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Roland (Lully)
''Roland'' is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault. It was first performed on January 8, 1685, at the Palace of Versailles by the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera) and later, beginning on March 8, 1685, at the company's public theatre in Paris, the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. The story is derived from Ariosto's epic poem ''Orlando Furioso''. The opera takes the form of a tragédie en musique with an allegorical prologue and five acts. Roles There is also a chorus of Fairies, Islanders, Shepherds and Shepherdesses, Heroes and followers of Glory. Synopsis The opera opens with an allegorical prologue in which Démogorgon, King of the Fairies, sings the praises of Louis XIV and asks to see the story of the famous paladin Roland. Roland, the nephew of Charlemagne loves Angélique, the daughter of the King of Cathay, but, unbeknown to him, she is in love with Médor, a soldier in the army of Africa. In Act One, Roland gives Ang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland (opera By Jean-Baptiste Lully)
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was military governor of the Breton March, responsible for defending Francia's frontier against the Bretons. His only historical attestation is in Einhard's ''Vita Karoli Magni'', which notes he was part of the Frankish rearguard killed in retribution by the Basques in Iberia at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. The story of Roland's death at Roncevaux Pass was embellished in later medieval literature, medieval and Renaissance literature. The first and most famous of these epic treatments was the Old French ''Chanson de Roland'' of the 11th century. Two masterpieces of Italian Renaissance poetry, the ''Orlando Innamorato'' and ''Orlando Furioso'' (by Matteo Maria Boiardo and Ludovico Ariosto re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haute-contre
The haute-contre (plural hautes-contre) was the primary French operatic tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera, from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century. History This voice was predominantly used in male solo roles, typically heroic and amatory ones, but also in comic parts, even ''en travesti'' (see apropos the portrait reproduced below and representing Pierre Jélyotte made up for the female title role of Rameau's ''Platée''). Lully wrote 8 out of 14 leading male roles for the voice; Charpentier, who was an haute-contre himself, composed extensively for the voice-part, as did Rameau and, later, Gluck. The leading ''hautes-contre'' of the ''Académie Royale de Musique'' that created the main roles of Lully's operas, at the end of the seventeenth century, were Bernard Clédière (who started off as a ''taille'', a lower Tenor voice type) and Louis Gaulard Dumesny. Notable ''hautes-contre'' of the eighteent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of the Classical period. Life Piccinni was born in Bari, in the Apulia region. From the age of fourteen, he was educated at the S. Onofrio Conservatory by Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante,. thanks to the intervention of the Bishop of Bari (his father, although himself a musician, was opposed to his son following the same career). Piccinni's first opera, ''Le donne dispettose'', was produced in 1755 with the patronage of Prince Vintimille. In 1760 he composed, at Rome, the ''chef d'œuvre'' of his early life, '' La Cecchina, ossia la buona Figliuola'', an ''opera buffa'' with a libretto by Goldoni, which "enjoyed a two-year run in Rome and was played in all the important European capitals. It can probably ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland (Piccinni)
''Roland'' is a tragédie lyrique in three acts by the composer Niccolò Piccinni. The opera was a new setting of a libretto written by Philippe Quinault for Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1685, specially adapted for Piccinni by Jean-François Marmontel and based on Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem '' Orlando Furioso'' (''The Frenzy of Orlando''). The opera was first performed on 27 January 1778 by the Académie Royale de Musique ( Paris Opera) at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. Background and performance history ''Roland'' was the first opera Piccinni wrote for Paris. He had been hired by the Académie royale de musique in 1776, in spite of his ignorance of the French language. Piccinni still knew no French when he was composing ''Roland'' and had to be helped all the way by his librettist Marmontel, who provided a translation of every word along with details on how to accentuate it correctly. Marmontel also helped Piccinni come to terms with the French style of opera, which was very differ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-François Marmontel
Jean-François Marmontel (11 July 1723 – 31 December 1799) was a French historian, writer and a member of the Encyclopédistes movement. Biography He was born of poor parents at Bort, Limousin (today in Corrèze). After studying with the Jesuits at Mauriac, Cantal, he taught in their colleges at Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse; and in 1745, acting on the advice of Voltaire, he set out for Paris to try for literary success. From 1748 to 1753 he wrote a succession of tragedies: ''Denys le Tyran'' (1748); ''Aristomene'' (1749); ''Cleopâtre'' (1750); ''Heraclides'' (1752); ''Egyptus'' (1753). These literary works, though only moderately successful on the stage, secured Marmontel's introduction into literary and fashionable circles. He wrote a series of articles for the ''Encyclopédie'' evincing considerable critical power and insight, which in their collected form, under the title ''Eléments de Littérature'', still rank among the French classics. He also wrote several c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Chanson De Roland
''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions, which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in Medieval literature, Medieval and Renaissance literature, Renaissance literature from the 12th to 16th centuries. The epic poem written in Vulgar Latin is the first and one of the most outstanding examples of the ''chanson de geste'', a literary form that flourished between the 11th and 16th centuries in Medieval Europe and celebrated legendary deeds. The date of composition is put in the period between 1040 AD and 1115 AD; an early version began around 1040 AD with additions and alterations made up until about 1115 AD. The final text contains about 4,000 lines of poetry. Manuscripts and d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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