Les âges
Encyclopedia
Les âges or Le ballet des âges is an opéra-ballet
in a prologue and three acts by the French
composer André Campra
. The libretto
is by Jean-Louis Fuzelier. It was first performed at the Académie royale de musique
on 9 October 1718.
The three acts were entitled: 1. La jeunesse ou L'amour ingénu, 2. L'âge viril ou L'amour coquet, and 3. La vieillesse ou L'amour enjoué.
Opéra-ballet
Opéra-ballet was a popular genre of French Baroque opera, "that grew out of the ballets à entrées of the early seventeeth century". It differed from the more elevated tragédie en musique as practised by Jean-Baptiste Lully in several ways...
in a prologue and three acts by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer André Campra
André Campra
André Campra was a French composer and conductor.Campra was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several tragédies en musique, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, opéra-ballet...
. 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...
is by Jean-Louis Fuzelier. It was first performed at the Académie royale de musique
Académie Royale de Musique
The Salle Le Peletier was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and constructed by the architect François Debret on the site of the former Hôtel de Choiseul...
on 9 October 1718.
The three acts were entitled: 1. La jeunesse ou L'amour ingénu, 2. L'âge viril ou L'amour coquet, and 3. La vieillesse ou L'amour enjoué.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 9 October 1718 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Prologue | ||
| Hébé | 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... |
Marie-Catherine Poussin |
| Time | Le Mire | |
| Vénus | soprano | Marie Antier |
| Bacchus | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Justin Destouches du Bourg |
| Act 1 La jeunesse ou L'amour ingénu | ||
| Florise | Mlle Toulou | |
| Artémise | 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:... |
Louis Murayre |
| Léandre | haute-contre | Jacques Cochereau |
| Zerbin | haute-contre | Louis Mantienne |
| 'Masque chantant' | Mlle de la Garde | |
| Act 2 L'âge viril ou L'amour coquet | ||
| Eraste | baritone | Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard was a French operatic baritone .Thévenard was born at Orléans or possibly Paris. Arriving in Paris in 1690, he studied under the composer André Cardinal Destouches and went on to become a member of the Académie Royale de Musique... |
| Lucinde | soprano | Marie-Catherine Poussin |
| Damon | haute-contre | Louis Murayre |
| Cléon | Guesdon | |
| Act 3 La vieillesse ou L'amour enjoué | ||
| Fabio | bass | Jean Dun "père" |
| Silvanire | soprano | Marie Antier |
| Valère | Dun fils | |
| Argant | haute-contre | Louis Mantienne |
| Merlin | haute-contre | Jacques Cochereau |
| L'ordonnateur de la fête | Guesdon | |
| Un acteur de la fête | haute-contre | Louis Murayre |
Sources
- The Viking Opera Guide ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)
- Le magazine de l'opéra baroque
- Amadeus Almanac (9 October 1718), accessed 6 November 2009