French composer Gabriel Pierné distinguished himself in all genres, including of course Opera. He thus completed a light opera in one act in 1926 Sophie Arnould, based on the text of the play in verse by his friend Gabriel Nigond. Sophie Arnould was probably the most famous and adulated prima donna of the second half of the 18th Century, a great performer of the works of Rameau and Gluck. Magnificently well written for the voice, this work moreover shows a rare virtuosity by the orchestra, the latter displaying a subtlety that is very 18th Century.