Esmeralda (opera) Esmeralda (opera) Esmeralda is an opera in four acts composed by Arthur Goring Thomas to an English-language libretto by Theo Marzials and Alberto Randegger based on Victor Hugo's novel "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame". It premiered in London on 26 March 1883 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane with Georgina Burns in the title role and Barton McGuckin as her lover, Phoebus. "Esmeralda" was Thomas's first opera to receive a full staging. It was commissioned by the Carl Rosa Opera Company following a very successful performance of excerpts from his opera "The Light of the Harem" in 1879 at the Royal
Arthur Goring Thomas 1879, with such success that Carl Rosa commissioned him to write "Esmeralda" (libretto by Theophile Marzials and Alberto Randegger), dedicated to Pauline Viardot, produced at Drury Lane on 26 March 1883. (Creator cast: Georgina Burns (Esmeralda): Barton McGuckin (Phoebus): William Ludwig (Frollo): Leslie Crotty (Quasimodo): Clara Perry (Fleur-de-Lys): Leah Don (Lois): J.H. Stilliard (Chevreuse): Ben Davies (Gringoire): G.H. Snazelle (Clopin).) This contained the very successful aria "O, vision entrancing". Two years later the opera was given (in German) at Cologne and Hamburg, and in 1890 (in French) at Covent Garden. On 16 April 1885, at Drury Lane, Rosa produced Thomas's