''Pirame et Thisbé'' (''Pyramus and Thisbe'') is an opera by the French composers François Francoeur and François Rebel, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the

Paris Opera 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 kn ...

) on 17 October 1726. It takes the form of a ''

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. The libretto, by Jean-Louis-Ignace de La Serre, is based on the story of

Pyramus and Thisbe In Greek mythology, Pyramus and Thisbe () are a pair of ill-fated lovers from Babylon, whose story is best known from Ovid's narrative poem ''Metamorphoses''. The tragic myth has been retold by many authors. Pyramus and Thisbe's parents, drive ...

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 ''

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 role of Thisbé was created by Marie Pélissier.

Recording

*''Pirame et Thisbé'', Thomas Dolié, Judith van Wanroij, Jeffrey Thompson, Katia Velletaz, Jean Teitgen, Ensemble Stradivaria, Chœur de l'Académie Baroque, conducted by Daniel Cuiller (2 CDs, Mirare, 2008)

Sources

Libretto at "Livrets baroques"

Félix Clément and Pierre Larousse ''Dictionnaire des Opéras'', Paris, 1881
p.559. French-language operas Tragédies en musique Operas Operas based on Metamorphoses 1726 operas Pyramus and Thisbe {{french-opera-stub