Sapho

Opera by Gounod (libretto by Emile Augier). It was Gounod's first opera, first produced at the Opéra in Paris on 16 April 1851. For a plot synopsis, see Saffo.

Opera by Massenet (libretto by H Cain and A Bernède, based on Daudet's novel), produced in Paris a the Opéra-Comique on 27 November 1897. The heroine is not the Greek poet Sappho but artist's model Fanny Legrand, who poses as Sappho. She runs away with Jean Gaussin, but he abandons her after hearing of her sordid past. Later he returns to her but she rejects him.