Opéra-ballet
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Opéra-ballet
''Opéra-ballet'' (; plural: ''opéras-ballets'') is a genre of French Baroque lyric theatre that was most popular during the 18th century, combining elements of opera and ballet, "that grew out of the '' ballets à entrées'' of the early seventeenth century".Pitou 1983, p. 278 "''Opéra-ballet''". It differed from the more elevated ''tragédie en musique'' as practised by Jean-Baptiste Lully in several ways. It contained more dance music than the ''tragédie'', and the plots were not necessarily derived from classical mythology and allowed for the comic elements, which Lully had excluded from the ''tragédie en musique'' after ''Thésée'' (1675). The ''opéra-ballet'' consisted of a prologue followed by a number of self-contained acts (also known as ''entrées''), often loosely grouped around a single theme. The individual acts could also be performed independently, in which case they were known as ''actes de ballet''. The first work in the genre is generally held to be Andr ...
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André Campra
André Campra (; baptized 4 December 1660 – 29 June 1744) was a French composer and conductor of the Baroque era. The leading French opera composer in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Campra wrote several '' tragédies en musique'' and ''opéra-ballets'' that were extremely well received. He also wrote three books of cantatas as well as religious music, including a requiem. Biography Campra was the son of Giovanni Francesco Campra, a surgeon and violinist from Graglia, Italy, and Louise Fabry, from Aix-en-Provence. His father was his first music teacher. He was baptised on 4 December 1660 in the Église de la Madeleine in Aix. He became a choirboy in the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur there in 1674 and commenced ecclesiastical studies four years later. He was reprimanded by his superiors in 1681 for having taken part in theatrical performances without permission, but was nevertheless made a chaplain on 27 May of that year. He served as ''maître de ...
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Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord, alongside François Couperin. Little is known about Rameau's early years. It was not until the 1720s that he won fame as a major theorist of music with his ''Treatise on Harmony'' (1722) and also in the following years as a composer of masterpieces for the harpsichord, which circulated throughout Europe. He was almost 50 before he embarked on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests today. His debut, ''Hippolyte et Aricie'' (1733), caused a great stir and was fiercely attacked by the supporters of Lully's style of music for its revolutionary use of harmony. Nevertheless, Rameau's pre-eminence in the field of French opera was soon ...
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Les élémens
''Les Élémens'' (''The Elements''), or ''Ballet des élémens'', is an opéra-ballet by the French composers André Cardinal Destouches and Michel Richard Delalande (or de Lalande). It has a prologue and four '' entrées'' (as well as, originally, a celebratory epilogue later removed). The libretto was written by Pierre-Charles Roy. It was styled "the third ballet danced by the king" because the 11-year-old Louis XV performed dance divertissements in it, as he had already done in the previous ballets, ''L'inconnu'' by various authors (including Delalande and Destouches), and ''Les folies de Cardenio'' by Delalande, both staged at court in 1720. Composition Destouches was responsible for most of the music. It has never been ascertained how much each composer contributed to the composition. In a 1726 letter, Destouches wrote to Antonio I, Prince of Monaco: "We were ordered to work in partnership; he elalandewrote very fine things whose details I implore you to spare me, for h ...
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L'Europe Galante
''L'Europe galante'' (''Galant Europe'') is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra to a French libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte. The opera is regarded as the first opéra-ballet, with the entrées sharing a common theme – in this case 'love' in four countries, France (entrée 1), Spain (entrée 2), Italy (entrée 3) and Turkey (entrée 4) – rather than a common narrative. Performance history ''L'Europe Galante'' was first performed on 24 October 1697 by the Paris Opéra under Marin Marais in the Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. It was successful and was revived periodically until 1775. In 1997 – on the 300th anniversary of its creation – Istanbul Baroque led by Leyla Pınar staged ''L'Europe Galante'' in Istanbul Dolmabahçe Palace. They then toured it to the Brussels Printemps baroque du Sablon festival the same year. Roles Sources Further reading *Anthony, James R. (1992), "Europe galante, L" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ...
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André Cardinal Destouches
André Cardinal Destouches (sometimes called des Touches) (baptised 6 April 1672  – 7 February 1749) was a French composer best known for the ''opéra-ballet'' ''Les élémens''. Biography Born in Paris, the son of Étienne Cardinal, a wealthy merchant, André Cardinal was educated by Jesuits. With the Jesuit Father Guy Tachard, he went on a mission to Siam for two years, leaving in January 1687, and spending some time at the Cape of Good Hope, arriving in Siam in September. Coming back to France, in September 1688, he spent several months at the academy in the Manège royale, rue de Tournon. In 1692 he joined the army and participated in the invasion of Namur, discovering his musical talent while not occupied by combat. When his father died in August 1694, André Cardinal added "Destouches" to his name in memory of his father's title, Seigneur des Touches et de Guilleville. He quit the army in 1696 to pursue his musical aspirations. Destouches' opera ''Issé'' was per ...
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Opera Genres
This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most composers used more precise designations to present their work to the public. Often specific genres of opera were commissioned by theatres or patrons (in which case the form of the work might deviate more or less from the genre norm, depending on the inclination of the composer). Opera genres are not exclusive. Some operas are regarded as belonging to several. Definitions Opera genres have been defined in different ways, not always in terms of stylistic rules. Some, like opera seria, refer to traditions identified by later historians,McClymonds, Marita P and Heartz, Daniel: "Opera seria" in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) and others, like Zeitoper, have been defined by their own inventors. Other form ...
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Les Fêtes D'Hébé
''Les fêtes d'Hébé, ou Les talens lyriques '' (''The Festivities of Hebe, or The Lyric Talents'') is an ''opéra-ballet'' in a prologue and three ''entrées'' (acts) by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The libretto was written by Antoine Gautier de Montdorge (1707–1768). The work was first performed on 21 May 1739 by the Académie royale de musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris. Performance history ''Les fêtes d'Hébé'' was Rameau's second ''opera-ballet''; his first, ''Les Indes galantes'', had appeared in 1735. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra on 21 May 1739. The famous dancer Marie Sallé appeared as Terpsichore in the third entrée. Montdorge was a friend of Rameau's patron Alexandre Le Riche de La Poupelinière. His libretto came in for heavy criticism and the second ''entrée'' had to be revised with the aid of Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, who had written the words for Rameau's first opera, ''Hippolyte et Aricie''. In spite of the weak libr ...
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Les Indes Galantes
(French: "The Amorous Indies") is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Louis Fuzelier. It takes the form of an ''opéra-ballet'' with a prologue and (in its final form) four ''entrées'' (acts). Following an allegorical prologue, the four ''entrées'' have distinct and separate plots, but are unified by the theme of love in exotic places (The Ottoman Empire, Peru, Persia, and North America). The most famous pieces from the work, ''Danse des Sauvages'' and the final ''Chaconne'', come from the final ''entrée'' (''Les sauvages''). The premiere, including only the prologue and the first two of its four ''entrées'' (acts), was staged by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on 23 August 1735,Sadler starring the leading singers of the Opéra: Marie Antier, Marie Pélissier, Mlle Errémans, Mlle Petitpas, Denis-François Tribou, Pierre Jélyotte, and Claude-Louis-Dominique Chassé de Chinais, and the dancers Marie Sallé and Louis ...
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Pascal Collasse
Pascal Collasse (or Colasse) (22 January 1649 (baptised) – 17 July 1709) was a French composer of the Baroque era. Born in Rheims, Collasse became a disciple of Jean-Baptiste Lully during the latter's domination of the French operatic stage. When Lully died in 1687 leaving his tragédie en musique ''Achille et Polyxène'' unfinished, Collasse completed the last four acts of the score. He went on to produce around a dozen operas and ballets, as well as sacred music, including settings of the ''Cantiques spirituels'' of Jean Racine. His plan to establish his own opera house in Lille ended in failure when the theatre burnt down. He dabbled in alchemy with even less success. His musical style is close to that of Lully. Works * ''Achille et Polyxène'', tragédie lyrique, (overture and first act by Jean-Baptiste Lully) 1687 * '' Thétis et Pélée'', tragédie lyrique, 1689 * '' Énée et Lavinie'', tragédie lyrique, 1690 * '' Astrée'', tragédie lyrique, 1691 * ''Le Ballet de ...
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Opera
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 ...
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Glossary Of Ballet
Because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language. A À la seconde () (Literally "to second") If a step is done "à la seconde," it is done to the side. 'Second position'. It can also be a balance extending one foot off the ground in ‘Second Position’. À la quatrième () One of the directions of body, facing the audience (''en face''), arms in second position, with one leg extended either to fourth position in front (''quatrième devant'') or fourth position behind (''quatrième derrière''). À terre () Touching the floor; on the floor. Adagio Italian, or French ''adage'', meaning 'slowly, at ease.' # Slow movements performed with fluidity and grace. # One of the typical exercises of a traditional ballet class, done both at barre and in center, featuring slow, controlled movements. # The section of a ''grand pas'' (e.g., '' grand pas de deux''), often referred to as ''grand adage'', that features dance partne ...
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Thésée
''Thésée'' (; ) is a ''tragédie en musique'', an early type of French opera, in a prologue and five acts with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault based on Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. It was first performed on 11 January 1675Although the original libretto states the date of the premiere as 10 January, most sources give it as 11 January and the listing of performances o''Thesée''at ''césar'' gives the date as 12 January. by the Paris Opera for the royal court at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and was first performed in public in April at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris. The plot centres around a love triangle: Aegeus wants to marry his ward, princess Aegle, while the sorceress Medea wishes to marry the young warrior Theseus, but Theseus and Aegle love each other. Medea attempts to force the lovers to renounce each other: first by using her magic to bring Aegle to a place of torment, then by convincing Aegeus to have Theseus killed as ...
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