taanach (Mezzo-soprano), Salammbo's servant
==Setting==
[[Napoleon Bonaparte]] intended to threaten the British position in [[India]] via the invasion and conquest of [[Egypt]]. About three weeks after his landing there, a British fleet of 14 ships under [[Horatio Nelson]] -- which had been scouring the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea]] looking for the French fleet -- finally came upon the 15 French ships being used to support the invasion.
*Place: [[Carthage]]
*Time: 240 BC
==Other opera adaptations==
The first encounter was near sunset on [[August 1]]. The French were at anchor in Abukir Bay, in shallow water near a shoal less than four fathoms deep. The shoal was being used to protect the south-western port side of the fleet, while the starboard side faced the north-east and open sea. The French commander D'Aigalliers expected the battle to begin the next morning, as he did not believe the British would risk a night encounter in shallow, uncharted waters. Leisurely preparations began for combat.
In [[1863]], [[Modest Mussorgsky]] also started writing text and music for an opera based on Flaubert's novel, but he never managed to complete the work.
For the film score of [[Orson Welles]]' ''[[Citizen Kane]]'', [[Bernard Herrmann]] wrote an aria for the fictional opera ''Salammbô'' performed by Kane's wife.
Admiral Nelson, however, decided that the French fleet was anchored too far from the shallows, and not only risked the battle, but actually ordered several of his ships to sail ''between'' the French and the shallow water, so that he could put more ships on the more conventional deeper side and fire upon the French from both sides. One British ship, the ''Culloden'', ran aground, but the remainder were able to stay afloat and begin taking the French fleet apart one by one. As their targets were at anchor, Nelson was able to put several ships on to a target at a time, working his way down the line, while French ships further away were unable to join.
Contemporary French composer [[Philippe Fénélon]]'s ''Salammbô'' was first performed in the [[Opéra Bastille]] in [[1998]].
Two French ships towards the end of the line, the ''Généreux'' and ''Guillaume Tell'' together with two frigates were able to escape, but all the remaining French ships were sunk or captured by the small hours of the next morning.
[[Category:Operas by Ernest Reyer]]
The battle reiterated British naval pre-eminence during the Napoleonic Wars, and was an important contribution to the growing fame of Admiral Nelson, but curiously may be better known for literary reasons: [[Felicia D. Hemans]]' poem "[[Casabianca]]" (often known better by its first line, "The boy stood on the burning deck") is about the son of Vice-Admiral Brueys, who died in the explosion of the French flagship ''l'Orient'' during this battle.
[[Category:French-language operas]]
[[Category:1901 operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
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