|
La Caverne (Méhul)
''La caverne'' (''The Cavern'') is an opera by the French composer Étienne Méhul. It takes the form of a ''comédie en prose'' in three acts. It premiered at the Opéra-Comique, Paris on 5 December 1795. The libretto, by Nicolas-Julien Forgeot, is based on incidents from the novel '' Gil Blas'' by Alain-René Lesage. Méhul's opera enjoyed only limited success, with 22 performances. Arthur Pougin ascribes this to the competition from Le Sueur's opera of the same title, based on the same events from ''Gil Blas'', first staged at the Théâtre Feydeau in February 1793. Le Sueur's ''La caverne'' was one of the most popular works of the 1790s. With such a rival, Pougin writes, "failure was almost certain" for Méhul's work, despite the excellence of the cast. Roles Information from Bartlet (1999), p. 337. Synopsis The following synopsis and comments are translated from a contemporary review in ''La décade philosophique, littéraire et politique'':Jean-Baptiste Say ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Blaise Martin
Jean-Blaise Martin, full name Nicolas Jean-Blaise Martin (February 24, 1768 in Paris – October 28, 1837 in Tourzel-Ronzières) was a French opera singer whose tessitura lay between tenor and baritone, which became later known as " baryton-martin". Life and career Jean-Blaise Martin began singing publicly as a child, before his voice broke. He made his professional operatic debut in 1789, at the Théâtre Feydeau, in Paris, in a parody called . He then studied with Madame Dugazon, and made his debut at the Opéra-Comique in 1794, and sang there until 1823. He became a member of the theatre's administrative committee in 1801. He also taught at the Conservatoire de Musique of Paris, from 1825 to 1837. He composed one opéra comique, , produced at the Théâtre Feydeau in 1796. During his career, he created some 15 roles in operas by Nicolas Dalayrac, François Devienne, André Grétry, Étienne Méhul, Nicolas Isouard, Ferdinando Paer, etc. Martin's voice was descri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French-language Operas
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Gounod, Bizet, Massenet, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc and Messiaen. Many foreign-born composers have played a part in the French tradition as well, including Lully, Gluck, Salieri, Cherubini, Spontini, Meyerbeer, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Offenbach. French opera began at the court of Louis XIV of France with Jean-Baptiste Lully's ''Cadmus et Hermione'' (1673), although there had been various experiments with the form before that, most notably '' Pomone'' by Robert Cambert. Lully and his librettist Quinault created ''tragédie en musique'', a form in which dance music and choral writing were particularly prominent. Lully's most important successor was Rameau. After Rameau's death, the German Gluck was persuaded to produce six operas for the Paris, Parisian stage in the 1770s. They show the influence of Rameau, but simplified and with greater foc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1795 Operas
Events January–June * January – Central England records its coldest ever month, in the CET records dating back to 1659. * January 14 – The University of North Carolina opens to students at Chapel Hill, becoming the first state university in the United States. * January 16 – War of the First Coalition: Flanders campaign: The French occupy Utrecht, Netherlands. * January 18 – Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam: William V, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic (Republic of the Seven United Netherlands), flees the country. * January 19 – The Batavian Republic is proclaimed in Amsterdam, ending the Dutch Republic (Republic of the Seven United Netherlands). * January 20 – French troops enter Amsterdam. * January 23 – Flanders campaign: Capture of the Dutch fleet at Den Helder: The Dutch fleet, frozen in Zuiderzee, is captured by the French 8th Hussars. * February 7 – The Eleventh Amendment to the United State ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operas By Étienne Méhul
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as '' Singspiel'' and '' Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two styles of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stratonice (opera)
''Stratonice'' is a one-act '' opéra comique'' by Étienne Méhul to a libretto by François-Benoît Hoffman, first performed at the Théâtre Favart in Paris, on 3 May 1792. The plot is taken from ''De Dea Syria'' ("On the Syrian Goddess", attributed to Lucian) concerning an incident from the history of the Seleucid dynasty which ruled much of the Middle East during the Hellenistic era of the ancient world. Performance history ''Stratonice'' was a popular opera, receiving over 200 performances during Méhul's lifetime. On 6 June 1792 a parody, ''Nice'', by Jean-Baptiste Desprez and Alexandre de Ségur, appeared at the Théâtre du Vaudeville. In 1821 Méhul's nephew Joseph Daussoigne-Méhul wrote new recitatives for the opera's revival in Paris at the Académie Royale de Musique. Roles Synopsis Antiochus, the son of King Seleucus, is pining away yet he would rather die than name the cause of his disease to his father. The doctor, Erasistratus, suspects love is behind Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Baptiste Say
Jean-Baptiste Say (; 5 January 1767 – 15 November 1832) was a liberal French economist and businessman who argued in favor of competition, free trade and lifting restraints on business. He is best known for Say's law—also known as the law of markets—which he popularized. Scholars disagree on the surprisingly subtle question of whether it was Say who first stated what is now called Say's law. Moreover, he was one of the first economists to study entrepreneurship and conceptualized entrepreneurs as organizers and leaders of the economy. Early life Say was born in Lyon. His father Jean-Etienne Say was born to a Protestant family which had moved from Nîmes to Geneva for some time in consequence of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Say was intended to follow a commercial career and in 1785 was sent with his brother Horace to complete his education in England. He lodged for a time in Croydon and afterwards (following a return visit to France) in Fulham. During the latter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Baptiste-Sauveur Gavaudan
Jean-Baptiste-Sauveur Gavaudan (8 August 1772 – 10 May 1840) was French opera singer who sang leading tenor roles, primarily with the Opéra Comique in Paris. He was particularly known for his skill as an actor and was sometimes referred to as "the Talma of the Opéra Comique". He also served as the director of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels for the 1817–1818 season. Born in Salon-de-Provence, he made his stage debut in 1791 at the Théâtre Montansier. Gavaudan was married to the soprano Alexandrine Marie Agathe Gavaudan-Ducamel from 1798 until his death in Paris at the age of 67. Life and career Gavaudan was born in Salon-de-Provence and spent his early childhood in Nimes where his father was the music master at a religious institution. His three sisters were training to be opera singers in Paris where he also began his musical training at the age of five. The oldest two, , known as "Mlle Gavaudan l'aînée" (the elder), and Adélaïde Gavaudan, known as " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Pierre Solié
Jean-Pierre Solié (also Soulier, Solier, Sollié; 1755 in Nîmes – 6 August 1812 in Paris) was a French cellist and operatic singer. He began as a tenor, but switched and became well known as a baritone. He sang most often at the Paris Opéra-Comique. He also became a prolific composer, writing primarily one-act comic operas.Letailleur, Paulette. "Solié olier, Sollié, Soulié, Soulier Jean-Pierre" in Sadie (1992) 4: 446. Career as a singer His father was a cellist with the orchestra at the theatre in Nîmes, and Solié likewise learned to play the cello. But he also learned to sing and play the guitar, and became a choirboy in the cathedral. As he got older he began traveling to nearby towns in southern France, where he played cello in local theatre orchestras and supplemented his income by giving lessons in guitar and singing. In 1778 in Avignon he was called upon to replace an ailing tenor in André Grétry's ''La Rosière de Salency'' and made such a good impression, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Étienne Méhul
Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 16 November 1765 ~ 24 December 1817) was a French composer of the Classical period (music), classical period. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France during the French Revolution, Revolution". He was also the first composer to be called a "Romanticism, Romantic". He is known particularly for his operas, written in keeping with the reforms introduced by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Life Méhul was born at Givet in Ardennes to Jean-François Méhul, a wine merchant, and his wife Marie-Cécile (née Keuly). His first music lessons came from a blind local organist. When he showed promise, he was sent to study with a German musician and organist, , at the monastery of Lavaldieu, a few miles from Givet. Here Méhul developed his lifelong love of flowers. In 1778 or 1779 he went to Paris and began to study with Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, a harpsichord player and friend of Méhul's idol Christoph Willibald Gluck. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voice Type
A voice type is a group of voices with similar vocal ranges, capable of singing in a similar tessitura, and with similar vocal transition points ('' passaggi''). Voice classification is most strongly associated with European classical music, though it, and the terms it utilizes, are used in other styles of music as well. A singer will choose a repertoire that suits their voice. Some singers such as Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, Jessye Norman, Ewa Podleś, and Plácido Domingo have voices that allow them to sing roles from a wide variety of types; some singers such as Shirley Verrett and Grace Bumbry change type and even voice part over their careers; and some singers such as Leonie Rysanek have voices that lower with age, causing them to cycle through types over their careers. Some roles are hard to classify, having very unusual vocal requirements; Mozart wrote many of his roles for specific singers who often had remarkable voices, and some of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
