(''The Wise Young Man and the Old Fool'') is an
opera by the French composer
Étienne Méhul with a
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by
François-Benoît Hoffman. It takes the form of a ''comédie mêlée de musique'' (a type of ''
opéra comique
''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...
'') in one act. It was first performed at the
Théâtre Favart in Paris on 28 March 1793. A revised version appeared in 1801.
The opera was well received. A review in the ''Chronique de Paris'' of 1 April described the music as "by turns original, witty and romantic."
[Adélaïde de Place, p. 53] According to
David Cairns, this marks the first reference to
Romanticism in music. The overture musically depicts the two main characters: unaccompanied flutes represent the wise young man and cellos, trombones and basses the old fool. Variations on these themes recur throughout the score.
Roles
Synopsis
Cliton is a 16-year-old obsessed with appearing wise. His father, Merval, is over 60 and a libertine, much to the embarrassment of his son. Cliton thinks marriage will make Merval more responsible and urges him to take the young and sensible Rose as his wife while Cliton himself plans to marry Rose's aunt, the prudish Élise. However, it emerges Rose is secretly in love with Cliton and Merval persuades his son to marry her instead while Merval will marry the aunt. After more comic confusion, Élise finally accepts this state of affairs.
Recordings
The overture appears on: MĂ©hul ''Overtures'', Orchestre de Bretagne, conducted by
Stefan Sanderling
Stefan Sanderling (born 2 August 1964 in East Berlin, East Germany) is an orchestral conductor. He is the son of the conductor Kurt Sanderling and the double-bass player Barbara Sanderling. His half-brother is the conductor Thomas Sanderling. ...
(
ASV The following meanings of the abbreviation ASV are known to Wikipedia:
* Adaptive servo-ventilation, a treatment for sleep apnea
* Air-to-Surface Vessel radar (also "anti-surface vessel"), aircraft-mounted radars used to find ships and submarines ...
, 2002) Catalogue number CD DCA 1140.
[Booklet notes to the Sanderling recording by ]AteĹź Orga
AteĹź () is a Turkish word meaning "fire", and may refer to:
Given name
* Ateş Çınar (born 1986), Turkish yacht racer
Surname
* Ceyda AteĹź (born 1988), Turkish actress
* Levent AteĹź (born 1991), Turkish middle-distance runner
* Necati AteĹ ...
References
Sources
* Adélaïde de Place, ''Étienne Nicolas Méhul'' (Bleu Nuit Éditeur, 2005)
*
Nicole Wild
Nicole Wild (20 June 1929 – 29 December 2017) was a French musicologist, chief curator at the Paris Opera Library and Museum, and a specialist in the history and iconography of opera in France in the 19th century.
Early life and education
Bor ...
and David Charlton ''Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, Paris: Repertoire 1762–1972'' (Éditions Mardaga, 2005)
Further reading
*Printed score: ''Le Jeune sage et le Vieux fou – Comédie en un Acte en Prose Par Hoffmann, Représentée pour la premiere fois le jeudi 28 Mars 1793 sur le Théatre de l'Opéra Comique National de la Rue Favart cy-devant Comédie Italienne, Mise en Musique par Méhul'', Paris, Huguet, s.d.
online Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France)
*1801 libretto: ''Le Jeune sage et le Vieux fou, Comédie en un Acte, En Prose et mêlée de Musique. Paroles du cit. Hoffman, Musique du cit. Méhul; Représentée pour la première fois, sur le Thêatre de l'Opéra-Comique le ... 1793.'', Paris, Huet, An X (1801–1802)
online HathiTrust
HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...
digital library)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeune sage et le vieux fou, Le
Operas
One-act operas
Operas by Étienne Méhul
1793 operas
Opéras comiques
French-language operas