Set design for Fromental Halévy's La reine de Chypre, act 5, scene 2.
La reine de Chypre, first performed at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opéra on 22 December 1841, was regarded in its time as one of the composer's greatest achievements. Joseph Mazilier was the choreographer, and the ballet starred Adéle Dumilâtre, Natalie Fitzjames, and Pauline Leroux with Marius Petipa and Auguste Mabile. The publisher Maurice Schlesinger was reputed to have paid the enormous sum of 30,000 francs for the rights to the opera.
The opera prompted an extended eulogy from Richard Wagner, who was present at the first night, in the Dresdner Abend-Zeitung, for which he was a correspondent. However, since the 19th century it has been rarely revived.