Comédie-ballet

''Comédie-ballet'' is a genre of French drama which mixes a spoken play with interludes containing music and dance.

History

The first example of the genre is considered to be '' Les fâcheux'', with words by Molière, performed in honour of Louis XIV at Vaux-le-Vicomte, the residence of Nicolas Fouquet, in 1661. The music and choreography were by Pierre Beauchamp, but Jean-Baptiste Lully later contributed a sung courante for Act I, scene 3. Molière, Lully and Beauchamp collaborated on several more examples of ''comédie-ballet'', culminating in the masterpiece of the genre, ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'', in 1670, and the scenically spectacular ''Psyché'' of January 1671, a ''tragicomédie et ballet'' which went well beyond the earlier examples of the genre.Gaines 2002, p. 394.

After quarrelling with Lully, Molière retained the services of Beauchamp as choreographer. His one-act prose comedy '' La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas'' premiered in December 1671 at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye as part of a larger entertainment referred to as the "Ballet des Ballets".Gaines 2002, p. 97. The original prose play used in the seven performances at Saint-Germain-en-Laye is now lost. In later Paris performances, it was replaced by another short play. The play recycled musical episodes from several of Molière's earlier ''comédies-ballets'', including ''La pastorale comique'', '' George Dandin'', ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'', and ''Psyché''.Powell 2000, pp. 215, 223. It "has sometimes been characterized as little more than a platform for songs and dances."

Molière turned to the composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier for the music for ''Le Malade imaginaire'' in 1673. While performing in ''Le malade'', Molière was taken ill on stage and died shortly afterwards.

In the 18th century, the ''comédie-ballet'' became almost completely outmoded but it still exercised a long-lasting influence on the use of music in French theatre. A late example of a genuine ''comédie-ballet'' is ''La princesse de Navarre'' by Voltaire, which was performed at Versailles on 23 February 1745. It consisted of a prologue and three acts, with the addition of an overture and three musical divertissements, one per act, composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau. The vocal music is particularly difficult to sing and includes a virtuoso duet for hautes-contre.

''Comédie-ballet'' and ''comédie lyrique''

Even though scholars tend to limit the use of the term ''comédie-ballet'' to the form described above, in the 18th century some authors also applied it to other kinds of stage work, particularly a type of comic opera, usually in three or four acts, without spoken dialogue. This differed from ''opéra-ballet'' (another genre mixing opera and dance) in that it contained a continuous plot (rather than a different plot for each act) as well as frequently having comic or satirical elements. It was essentially the same as the ''comédie lyrique''. Examples include ''Le carnaval et la folie'' (1703) by André Cardinal Destouches and ''La vénitienne'' (1768) by Antoine Dauvergne, a late reworking of the 1705 ballet of the same name by Michel de la Barre. A completely different use of the term ''comédie-lyrique'' as a sort of modern revival of the ''comédie-ballet'' is '' Le piège de Méduse'' (1913) by Erik Satie, which is a play in one act with seven short dances originally composed for the piano.

List of comédies-ballets

Comédies-ballets created by Molière-Lully-Beauchamp

* '' Les fâcheux'' (1661)
* '' La pastorale comique'' (1667)
* '' Le Sicilien'' (1667)
* ''L'Amour médecin'' (1665)
* '' George Dandin'' (1668)
* ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac'' (1669)
* '' Les amants magnifiques'' (1670)
* ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' (1670)
* ''Psyché'' (1671)
* '' La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas'' (1671)

Comédie-ballet created by Molière-Charpentier-Beauchamp

* ''Le Malade imaginaire'' (1673)

Comédie-ballet created by Voltaire and Rameau

* ''La Princesse de Navarre'' (1745)

References

Notes

Sources
* Bartlet, M. Elisabeth C., "Comédie lyrique" and "Comédie-ballet", in Stanley, Sadie (ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' (I, pp. 910–909), Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997 ()
* Caruselli, Salvatore (ed.), ''Grande enciclopedia della musica lirica'' (III, article: "Lully, Giovanni Battista"), Longanesi & C. Periodici S.p.A., Rome
* Gaines, James F., editor (2002). ''The Molière Encyclopedia''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. .

''Le magazin de l’opéra baroque''
* Powell, John S. (2000). ''Music and Theatre in France 1600–1680''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. .
* Sawkins, Lionel, "Haute-contre", in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' (''cit.'', II, pp. 668–69)

''Portions of this article are a translation of the equivalent page on the Italian Wikipedia''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comedie-Ballet
Theatre in France
Theatrical genres