Tom Jones, the musical - by an 18th century chess master.
140. Tom Jones (Philidor)
Category: French composers
139. Le roi et le fermier (Monsigny)
Is this the first great French opera?
138. Les troqueurs (Dauvergne)
C'est quoi l'opéra comique?
136. Naïs (Rameau)
The plot is negligible; characterization and action almost nil; and the arias nondescript. This, surprisingly, doesn’t matter.
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)
130. Les Indes galantes (Rameau)
Opéra-ballet in a prologue and 4 entréesComposer : Jean-Philippe RameauLibretto : Louis FuzelierFirst performed : Académie royale de musique, Paris, 23 August 1735 "La terre, les cieux, et les mers / nous offrent tour-à-tour cent spectacles divers." Les Indes galantes offers plenty of spectacle : it's an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza, a round-the-world trip full of ceremonies, storms, shipwrecks, … Continue reading 130. Les Indes galantes (Rameau)
129. Castor et Pollux (Rameau)
Tragédie en musique in 5 actsComposer: Jean-Philippe RameauLibretto: Gentil-BernardFirst performed: Académie royale de musique (1re salle du Palais-Royal), 24 October 1737 ; revised 1754 Of all Rameau's operas, Claude Debussy most admired Castor et Pollux, and, on his deathbed, he regretted he was unable to attend a performance. Since 1903, Debussy had held up Rameau (and … Continue reading 129. Castor et Pollux (Rameau)
