Cigale

Cigale is a divertissement-ballet in two acts by Jules Massenet to a scenario by Henri Cain. It was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 4 February 1904. The story is a retelling of the fable The Grasshopper and the Ant, in this case the grasshopper being a cicada and the ant referred to only as "La Pauvrette" (the poor little one). La Pauvrette, after being taken in, fed and fêted by La Cigale, is rude and heartless when the situation is reversed. Cigale is left to die in the snow at the close of the ballet. The music, recorded by conductor Richard Bonynge and available commercially, is astounding in its charm and vitality, if possibly outmoded for the date of composition. The ballet is rarely, if ever, revived and is not part of the standard ballet repertory.