''L’épreuve villageoise '' (''Trial in a Village'') is an
opéra bouffon
''Opéra bouffon'' () is the French term for the Italian genre of opera buffa (comic opera) performed in 18th-century France, either in the original language or in French translation. It was also applied to original French opéras comiques having ...
in two acts by
André Grétry
André Ernest Modeste Grétry (; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a
composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous ...
to a French libretto by
Pierre Desforges.
It is a revision of a work called ''Théodore et Paulin'', which was performed once at
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
on 5 March 1784 but never published.
Performance history
''L’épreuve villageoise'' was first performed on 24 June 1784 by the
Théatre-Italien at the first Salle Favart in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. It became one of Grétry's most popular
opéras-comiques during the 19th century. It was revived by the same company on 29 October 1801 at the
Salle Feydeau
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 ...
and on 26 May 1853 at the second Salle Favart. The latter revival was given in a revised and reorchestrated version by
Daniel Auber
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire.
Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally whe ...
. The
Théâtre Lyrique
The Théâtre Lyrique () was one of four opera companies performing in Paris during the middle of the 19th century (the other three being the Paris Opera, Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Théâtre-Italien (1801–1878), Théâtre-Italien). ...
mounted a revival (presumably in the version by Auber) on 11 September 1863 at their theatre on the Place du Châtelet (today known as the
Théâtre de la Ville
(; "City Theatre") is one of the two theatres built in the 19th century by Baron Haussmann at Place du Châtelet, Paris, the other being the Théâtre du Châtelet. It is located at 2, place du Châtelet in the 4th arrondissement.
Included a ...
), where it was performed for two seasons for a total of 48 representations.
It was performed in New York, NY, USA on 27 and 28 May 2015 by the Opera Lafayette company at the French Institute Alliance Francaise. Another performance in Washington, DC, USA on 30 May 2015 was held at the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center.
[Opera Lafayette 2015]
Roles
*Mme Hubert, a widow (soprano)
*Denise, her daughter (soprano)
*André, Denise's fiancé (tenor)
*La France (baritone)
Recording
*''L'épreuve villageoise'', Sophie Junker (Denise), Talise Trevigne (Madame Hubert), Thomas Dolié (La France), Francisco Fernández-Rueda (André), Opera Lafayette, conducted by Ryan Brown (Naxos, 1 CD, 2016)
References
Sources
*
*
Background of L’épreuve villageoise* Walsh, T. J. (1981). ''Second Empire Opera: The Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, 1851–1870''. London: John Calder. .
* Wild, Nicole; Charlton, David (2005). ''Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique Paris: répertoire 1762-1972''. Sprimont, Belgium: Editions Mardaga. .
* Opera Lafayette 2015
External links
1784 libretto(Paris: Prault)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epreuve villageoise
Operas by André Grétry
Operas
Opéras bouffons
1784 operas
French-language operas