Echo et Narcisse was the last original opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

, specifically a drame lyrique, written by Christoph Willibald Gluck

Christoph Willibald Gluck

Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...

, his sixth for the French stage. The libretto was written by Louis Theodor von Tschudi.

Performance history

Echo et Narcisse was first performed at the Paris Opéra

Paris Opera

The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...

 on 24 September 1779. It was a failure, discontinued after only 12 performances. Gluck decided to go back to Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and never returned to Paris. He revised the work for 8 August 1780, but this version only enjoyed nine performances.

A third version was presented to the public on 8 June 1781. This was better received, however it was infrequently produced until René Jacobs revived it in 1987 at the Schwetzingen Festival

Schwetzingen Festival

The Schwetzingen Festival is an early summer festival of opera and other classical music presented each year from May to early June in Schwetzingen, Germany....

. Jacobs used the revised version as the original one has not survived, except for the libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 24 September 1779 (Conductor: - )
Echo, a nymph, ruler of the woods and waters	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Henriette-Adelaïde Beaumesnil
Aglaé, a nymph, friend of Echo	soprano	Adelaïde Gavaudan 'cadette'
Eglé, a nymph, friend of Echo	soprano	Anne-Marie-Jeanne Gavaudan, 'L'aînée'
Amour (Cupid)	soprano	Mlle Girardin
Narcisse, a hunter, son of Cephisus	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Étienne Lainez
Cynire, friend of Narcisse	haute-contre Haute-contre The haute-contre is a rare type of high tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera until the latter part of the eighteenth century.-History:...	Joseph Legros Joseph Legros Joseph Legros was a French singer and composer of the 18th century. He is best remembered for his association with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck...
Sylphie, a nymph	soprano
Thanais, a nymph	soprano
Sylphs, Zephyrs and attendants and followers of Amour, Echo and Narcisse.
Ballet - ballerinas: Marie-Madeleine Guimard, Anne Heinel, Marie Allard, Peslin; male dancers: Gaetano Vestris, Auguste Vestris Auguste Vestris Marie-Jean-Augustin Vestris, known as Auguste Vestris was a French dancer.Born in Paris as the illegitimate son of Gaëtan Vestris and of Marie Allard, he was dubbed "le dieu de la danse", , a popular title bestowed on the leading male dancer of each generation... , Maximilien Gardel Maximilien Gardel Maximilien Gardel was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of German descent .He débuted at the Académie royale de Musique in Paris in 1759 and... , Jean D'Auberval Jean Dauberval Jean Dauberval, a.k.a Jean D’Auberval, , was a French dancer and ballet master...

Synopsis

The nymph Echo is loved by Narcisse, but also desired by Apollo. Apollo puts a spell on Narcisse so he falls in love with his own reflection, but Cupid is eventually successful in securing a happy ending by re-uniting Echo and Narcisse.

External links

• Libretto (French)
• Score (for free)