PERSÉE Tragédie lyrique in a prologue and 5 acts Composer : Jean-Baptiste Lully Libretto : Philippe Quinault First performed : Académie royale de musique (1re salle du Palais-Royal), 17 April 1682, conducted by the composer ; Versailles, June 1682 Quinault's libretti remove the imagination of the Greek myths, petrifying them, as if with the Gorgon's head, into bland and … Continue reading 110. Persée (Lully)
PROSERPINE Tragédie lyrique in a prologue and 5 acts Composer: Jean-Baptiste Lully Librettist : Philippe Quinault First performed : Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 3 February 1680; Acadëmie royale de musique (1re salle du Palais-Royal), 16 November 1680, conducted by Lully Persephone, daughter of Demeter, was abducted from the sunny hillside where she and her companions were gathering flowers, and dragged … Continue reading 109. Proserpine (Lully)
BELLÉROPHON Tragédie lyrique in a prologue and 5 acts Composer : Jean-Baptiste Lully Libretto : Thomas Corneille & Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle First performed : Académie royale de musique, théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris, 31 January 1679 Bellérophon was one of Lully’s most successful works, performed continuously for nine months from its premiere in January to October. “I … Continue reading 108. Bellérophon (Lully)
PSYCHÉ Tragédie lyrique in 5 acts with prologue Composer : Jean-Baptiste Lully Libretto : Thomas Corneille & Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle First performed : Académie Royale de Musique (1re salle du Palais-Royal), Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 19 April 1678 We’re jumping over Isis (1677) on our journey through Lully’s operas. it’s supposed to be one of his richest scores – … Continue reading 107. Psyché (Lully)
Tragédie lyrique in a prologue and 5 acts Composer: Jean-Baptiste Lully Libretto: Philippe Quinault First performed: Académie royale de musique, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, before Louis XIV, 3 February 1675; then at the Opéra (1re salle du Palais-Royal), April 1675, conducted by the composer Thésée was one of Lully’s most enduring successes. First performed before Louis XIV in 1675, it … Continue reading 106. Thésée (Lully)
CADMUS ET HERMIONE Tragédie in 5 acts and a prologue Composer: Jean-Baptiste de Lully Librettist: Philippe Quinault First performed: Paris, jeu de paume de Bel-Air, 27 April 1673 The father of French opera was an Italian. The young Giovanni Battista Lulli accompanied Louis XIV’s cousin Anne-Marie-Louise d’Orléans, duchess of Montpensier, “the Grand Mademoiselle”, to France as her … Continue reading 70. Cadmus et Hermione (Lully) – revised
ALCESTE, OU LE TRIOMPHE D'ALCIDE Tragédie en musique in a prologue and 5 acts Composer : Jean-Baptiste Lully Librettist : Philippe Quinault, after Euripides’ Alcestis First performed : Théâtre du Palais-Royal, 19 January 1674, then at Saint-Germain, finally in Paris Epiphany: Lully is fun. His operas are, after all, full of lively, toe-tapping dances; brilliant choruses; and plenty … Continue reading 105. Alceste (Lully)
