Portrait of Jean-Philippe Rameau - Joseph Aved

''Nélée et Myrthis'' (or ''Mirthis'') is a one-act

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

in the form of an '' acte de ballet''. Little is known about its background: the score may be incomplete and it was never staged in Rameau's lifetime. The first known performance took place at the Victoria State Opera,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 22 November 1974. ''Nélée et Myrthis'' may have been intended to form part of a larger ''

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 seventeen ...

'' to be called ''Les beaux jours de l'Amour''. The name of the librettist is unknown but it was probably Rameau's frequent collaborator

Louis de Cahusac Louis de Cahusac (6 April 1706 – 22 June 1759) was an 18th-century French playwright and librettist, and Freemason, most famous for his work with the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. He provided the libretti for several of Rameau's operas, namely ...

Background

The original title is now thought to have been ''Mirthis''; the designation ''Nélée et Myrthis'' came about from a misreading of the manuscript. The fact that the character of Mirthis dominates the opera lends credence to this idea. Musicologists now think that Rameau originally intended ''Mirthis'' to be part of a multi-act ''

'' called ''Les beaux jours de l'Amour''. There is some evidence this work was substantially complete by May 1751, but for unknown reasons it was never staged. The other acts were '' La naissance d'Osiris'' and '' Anacréon'', both premiered at Fontainebleau in October 1754. ''Mirthis'' was never performed and the score may be incomplete - the work is missing the usual dances and choruses which end Rameau's operas and there are only two instrumental movements. If ''Mirthis'' was part of ''Les beaux jours de l'Amour'' then the librettist was almost certainly Louis de Cahusac, the author of the remaining sections. Another point in favour of this theory is that - unusually - there is no use of the supernatural, something the libretto shares in common with Cahusac's ''Anacréon'' (1754). Judging from crossings-out in the manuscript, the character of Nélée was originally named "Anacréon", suggesting that the Greek lyric poet

Anacreon Anacreon ( BC) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ancient Ionic dialect. Like all early ...

would have been the hero of two acts of ''Les beaux jours de l'Amour''.

Music

There are only two instrumental movements: an ''Entrée de triomphe'' (triumphal entrance) and a long

chaconne A chaconne ( , ; ; ; earlier English: chacony) is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for Variation (music), variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line (ground bass ...

, lasting 170 bars. Mirthis has most of the important vocal music and is the most developed character. She moves from being lighthearted and insouciant to acquiring tragic depth when she thinks that Nélée has abandoned her. The Rameau specialist Sylvie Bouissou draws attention to the aria "''Malgré le penchant le plus tendre"'': "This air deserves special comment since Rameau here creates a fundamental antithesis between the sense of the words, which is vindictive in character, and the expressiveness of the music, which betrays Myrthis's profoundly tender feelings for Nélée. A dramatic disjunction of this sort would have aroused the interest of

Gluck Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and especially of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

." Nélée and Corinne are less substantial roles, although

Cuthbert Girdlestone Cuthbert Morton Girdlestone (17 September 1895 – 10 December 1975) was a British musicologist and literary scholar. Born in Bovey Tracey, Devon, he was educated at Cambridge and the Sorbonne, and thereafter took up the chair in French in Arm ...

praises Nélée's aria "''Un amant rebuté"''.Girdlestone, p. 470

Roles

Synopsis

The athlete Nélée is about to celebrate his triumph in the Argive Games. He has long been in love with the female poet Myrthis but finally announces he is tired of her indifference (Air: "''Un amant rebuté"''). As victor in the games, his reward is the chance to ask for anything he desires. Myrthis believes Nélée will choose her (Air: "''Jouissons de la liberté"'') but he tells her he has a new love, Corinne. Myrthis, who has secretly been in love with Nélée all along, is now wracked with jealousy (Air: "''Malgré le penchant le plus tendre"''). Nélée looks forward to his triumph (Air: "''Théâtre des honneurs"''). In her role as poet Myrthis is forced to lead the victory celebrations (Air and chorus: "''Muses, filles du ciel"''). She asks Nélée to make his choice and, to her surprise, he names her; he was merely pretending to love Corinne to punish Myrthis for her pride. The opera ends in celebration (Chorus: ''"Amour, sois le prix de la gloire"'').

Recordings

* ''Nélée et Myrthis'' (together with '' Pigmalion'')

Jérôme Correas Jérôme Correas (born 3 August 1966) is a French conductor, harpsichordist and bass baritone. Life Born in Les Lilas, at the age of five Correas began studying the piano. In 1982, he met the great harpsichordist and musicologist Antoine Geof ...

(Nélée), Agnès Mellon (Myrthis), Françoise Semellaz (Corinne), Donatienne Michel-Dansac and Caroline Pelon (Deux Argiennes), Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (Harmonia Mundi, 1992)

References

Sources

*Bouissou, Sylvie ''Jean-Philippe Rameau: Musicien des lumières'' (Fayard, 2014) *Bouissou, Sylvie: Booklet notes to the Christie recording (1992) *Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Nelée et Myrthis, 22 November 1974", in ''L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia'' * Girdlestone, Cuthbert, ''Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work'' (Dover, 1969) *Holden, Amanda (ed.) ''The Viking Opera Guide'' (Viking, 1993) *Sadler, Graham ''The Rameau Compendium'' (Boydell, 2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelee Et Myrthis Operas Operas by Jean-Philippe Rameau French-language operas One-act operas 18th-century operas Ballets by Jean-Philippe Rameau Operas based on classical mythology 1751 operas