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Project collects

• Performers of the premieres
• Greatest performers
• Persons are sorted on this page by roles and birth years

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Hector Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini

• Opera semiseria in two acts, in French
• Music by Hector Berlioz
• Libretto by Léon de Wailly and Henri Auguste Barbier. The story is inspired by the memoirs of the Florentine sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, although the elements of the plot are largely fictional. Historical characters in the opera are Benvenuto Cellini himself and Pope Clement VII. At the creation, the Parisian censorship refused to allow a pope to appear on stage. Berlioz replaced him with Cardinal Salviati. The character of Clement VII will not appear until 1966.
• Time and place: The action takes place in Rome in 1532 during the three days of the carnival (Shrove Monday, Mardi Gras, and Ash Wednesday)
• Premieres and important performances in different countries
  • France: 10 Sept 1838 World Premiere of the Paris edition of the original version at the Académie Royale de Musique (Salle Le Peletier, the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873). Only 3 performances followed: September 12 and 14, then the last one on January 11, 1839.
  • Germany, Premiere, the Weimar edition: 1852, Weimar, Franz Liszt saved this work by conducting it.
  • United Kingdom, Premiere: 25 June 1853 at Royal Italian Opera, London, in the presence of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Berlioz himself conducting.
  • Germany: February 2, 1879 in Hanover under Hans von Bülow
  • Czech Premiere 1894 in Prague
  • Germany: 1896 in Berlin
  • Austria, Premiere: 1911, Vienna
  • France: at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées for six performances from 31 March 1913, conducted by Felix Weingartner
  • Germany: 1929 in Dresden
  • Netherlands, Premiere: 1961 at the Holland Festival
  • Switzerland, Premiere: 1964 in Geneva
  • United States, Premiere: March 22, 1965 at the Philharmonic Hall in New York
  • United Kingdom: December 15, 1966 Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London (reconstruction of the original version)
  • Italy, Premiere: 1967 Naples
  • France: 8 May 1969 at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse
  • France: 1972 Paris, Grand Opéra
  • Spain, Premiere: 1977 at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona
  • Netherlands: 1991 at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam
  • United States: December 4 , 2003 at Metropolitan Opera, New York, under James Levine
  • Austria: 2007 Salzburg Festival, Vienna Philharmonic, directed by Philipp Stölzl
  • United Kingdom: 2014 English National Opera, staging by Terry Gilliam - coproduction with De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam) and Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona)
  • Netherlands: 2014 De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam)
  • Spain: 2014 Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona)
  • United States: 2017–2018 at Metropolitan Opera, New York
  • Europe: In 2019 a European tour for the first time on historical instruments in a semi-staged performance: Orchester Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner
• Roles
  • Benvenuto Cellini, Florentine sculptor and goldsmith, tenor
    • Gilbert Duprez (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
    • Nicolai Gedda
    • Jon Vickers
  • Giacomo Balducci, Pope's treasurer and Teresa's father, bass/baritone
    • Prosper Dérivis (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
    • Jules Bastin
  • Teresa, Daughter of Balducci, in love with Cellini, but promised to Fieramosca, soprano
    • Julie Dorus-Gras (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Fieramosca, The Pope's sculptor, baritone
    • Jean-Étienne-Auguste Massol (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Pope Clement VII (or sometimes Cardinal Salviati), bass
    • Jacques-Émile Serda (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Ascanio, Cellini’s trusted apprentice (a breeches role), mezzo-soprano
    • Rosine Stoltz (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
    • Monica Groop (born 1958)
  • Francesco, An artisan, tenor
    • François Wartel (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Bernardino, An artisan, bass
    • Ferdinand Prévôt (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Pompeo, friend of Fieramosca, baritone
    • Molinier (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • An innkeeper, tenor
    • H.-M. Trévaux (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Columbine, spoken
  • Chorus: maskers, neighbours, metal-workers, friends and apprentices of Cellini, troupers, dancers, people, guards, white friars,
  • Pope's retinue, foundrymen, workmen, spectators
• Scenographers
  • René-Humanité Philastre (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Charles-Antoine Cambon (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
• Costume designors
  • Paul Philippe Georges Lormier (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
• Stage directors
  • René-Humanité Philastre (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Charles-Antoine Cambon (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Terry Gilliam (2014 English National Opera - coproduction with De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona)
• Conductors
  • François Habeneck (World Premiere 10 Sept 1838)
  • Franz Liszt (in 1852, Weimar, Germany)
  • Hans von Bülow (1879 in Hanover)
  • Felix Weingartner
  • Erik Chisholm (1904-1965)
  • Antal Doráti
  • Colin Davis
  • Sarah Caldwell
  • Roger Norrington (born 1934)
  • Seiji Ozawa
  • John Eliot Gardiner (born 1943)
  • James Lawrence Levine
  • Myung-whun Chung

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