Daphnis et Chloé

Libretto by N. Clairville(=Louis Nicolaïe) and Jules Cordier; original German version by G. Ernst and Ferdinand Gumbert (F,G)

2S,M,T,Bar; female chorus;
2(II=picc).1.2.1-2.2.1.0-timp.perc-strings

Rural area in antiquity

Daphnis and Chloë are ardently, but innocently in love with each other. The lecherous Pan has his eye on Chloë, and Daphnis is courted by all the bacchantes. They tell the young shepherd the facts of life and try to make him forget Chloë with the help of Lethe, the godly drink of oblivion. Daphnis, however, does not even taste the elixir in the first place, for Pan has already emptied it, believing it to be an aphrodisiac. Conclusion: "The great god Pan forgets what he intended to do, but meanwhile Daphnis and Chloë are getting down to it anyway..."

Comic, Poetic, Romantic