It was first performed at Covent Garden in London on 20 June 1894, with Emma Calvé in the title role.

[1] Flon conducted the Brussels premiere on 26 November 1894 with Georgette Leblanc in the title role,[2] while Calvé returned for the Paris premiere by the Opéra-Comique at their temporary quarters on the Place du Châtelet (the present Théâtre de la Ville) on 3 October 1895, which led to more than 180 performances of the work by the company over the next 60 years.

[3] La Navarraise is widely agreed to be Massenet's answer to Italian verismo and was very popular in its day, often being performed on a double bill with Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana.

Its popularity has waned since operatic tastes changed in the early part of the twentieth century, and today the opera is rarely performed.

However, at the Wexford Festival in October/November 2013, La Navarraise was performed in a double bill with Massenet's Thérèse.

Araquil's father, Remigio, finds Anita unacceptable and insists she pay a sum of two-thousand duros as a dowry, knowing she will not be able to raise the money.

After an orchestral intermezzo, Anita is successful in killing Zuccaraga and obtains her reward, but is told to swear not tell anyone.