Héléna (opera) Héléna (opera) Héléna is an opera in three acts by the French composer Étienne Méhul. It premiered at the Opéra-Comique, Paris on 1 March 1803. The libretto is by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. It enjoyed 36 performances in the space of 20 months before disappearing from the theatre's repertoire. Bouilly was accused of basing the plot too closely on Cherubini's "Les deux journées". According to the musicologist Elizabeth Bartlet, "several scholars have pointed out [that] Beethoven's trumpet call in "Fidelio" was inspired by Méhul's "Héléna"". Constantin, Count of Arles, has been accused of killing his father. He flees with his wife Héléna
Unity is Strength the Second Sino-Japanese War. Unity is Strength was jointly written in June 1943 by Mu Hong, also the composer of I Love the Eighth Route Army and a major contributor to the production of the Yellow River Cantata, and Lu Su, another well known Chinese communist musician. Allegedly, the song was written in only three days after the lukewarm reception of an opera they had produced under the same name. After facing criticism that the opera ended too abruptly, the two wrote Unity is Strength as a finale act. The piece was written in a small mountain village in Shaanxi