“The revolution has no need for poets!” Supposedly these were the public prosecutor’s closing words when the Revolutionary Tribunal condemned Andrea Chénier to death during the bloodiest period of the French Revolution. In Umberto Giordano’s work, Chénier’s fate transcends actual events and becomes the story of a tragic love triangle in which the lives of the protagonists are subjected to the forces of history, betrayal and amorous passion.
Giordano’s music perfectly captures the atmosphere of Paris both before and during the French Revolution. Along with presenting elegant aristocratic dances and popular revolutionary songs, such as La Marseillaise, he also endows the main characters with melodies of irresistible beauty.