The protagonist of Saint-Saëns’ Proserpine, premiered at the Opéra-Comique on 14 March 1887, is no reincarnation of the ancient goddess, but a Renaissance courtesan well versed in culpable amours. According to the composer, she is ‘a damned soul for whom true love is a forbidden fruit; as soon as she approaches it, she experiences torture’. Yet for all the innocence of her rival Angiola, the unexpected happens: ‘It is the bloodthirsty beast that is admirable; the sweet creature is no more than pretty and likeable.’ Visibly enraptured by this delight in horror, Saint-Saëns indulges in unprecedented orchestral modernity, piling on the dissonances beneath his characters’ cries of rage or despair. He concluded thus: ‘Proserpine is, of all my stage works, the most advanced in the Wagnerian system.’ The least-known, too, and one which it was high time to reveal to the public, in its second version, revised in 1899.

Cast:
- Proserpine: Véronique Gens
- Angiola: Marie-Adeline Henry
- Sabatino: Frédéric Antoun
- Squarocca: Andrew Foster-Williams
- Renzo: Jean Teitgen

Limited and numbered edition of 3500

1 book + 2 CDs

Book: hard cover, 144 pages, size 13.5 cm x 21.00 cm, French and English

Book contents:
- Marie-Gabrielle Soret - From genesis to reception
- Gérard Condé - A look through the score
- Camille Saint-Saëns - A few remarks on Proserpine
- Hugh J. Macdonald - Proserpine, Goddess of the Underworld
- Synopsis
- Libretto
- Cast & Tracklist