Stradella, CFF 229, Op.033 is an 1841 opera by César Franck[1] to a libretto by Émile Deschamps and Émilien Pacini.

In 1830s Europe rediscovered music by Alessandro Stradella, and his life turned to be fascinating enough to become a subject for operatic treatment.

Both were premiered in Paris in 1837, in space of just one month: Flotow's opera was a one-act comédie en vaudeville (he expanded it into a full-length composition only seven years later) and Niedermeyer's was a five-act traditional grand opéra.

The young César Franck chose for his very first try in the opera genre the same libretto as Niedermeyer, that is the one by Émile Deschamps and Émilien Pacini,[2] but he completely omits the last two acts.

Stradella was probably composed between 1841 and 1842 and may be the result of Franck's experiences as accompanist to the Italian tenor Mario Bordogni.

[3] The opera was left as a vocal score, preserved in a manuscript at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

It was orchestrated by Luc van Hove and staged for the first time at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie on 19 September 2012.

Called to make soften her heart with his singing, Stradella enters with Beppo and pupils.

The killers attend the sermon too, and the words of the singer make them to decline the affair (scene IV).