Ernest Reyer (1823 – 1909) was the adopted name of French opera composer and music critic Louis Étienne Ernest Rey. The best-known of his five operas is Sigurd (1884); it was quite popular in France during its initial production there (it had its premiere in Brussels at the Theatre de La Monnaie in January of 1884), and is sometimes (although rarely) revived. Sigurd is based on the Scandinavian legends of the Edda Volsunga saga (Nibelungenlied), the same source which Richard Wagner drew upon for the libretto for his Ring cycle. The music of Sigurd, however, is quite unlike the music of Wagner. While Reyer admired Wagner, he developed his music more along the lines of his mentor, Hector Berlioz. Listening to Sigurd, one cannot help but hear echoes of Les Troyens or Benvenuto Cellini, embued with the same heroic musical posture. Reyer's last opera was Salammbô (1890), based on the novel by Gustave Flaubert. Reyer, unable to support himself on the proceeds from his operas, succeeded Hector Berlioz as music critic at the Journal des débats; he also worked as the librarian at the Paris Opera. Other compositions by Reyer include a symphonic ode entitled Le Sélam for soprano, tenor, baritone, chorus & orchestra; a ballet entitled Sacuntala (also the title of a famous overture by Karl Goldmark and of an opera by Franco Alfano); and the operas Maître Wolfram, La Statue, and Erostrate.
