Ariane et Barbe-Bleue — Ariadne and Blue-Beard
Opera in three acts, by Paul Dukas; text by Maurice Maeterlinck. Produced in New York, March 3, 1911.
Characters
| Blue-Beard | Bass |
| Ariane, wife of Blue-Beard | Soprano |
| The Nurse | Contralto |
| Sélysette, wife of Blue-Beard | Mezzo-Soprano |
| Ygraine, wife of Blue-Beard | Soprano |
| Mélisande, wife of Blue-Beard | Soprano |
| Bellangère, wife of Blue-Beard | Soprano |
| Allaine, wife of Blue-Beard | Acting Rôle |
| An Old Peasant | Bass |
Peasants and Mob.
Time—Middle Ages.
Place—Blue-Beard’s Castle.
Act I. Hall in Blue-Beard’s castle. Ariane, sixth wife of Blue-Beard, is warned by voices of the crowd outside that Blue-Beard has already murdered five wives. Ariane has seven keys—six of silver and one of gold. When Ariane, intent only on opening the forbidden chamber, throws down the six silver keys, her Nurse picks them up. With one she unlocks the first door. Instantly amethysts set in diadems, bracelets, rings, girdles, fall down in a shower on Ariane. And so, to her joy, as door after door swings open, she is showered with sapphires, pearls, emeralds, rubies, and diamonds. Now Ariane opens, with the golden key, the seventh door. Darkness, out of which come the voices of the five lost wives. Here Ariane is surprised by Blue-Beard, who lays hold of her. The crowd, admitted by the Nurse, rush in to kill Blue-Beard, but are told by Ariane that he has not harmed her.
Act II. A subterranean hall. Ariane descends with the Nurse into the depths of the blackness on which the seventh door opened. There she finds the five wives still alive but emaciated and in rags. She tells them that she has obeyed a higher law than Blue-Beard’s, and that outside birds are singing and the sun is shining. A jet of water extinguishes Ariane’s light, but she is not fearful. She leads the five toward a radiant spot at the end of the vault. She throws herself against the barred wall. It gives away. The sunlight streams in. Blinded at first by its brilliance, the five wives finally come out of the vault and go off singing joyously.
Act III. Same as Act I. The wives are adorning themselves with the help of Ariane. She urges them to make the best use of their gifts. Blue-Beard is approaching. The people are lying in wait for him. The wives watch his capture. Bound and wounded, he is brought in. But to the astonishment of all Ariane bandages his wounds and the others help her. Then she cuts the cords and frees him, but herself departs, although Blue-Beard pleads with her to remain. But when she in turn implores the five wives to go with her, they decline, and she leaves them in the castle.
The allegory in this tale is that five out of six women prefer captivity (with a man) to freedom without him. The opera has not been popular in this country.