One reason for its survival in the repertoire is the lyrical-dramatic music provided by Giordano for the tenor lead, which gives a talented singer opportunities to demonstrate his skills and flaunt his voice.

Giuseppe Borgatti's triumph in the title role at the first performance immediately propelled him to the front rank of Italian opera singers.

The work was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 28 March 1896 with Evelina Carrera, Giuseppe Borgatti (who replaced Alfonso Garulli at the eleventh hour) and Mario Sammarco in the leading parts of soprano, tenor and baritone respectively.

Other notable first performances include those in New York City at the Academy of Music on 13 November 1896; in Hamburg on 3 February 1897 under the baton of Gustav Mahler; and in London's Camden Theatre on 16 April 1903 (sung in English).

Apart from Borgatti, famous Chéniers in the period between the opera's premiere and the outbreak of World War II included Francesco Tamagno (who studied the work with Giordano), Bernardo de Muro, Giovanni Zenatello, Giovanni Martinelli, Aureliano Pertile, Francesco Merli, Beniamino Gigli, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and Antonio Cortis.

Post-war, Franco Corelli, Richard Tucker and Mario Del Monaco were the most famous interpreters of the title role during the 1950s and 1960s, while Plácido Domingo became its foremost interpreter among the next generation of tenors, although Domingo's contemporary Luciano Pavarotti also sang and recorded the work.

The Wagnerian tenor Ben Heppner tackled the role in New York City at a 2007 Metropolitan Opera revival with mixed success; his voice was impressively powerful but did not fit the style, critics alleged.

[1] The Keith Warner-directed production was performed in 2011 and 2012 in Bregenz, Austria, under the name of "André Chénier", using an almost 78-foot high statue of a dying Jean-Paul Marat sinking in the water, an ode to the 1793 Jacques-Louis David painting, The Death of Marat, which depicts the murdered revolutionary slumped over in his bathtub.

[2] In addition to four arias for the principal tenor ("Un dì all'azzurro spazio"; "Io non amato ancor"; "Si, fui soldato"; "Come un bel dì di maggio"), the opera contains a well-known aria ("La mamma morta") for the soprano heroine, which was featured in the film Philadelphia (the Maria Callas version is used on the soundtrack.

[3]) Also worth noting are the baritone's expressive monologue "Nemico della patria" and the final, rousing, soprano–tenor duet for the two leads as they prepare to face the guillotine ("Vicino a te").

Carlo Gérard, the majordomo, is filled with indignation at the sight of his aged father, worn out by long years of heavy labour for their noble masters.

A chorus of shepherds and shepherdesses sing idealised rustic music and a ballet mimics a rural love story in stately court fashion.

The laughter of the girls draws the Countess' attention, and Maddalena explains mockingly that the Muse of poetry is absent from the party.

Chénier now becomes angry and improvises a poem about the suffering of the poor, ending with a tirade against those in power in church and state, shocking the guests.

The guests dance a gavotte, which is interrupted by a crowd of ragged people who ask for food, Gérard ushers them in announcing that "Her Greatness, Misery" has arrived to the party.

The Revolutionary Tribunal The sans-culotte Mathieu calls on the people to give money for the army of the Revolution, but they refuse.

The Incroyable reports to Gérard that Chénier has been arrested in the Parisian suburb of Passy and interned in the Luxembourg Palace, and it is only a matter of time before Maddalena will come for him.

Maddalena refuses: she will shout out her name in the streets and be executed as an aristocrat, but if her virtue is the price for Chénier's life, then Gérard can have her body.

Maddalena sings how the mob murdered her mother and burned her palace, how she escaped, and how Bersi became a prostitute to support them both.

Saint-Lazare Prison Chénier awaits his execution with Roucher, writing verses of his faith in truth and beauty.