Roland à Roncevaux

Roland à Roncevaux was billed as an opera in four acts with words and music by Auguste Mermet and divertissements by Lucien Petipa (see eighteenth-century volume for divertissement). It had its premiere at the Opéra on 3 October 1864 and went on to enjoy 61 performances before it was dropped on 8 January 1867. One of the principal reasons for its success was its sustanied score, which never failed to evoke applause at the end of the third act especially. The sets were also effective. Nolau…