''Isis'' is a French opera (''

tragédie en musique ''Tragédie en musique'' (, musical tragedy), also known as ''tragédie lyrique'' (, lyric tragedy), is a genre of French opera introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lully and used by his followers until the second half of the eighteenth century. Operas i ...

'') in a prologue and five acts with music by

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

and a libretto by Philippe Quinault, based on Ovid's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' (, , ) is a Latin Narrative poetry, narrative poem from 8 Common Era, CE by the Ancient Rome, Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''Masterpiece, magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the world from its Cre ...

''. The fifth of Lully's collaborations with Quinault, it was first performed on 5 January 1677 before the royal court of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

at the

Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a former royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the department of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the '' Musée d'Archéologie nationale'' (Nationa ...

and in August received a run of public performances at the

Théâtre du Palais-Royal The Théâtre du Palais-Royal () is a 750-seat Parisian theatre at 38 rue de Montpensier, located at the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal in the Galerie de Montpensier at its intersection with the Galerie de Beaujolais. Brief history O ...

.Pitou 1983, pp. 239–241; Lajarte 1878
pp. 31–32
It was Lully's first published score (partbooks in 1677); a full score was published in 1719.

Performance history

''Isis'' was revived only once during the remaining 38 years of Louis XIV's reign, on 14 February 1704. It was revived again in 1717–1718 and 1732–1733.

Roles

The ballets were danced by

Pierre Beauchamp Pierre Beauchamp or Beauchamps (; 30 October 1631 – February 1705) was a French choreographer, dancer and composer, and the probable inventor of Beauchamp–Feuillet notation. His grand-father was called Christophe (a musician) and his f ...

, Louis Pécourt, Magny, and Boutteville.

Synopsis

Prologue

The prologue, which includes the usual paean to

, takes place in the palace of Fame (''La Renommée'') with Rumors (''Rumeurs'') and Noises (''Bruits'') dancing in attendance to the goddess. When Fame sings of "the glory and triumphant valor of the greatest of heroes," she is referring to Louis XIV. She is visited by

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

with his retinue of

Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, who arrive from the sky, and

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

with his retinue of Tritons, who arrive from the sea. Both groups are equipped with

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

s, and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

s. When Neptune sings of the conqueror's recent adventures at sea, he is referring to the French naval victory over the Dutch and Spanish in 1676 in the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, 1672 to 1678, was primarily fought by Kingdom of France, France and the Dutch Republic, with both sides backed at different times by a variety of allies. Related conflicts include the 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and ...

Acts 1–5

The plot of the tragedy of ''Isis'' is loosely adapted from one of the episodes in

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's ''

''. Its plot parallels that of Lully's previous opera, '' Atys'' (in which Sangaride, promised to Celoenus, is pursued by another and acquires a goddess as a rival). ''Isis'' centers around the

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

Jupiter's love for the

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

Io and the jealousy of Juno. Io, daughter of

Inachus In Greek mythology, Inachus, Inachos or Inakhos (Ancient Greek: Ἴναχος) was the first king of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos. He was one of River gods (Greek mythology), the three thousand sons of Oceanus and Tethys (mythology), Tethys. The In ...

, is promised in marriage to Hierax, but is pursued by Jupiter, and yields to this love in spite of her feelings of guilt. Juno has Io imprisoned and tortured, leading Io to cry out to Jupiter for help. He swears faithfulness to Juno if she will spare Io, and Juno turns Io into a goddess:

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

, the Egyptian goddess.

Scandal

Lully's contemporaries interpreted this story as representing the volatile situation between two of the King's mistresses. The character of Io was equated with Madame de Ludres, Louis XIV's new favorite at court, to whom he had given lavish gifts. His long-time mistress,

Madame de Montespan Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart de Mortemart, Marquise of Montespan (5 October 1640 – 27 May 1707), commonly known as Madame de Montespan (), was a French noblewoman and the most celebrated maîtresse-en-titre, royal mistress of King Lou ...

, "was furious and did everything she could to humiliate her."Pitou 1983, p. 241. The subsequent ''scandale'' of the premiere ended the collaboration between Lully and Quinault for a time, and led to the dismissal of a number of members of Lully's artistic circle.

Recordings

*''Isis'' Soloists, La Simphonie du Marais, conducted by Hugo Reyne (Accord, 3 CDs, 2005) *''Isis'' Soloists, Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by

Christophe Rousset Christophe Rousset (; born 12 April 1961) is a French harpsichordist and conducting, conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on Authentic performance, period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and ...

(Aparte, 2 CDs, 2019)

References

Notes Sources * ''The New Grove French Baroque Masters'', ed. Graham Sadler (Macmillan, 1986) * ''The Viking Opera Guide'' ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
Le magazine de l'opéra baroque by Jean-Claude Brenac (in French)
* Parvopassu, Clelia ''Isis'', in Gelli, Piero & Poletti, Filippo (ed), ''Dizionario dell'opera 2008'', Milan, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, pp. 671–672 * Pitou, Spire (1983). ''The Paris Opéra: An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers. Genesis and Glory, 1671–1715''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. . * Rosow, Lois (1992). "''Isis'' (ii)", vol. 2, p. 827, in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'' (4 volumes), edited by

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...

. London: Macmillan. . * Sadie, Stanley (ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Grove (Oxford University Press), New York, 1997 ()

External links

* ''Isis'
libretto of 1677a different edition of the 1677 libretto
(mentioning the names of performers)
printed partbooks of 1677
(for performances at the Palais-Royal)
period printed score, s.d.
(but 1700 according to Gallica), an
score of 1719
at Gallica
''Isis''
High-resolution images of a 1677 manuscript copy of ''Isis''
''Isis''
High-resolution images of the first edition of ''Isis'' (1719) *

Libretto {{italic title Operas by Jean-Baptiste Lully Tragédies en musique French-language operas Operas 1677 operas Operas based on Metamorphoses Egyptian mythology in music Libretti by Philippe Quinault