Fernand Cortez Ou La Conquete De Mexique

After his Neapolitan training, Gaspare Spontini settled in Paris for a few years, where he was nominated "compositeur particulier de la chambre" of Empress Josephine, Napoleon's wife. It was indeed Napoleon who commissioned Spontini to write the opera Fernand Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique in 1808 and attended the premiere on 28 November 1809.

The choice of this subject is linked to the initial phase of the war against Spain, and departs not only from the actual historic events of 1519 but also from the 18th-century works on the same subject. In the comparison between Spaniards and Mexicans, virtue, valour, tolerance and enlightenment are all qualities of the invaders. The strongly idealised gure of Cortez, presented as a brave, wise and merciful general, predestined to victory, was to be an image of Napoleon. His ght against Spanish "obscurantism" was Cortez's ght against the cruelty, superstition and dark power intrigues of the Aztec (Mexican) sacerdotal class. Cortez frees the Mexicans from their "evil god", and only the High Priest refuses his clemency.

Like in a pièce à sauvetage, at the last moment Montezuma's niece, Amazily, who had o ered her life in exchange of that of her beloved Cortez's brother Alvar, is rescued (from being sacri ced by the High Priest to appease the gods' wrath for betraying the Mexican cause). The Mexican chief Télasco, Amazily's brother, promotes the cessation of hostilities: the marriage between Cortez and Amazily sanctions the peace between two peoples.