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
Italian opera composers of the next generation: Francesco Cavalli and Antonio Cesti. In Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth a tradition of operatic production began in Warsaw in 1628, with a performance of "Galatea" (composer uncertain), the first Italian opera produced outside Italy. Shortly after this performance, the court produced Francesca Caccini's opera "La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d’Alcina", which she had written for Prince Władysław Vasa three years earlier when he was in Italy. Another first, this is the earliest surviving opera written by a woman. "Gli amori di Aci e Galatea" by Santi Orlandi was also performed in 1628. When Władysław was king (as