Massenet Introduction and Aria - “Pleurez! Pleurez, mes yeux”

from the opera Le Cid

for soprano, clarinet and piano

"Le Cid", 3rd act, Palais Garnier, Paris, 1885: A long instrumental solo. The curtain rises. Chimene is beside herself. She rushes towards her father's murderer and demands revenge - unaware that she is thus pronouncing the death sentence of her lover Rodrigo. Jules Massenet enhanced this dramatic scene by adding an obbligato alto clarinet in F, an instrument similar to the basset horn that was already rare in its day but was found in the orchestra of the Paris Opéra. Since Massenet allowed the use of a clarinet in A for performances at other houses, our new edition provides alternative versions for the solo instrument.