''Les festes vénitiennes'' ("Venetian Festivities"), also spelled ''Les fêtes vénitiennes'', is an ''

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 seven ...

'' by the French composer

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 '' tra ...

. It consists of a prologue (later sometimes omitted, abridged or replaced) and three ''entrées'' (four or five in subsequent versions). All versions of the

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 ...

are by

Antoine Danchet Antoine Danchet (7 September 1671 – 21 February 1748) was a French playwright, librettist and dramatic poet. Biography Danchet was born in Riom, in the Auvergne, France. Having been a professor of rhetoric at Chartres and then a tutor at Par ...

. It was first performed on 17 June 1710 by the

Académie royale de musique The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

in the

Salle du Palais-Royal Salle is the French word for 'hall', 'room' or 'auditorium', as in: *Salle des Concerts Herz, a former Paris concert hall *Salle Favart, theatre of the Paris Opéra-Comique *Salle Le Peletier, former home of the Paris Opéra *Salle Pleyel, a Paris ...

in Paris. According to the usage of the time, it was originally simply billed as a "''ballet''", but it is one of the most important and successful instances of the new genre later classified by scholars as ''opéra-ballet'', which had become popular in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

around the end of the 17th century.Anthony.

Performance history

At the beginning of the 18th century the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

public was growing dissatisfied with the traditional "operatic fare consisting of lyric tragedies cast invariably in the mould created by

Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...

and

Quinault Quinault may refer to: * Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast **Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe **Quinault language, their language People * Quinault family of actors, including * Jean-Baptis ...

",Pitou, p. 223. and the innovative nature of the ''opéra-ballet'', with its realistic locations and characters, and its comic plots, was seen as a viable alternative. The format of the new genre was exceedingly flexible: each entrée had its own independent intrigue and characters, and the various acts were loosely linked together by a tenuous thread (in ''Les festes vénitiennes'', the Venice location). Campra and Danchet's opera proved incredibly popular from the beginning, and, through a trial and error approach, "it perpetuated itself to the point where new entrées were written to replace the acts that seemed to be losing their appeal". Between June and December 1710, Campra and Danchet experimented with a total of two prologues and eight entrées and the opera ran for several dozen performances, reaching its 51st mounting on 14 October when it was restructured in a version with a shortened prologue and four entrées (which were to become five in the following month of December). After its unprecedented success in 1710-1711, the opera was regularly revived over the next half-century (in 1712, 1713, 1721, 1731-1732, 1740, 1750-1751 and 1759), the different entrées being swapped around at various times, and provided ample opportunity for almost all the major artists who appeared on the stage of the Paris Opéra in this period. Eventually, it chalked up the incredible number of about three hundred performances.''Le magazine de l'opéra baroque''

Roles

References

;Notes ;Sources * Period scores: **''Les Barquerolles Entrée'', manuscript kept at and digitized by the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

(accessible for free online a
Gallica - B.N.F.
**''Feste Marine Entrée'', manuscript kept at and digitized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (accessible for free online a
Gallica - B.N.F.
**''Le Bal // nouvelle // entrée // ajoutée aux // festes // venitiennes // Par // M. Campra'', manuscript kept at and digitized by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (accessible for free online a
Gallica - B.N.F.
**''Le triomphe de la folie , comedie mis '' ic' en musique par Monsieur Campra'', Paris, Ballard, 1711 (accessible for free online a
Gallica - B.N.F.
**'' Les Festes Vénitiennes , Ballet en Musique, par Monsieur Campra, Maître de Musique de la Chappelle du Roy ; Représenté pour la premiere fois, par l'Academie Royale de Musique. Le Mardy dix-septiéme Juin 1710. Conforme à la Remise au Théâtre, du Jeudy 14 Juin 1731'', Paris, Ballard, 1731 (accessible for free online a
Gallica - B.N.F.
* James R. Anthony, ''Fêtes vénitiennes, Les'', in Stanley Sadie (ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997, II, pp. 175–176, * *

Jean-Nicolas de Francine Jean-Nicolas de Francine (1662–1735) was a director of the Opéra national de Paris. Life From the Francini family of Florentine musicians that had come to France under Henry IV of France, Jean-Nicolas married Jean-Baptiste Lully's eldest daugh ...

(ed.), ''Recueil general des opera réprésentez par l'Academie Royale de Musique, depuis son etablissement. Tome dixième'', Paris, Ballard, 1714, pp. 129–252 (accessible for free online i
books.google
*

Théodore Lajarte Théodore Lajarte (10 July 1826 – 20 June 1890) was a French musicologist, librarian, and composer.Huebner 1992. Early years Lajarte was born in Bordeaux. His full name has been given as Théodore Édouard Dufaure de Lajarte. He studied at th ...

, ''Bibliothèque Musicale du Théatre de l'Opéra. Catalogue Historique, Chronologique, Anecdotique'', Tome 1, Paris, Librairie des bibliophiles, 1878 (accessible online i
Internet Archive
* Raffaele Mellace, ''Fêtes vénitiennes, Les'', in Piero Gelli and Filippo Poletti (eds.), ''Dizionario dell'opera. 2008'', Milan, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, pp. 469–470, (reproduced online a
Opera Manager
*

François François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

and

Claude Parfaict Claude Parfaict, (Paris, c.1701 – 26 June 1777) was an 18th-century French theatre historian. François Parfaict's younger brother, Claude had for theatre the same passion as his brother. Claude's most notable works were collaborations with F ...

, ''Dictionnaire des Théâtres de Paris, contenant toutes les pièces qui ont été représentées jusqu'à présent sur les différents Théâtres François et sur celui de l'Académie Royale de Musique ...'', Paris, Rozet, 1767, VI, pp. 115–129 (accessible for free online in
books.google
* Spire Pitou, ''The Paris Opéra. An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers – Genesis and Glory, 1671-1715'', Greenwood Press, Westport/London, 1983 () *''The Viking Opera Guide'' ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fetes Venitiennes, Les Opéras-ballets Operas by André Campra French-language operas Operas Opera world premieres at the Paris Opera 1710 operas Operas set in Venice