Les bayadères

The French-language libretto, by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy, is based on Voltaire's story L'education d'un prince.

It was first performed on 8 August 1810 by the Paris Opéra at the Théâtre des Arts with the famous soprano Caroline Branchu in the lead role of Laméa.

[6][7] A staging of Les bayadères in its original three acts was chosen to mark the inauguration of the Paris Opéra's new home, the Salle Le Peletier, on 16 August 1821.

Examples include Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Grétry's La caravane du Caire.

As the 19th century progressed, French Oriental operas moved further eastwards, especially to South Asia, with works such as Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles and Delibes' Lakmé.

It shares many features with another work set to a libretto by Jouy, Spontini's La vestale (1807), the greatest operatic success of the Napoleonic era.

The choice of an historical subject, the sumptuous sets and the many opportunities for dance were all features of La vestale too, as they would be of the Grand Opera which appeared in France in the late 1820s and dominated the repertoire of the 19th century.

Gérard Condé describes the score as "a rare example in the French repertoire of an opera that assimilates the Mozartian style as a means of toning down the brazenness and sterility of neo-Gluckism.

Before he can make a decision, Benares is attacked by the Mahratta general Olkar, who captures the city and throws Démaly into prison.