Composed in 1838 and not to be confused with Le Romain Carnival overture using the same material, Benvenuto Cellini was Berlioz’s first full-length work for the stage. The audience hissed most of the music at the first performance.
The plot follows three consecutive days set in Rome, from the day before Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras) through to the evening of Ash Wednesday.
A summary of the plot can be found here: https://www.metopera.org/user-information/synopses-archive/benvenuto-cellini
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