▁his ▁most ▁Wagner ian ▁in ▁style ▁and ▁scope . ▁In ▁orch est ral ▁color ing ▁and ▁structure ▁of ▁mel ody , ▁however , ▁it ▁follows ▁French ▁trad itions . ▁The ▁opera ▁has ▁been ▁rev ived ▁sp or ad ically ▁in ▁the ▁modern ▁era , ▁most ▁not ably ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁with ▁Joan ▁S uther land , ▁conducted ▁by ▁Mass en et ▁champion ▁Richard ▁Bon yn ge . ▁The ▁role ▁of ▁Es cl arm onde ▁is ▁not or iously ▁difficult ▁to ▁sing , ▁with ▁str atos pher ic ▁color atura ▁pass ages ▁that ▁are ▁possible ▁for ▁only ▁the ▁most ▁gift ed ▁of ▁perform ers . ▁ ▁Background ▁The ▁story ▁of ▁the ▁opera ▁is ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁medieval ▁ch ival ric ▁tale ▁Par th én op é us ▁de ▁Blo is , ▁which ▁was ▁written ▁in ▁the ▁middle ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 2 th ▁century ▁by ▁Den is ▁Py ram us . ▁In ▁the ▁original ▁tale , ▁however , ▁the ▁protagon ist ▁sor cer ess ▁is ▁called ▁" M el ior "; ▁Es cl arm onde ' s ▁name ▁was ▁borrow ed ▁from ▁another ▁chanson ▁de ▁g este ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 3 th ▁century : ▁Hu on ▁de ▁Bor de aux . ▁Although ▁the ▁Es cl arm onde ▁who ▁appears ▁in ▁Hu on ▁is ▁completely ▁different ▁from ▁her ▁oper atic ▁counter part , ▁Hu on ▁clearly ▁served ▁as ▁the ▁basis ▁of ▁at ▁least ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁opera ' s ▁libre tto . ▁Alfred ▁Bla u ▁discovered ▁Par th én