La Navarraise is an opera in two acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Jules Claretie and Henri Cain, based on Claretie's short story La Cigarette. It was first performed at Covent Garden in London on 20 June 1894, with Emma Calvé in the title role.
The first performance was attended by the Prince of Wales and a command performance was then given at Windsor Castle. Flon conducted the Brussels premiere on 26 November 1894 with Georgette Leblanc in the title role, while Calvé returned for the Paris premiere by the Opéra-Comique at their temporary quarters on the Place du Châtelet (the present Théâtre de la Ville) on 3 October 1895, which led to more than 180 performances of the work by the company over the next 60 years.
La Navarraise is widely agreed to be Massenet's answer to Italian verismo and was very popular in its day, often being performed on a double bill with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. Its popularity has waned since operatic tastes changed in the early part of the twentieth century, and today the opera is rarely performed. It has, however, been recorded a number of times, most notably in the 1970s with Marilyn Horne and Plácido Domingo, and with Lucia Popp and Alain Vanzo.
Read more about La Navarraise: Roles, Synopsis, Recordings