Take a look at the news release issued by Melba Recordings at

   http://www.melbarecordings.com.au/content/view/435

Also, the following is from Grove Music Online:

   Helene ('Helen').
   
   Poeme lyrique in one act by Camille Saint-Saens to his own
   libretto; Monte Carlo, 18 February 1904.
   
   Saint-Saens was among the many critics of Offenbach's La
   belle Helene who objected to the operetta's lax moral tone
   and its trivialization of the ancient world. In his own
   treatment of the story of Paris and Helen he aspired to
   a more serious and exalted level, even though the opera
   displays the triumph of Eros and celebrates sexual passion
   more strongly than any other of Saint-Saens' operas. Helene
   was the first of his operas composed for the theatre at
   Monte Carlo then under the enterprising direction of Raoul
   Gunsbourg. It is also the first for which he wrote his own
   libretto, in strongly poetic rhyming verse. Melba sang the
   title role, and it shared a double bill with Massenet's
   veristic La Navarraise. Apart from the two principal
   characters, the opera has scenes for Venus [Venus] (soprano),
   who tries to persuade Helen (soprano) to abandon Menelaus
   for love, and for Pallas (contralto), who warns her of the
   dreadful events that will ensue if she abandons Sparta for
   Troy. Helen heeds the words of Venus, not Pallas, and sets
   sail with Paris [Paris] (tenor) in an ecstatic embrace.

Best,

Gary Hoffman

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