Cinq-Mars was initially performed at the Opéra-Comique on April 5, 1877. The work's reception was lukewarm: "If [it] adds nothing to the glory of Gounod, neither does it diminish it." Some critics seized on the straddling of the genres of grand opéra and opéra comique; a second edition (Léon Grus, n.d.) contains recitatives for the very few spoken scenes as well as an Act III cantabile for de Thou, written for the La Scala production.