Is this the first great French opera?
139. Le roi et le fermier (Monsigny)
Category: 18th century opera
138. Les troqueurs (Dauvergne)
C'est quoi l'opéra comique?
137. Le Devin du village (Rousseau)
Yes, that Rousseau.
136. Naïs (Rameau)
The plot is negligible; characterization and action almost nil; and the arias nondescript. This, surprisingly, doesn’t matter.
135. Croesus (Keiser)
DER HOCHMÜTIGE, GESTÜRZTE UND WIEDER ERHABENE CROESUS Composer: Reinhard KeiserLibretto: Lukas von Bostel, after Nicolò Minato’s 1678 operaFirst performed: Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg, 1711.Revised: Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg, 6 December 1730 Reinhard Keiser was once hailed as “the greatest opera composer in the world” (Johann Mattheson, writing his obituary in 1740). Thirty years later, one … Continue reading 135. Croesus (Keiser)
134. Dardanus (Rameau)
Tragédie lyrique in 5 actsComposer: Jean-Philippe RameauLibretto: Charles Antoine Le Clerc de la BruèreFirst performed : Académie royale de musique, Paris, 19 November 1739 (revised 23 April 1744) The tragédie lyrique, with its emphasis on text and ballet, bewildered foreigners: Burney considered the form “displeasing to all ears but those of France, which had been nursed … Continue reading 134. Dardanus (Rameau)
133. Serse (Handel)
The appeal of Handel's comic masterpiece is plane for all to see.
