''Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse'' (''Don Quixote at the Duchess'') is a "comic ballet" ('' comédie lyrique'') by the French baroque composer

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (23 December 1689 – 28 October 1755) was a French baroque composer of instrumental music, cantatas, opéra-ballets, and vocal music. Boismortier was one of the first composers to have no patrons: having obtained a ro ...

. Although it is described as a ballet, it is sung throughout with a libretto by

Charles Simon Favart Charles Simon Favart (13 November 1710 – 12 May 1792) was a French playwright and theatre director. The Salle Favart in Paris is named after him. Biography Born in Paris, the son of a pastry-cook, he was educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, a ...

Performance history

It was first performed on 12 February 1743 at the Académie Royale de Musique et de Dance in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

Roles

*Don Quichotte, ''

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 ...

'' Jean-Antoine Bérard *Sancho Pança, ''taille'' (

baritenor Baritenor (also rendered in English language sources as bari-tenor or baritenore) is a portmanteau (blend) of the words "baritone" and "tenor." It is used to describe both baritone and tenor voices. In ''Webster's Third New International Dictionar ...

) Louis-Antoine Cuvilliers *Altisidore, soprano

Marie Fel Marie Fel (24 October 1713 – 2 February 1794) was a French opera singer and a daughter of the organist Henri Fel. Marie Fel was born at Bordeaux. She made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1733 and sang regularly at the Concert Spirituel. In a ...

*Peasant girl, soprano Mlle Bourbonnois *Woman, soprano *Duke, bass *Merlin, ''basse-taille'' ( bass-baritone) Person *Montésinos, ''basse-taille'' Albert *Japanese man, ''basse-taille'' Person *Japanese woman, soprano Marie Fel *Enchanted lovers, sopranos Mlles Clairon and Gondré *Ballerinas,

Marie Anne de Cupis de Camargo Marie Anne de Cupis de Camargo (15 April 1710 in Brussels – 28 April 1770 in Paris), sometimes known simply as La Camargo, was a French dancer. The first woman to execute the '' entrechat quatre'', Camargo was also allegedly responsible for ...

and Mimi Dallemand *Male dancers, David Dumoulin, Louis Dupré and Jean-Barthélemy Lany

Synopsis

The opera is based upon an episode in the

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

novel ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

'', in which a Duke and Duchess amuse themselves by creating an elaborate ruse to fool the title character.

Discography

* ''Don Quichotte chez la la Duchesse'' (Comic Ballet in Three Acts), by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier.

Hervé Niquet Hervé Niquet (born 28 October 1957) is a French conductor, harpsichordist, tenor, and the director of Le Concert Spirituel, specializing in French Baroque music. Biography Born on 28 October 1957, Hervé Niquet was raised at Abbeville in the ...

(conductor) and the ensemble

Le Concert Spirituel Le Concert Spirituel is a French ensemble specialising in works of baroque music, played on period instruments. Founded by Hervé Niquet in 1987, it is named after the 18th-century concert series Concert Spirituel. The group performs internation ...

; Naxos 8.553647 (1996).

References

* Pitou, Spire, ''The Paris Opéra. An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers – Rococo and Romantic, 1715-1815'', Greenwood Press, Westport/London, 1985 (article: "Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse", p. 168), *
''Le magazine de l'opéra baroque'', accessed 2 April 2010
{{Don Quixote Operas based on Don Quixote French-language operas Operas by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier Operas 1743 operas Ballets by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier Ballets by Charles Simon Favart

Performance history

Roles

Synopsis

Discography

See also

References