Statue « Drame Lyrique »
In the spring of 1919, Le Drame lyrique was withdrawn and replaced by a Carmen by Guiraud-Rivière, which led to Mercié's statue being renamed Manon. Two modern heroines from the Opéra-Comique, created by Bizet (1875) and Massenet (1884), now stood side by side. Reintegrated into the State reserves in 1932, Falguière's statue was entrusted to the city of Angers in 1936.
In 1981, it reappeared in Berlin in the inventory of the Staatliche Museen. Although it had been in the Berlin collections since the war, it had taken a long time to be formally registered there, in the absence of any proof of acquisition or donation.
In 1992, Anne Pingeot, curator at the Musée d'Orsay, photographed it in a Berlin storeroom and made the connection with the decorative heritage of the Opéra-Comique.
From 2020 onwards, Laurent Falguière, the sculptor's great-grandson, the Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique, the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Centre national des arts plastiques (CNAP) were involved in an investigation. It confirms the provenance of the Berlin statue without being able to clarify the stages of its journey. In March 2023, the Stiftung Preuẞischer Kulturbesitz responded positively to the CNAP's request for the statue's return in November 2022.
Repatriated in December 2024, Le Drame lyrique was restored by the CNAP until its reinstallation in our theatre in January 2026, on the occasion of the performances of Werther, a lyric drama by Massenet.
To mark the return of the statue of the Drame lyrique, don't miss the symposium dedicated to it.
