Jean Cras (1879-1932) was a pupil of Duparc, although by the time the two met Cras was an experienced naval officer, having seen service in various French colonial skirmishes. Polyphème, his only opera, was composed in 1914, but not performed until 1922, after gaining first prize in a ‘Ville de Paris’ competition. It notched up just 16 performances at the Opéra Comique, with Vanni-Marcoux in the title-role (later succeeded by Henri Albers), and Suzanne Balguerie – the Comique’s regular Isolde – as Galatée (Galatea).The libretto, by Albert Samain, takes the legendary figure of the Cyclops Polyphemus, and his jealousy fired by the love of the nymph Galatea for the handsome herdsman Acis. In Homer, the one-eyed Polyphemus meets his end when he is blinded by Odysseus. In Samain’s version, Polyphemus is torn between love and self-loathing – he puts out his own eye, after witnessing the love scene between Acis and Galatea.Cras was obviously under the influence of Debussy and Ravel – his opera, more a symphonic poem – might be called ‘Daphnis and Chloe meet Pelléas and Mélisande’. The first scene is almost a monologue for Polyphemus, as he salutes the beauty of the sea (he is a son of Poseidon), and then laments the loss of Galatea to Acis, ‘ce berger effeminé’. There is a ravishing orchestral interlude, depicting Galatea asleep, and in the second scene he tries to win back her childish affection. This all takes more than 50 minutes, and there has been no action whatsoever. Stuck out at sea most of the time, composing in his cabin, did Cras have any notion of theatre at all?Act 2 is a long duet for Acis and Galatea, in which she describes Polyphemus’s obsession. The role of Galatea’s brother, Lycas, corresponds closely with that of Yniold in Pelléas and there follows a long scene in which Polyphemus tries to extract information from him about the antics of the young lovers. The final act is punctuated by a ballet, the most dramatic music in the piece, in which Pan and his followers dance while Acis and Galatea sleep. Instead of Polyphemus crushing them with a stone, as in the legend (and he sings that this is what he has thought of doing), we never see what becomes of them, with Acis turning into a stream. The end of the opera finds the Cyclops blind, and about to drown himself in the sea.Cras’s music is atmospheric, beautifully scored, and with its overtones of impressionistic symphonic works, larded with Wagnerian touches, it sounds at times reassuringly familiar. It is hard to imagine any staging rescuing it from its static, uneventful story, but it makes a perfect opera on disc.Cras’s love of the sea (he became a hero in the First World War and there is a monument to him by the harbour at Brest) pervades the whole work. In the title role, Armand Arapian sounds anguished and sinister; the moment when he describes seeing his own ugliness for the first time, reflected in a pool, has a poignancy missing from other depictions of the character (think of Handel’s ‘I rage, I melt, I burn’). Sophie Marin-Degor as Galatea and Yann Beuron as Acis are never overwhelmed by the orchestra – Cras certainly knew how to write for the voice (he composed several song cycles).His opera takes a while to insinuate itself; I have listened to it three times, with increasing interest. The sound is first rate, the large forces of the Luxembourg Philharmonic, and especially the Vittoria Regional Choir (led by Michel Piquemal), play and sing for Bramwell Tovey to create a fine and important addition to the recorded repertory of French opera.