User:Folantin/Les événements imprévus: Difference between revisions
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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This was Grétry's third and final collaboration with Hales, the Anglo-Irish adventurer who had provided the libretti for ''[[Le jugement de Midas]]'' and ''[[L'amant jaloux]]'' (both 1778). There is a strong Italian influence on both the text and the music and the opera has parallels with ''[[dramma giocoso]]''. [[Melchior Grimm]] claimed Hales had used an Italian drama called ''Di peggio in peggio'' ("From Worse to Worse") as his model, but no such work has survived although an Italian play named ''Les événements imprévus'' was performed (to no great acclaim) in Paris in 1748.<ref>Charlton, p. 175 and Note 6 on p. 348</ref> |
This was Grétry's third and final collaboration with Hales, the Anglo-Irish adventurer who had provided the libretti for ''[[Le jugement de Midas]]'' and ''[[L'amant jaloux]]'' (both 1778). There is a strong Italian influence on both the text and the music and the opera has parallels with ''[[dramma giocoso]]''. [[Melchior Grimm]] claimed Hales had used an Italian drama called ''Di peggio in peggio'' ("From Worse to Worse") as his model, but no such work has survived although an Italian play named ''Les événements imprévus'' was performed (to no great acclaim) in Paris in 1748.<ref>Charlton, p. 175 and Note 6 on p. 348</ref> |
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==Roles== |
==Roles== |
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Revision as of 13:38, 19 October 2017
Les événements imprévus (Unforeseen Events) is an opéra comique by André Grétry first performed at Versailles on 11 November 1779. It takes the form of a comédie in three acts in prose. The French libretto is by Thomas Hales.
Background
This was Grétry's third and final collaboration with Hales, the Anglo-Irish adventurer who had provided the libretti for Le jugement de Midas and L'amant jaloux (both 1778). There is a strong Italian influence on both the text and the music and the opera has parallels with dramma giocoso. Melchior Grimm claimed Hales had used an Italian drama called Di peggio in peggio ("From Worse to Worse") as his model, but no such work has survived although an improvised Italian play named Les événements imprévus was performed (to no great acclaim) in Paris in 1748.[1]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast |
|---|---|---|
| Mondor, a rich financier | bass | Rosieres |
| Emilie, his daughter | soprano | Billioni |
| Lisette, her maid | soprano | Dugazon |
| Philinte, in love with Emilie | tenor | Michu |
| René, Philinte's valet | bass | Ménier |
| Marquis de Versac | tenor | Clairval |
| La Fleur, his servant | tenor | Trial |
| Comtesse de Belmont | soprano | Colombe |
| Marton, her maid | soprano | Gontier |
| The Commander, Belmont's uncle | bass | Suin |
Synopsis
Act 1
Philinte is in love with Emilie but he has a dangerous rival in the form of the Marquis de Versac, a serial seducer who is after Emilie's fortune. Emilie confesses her love for Philinte but Versac wins over her father Mondor. He produces a letter from the Comtesse de Belmont, accusing Philinte of being a seducer and claiming she is already his wife. She does not know that in reality this "Philinte" was the Marquis de Versac.
Act 2
The servants Lisette and René join forces to help the unjustly maligned Philinte by arranging an interview between him and Emilie, whose wedding to Versac is fast approaching. Belmont arrives to warn Emilie against the unfaithful "Philinte". At their clandestine interview, Emilie says she still cannot believe Philinte is really a seducer. Belmont catches sight of Versac and denounces him.
Act 3
Versac realises it is increasingly difficult for the wedding to go ahead as his past is catching up with him. Belmont's uncle, the Commander, has arrived intent on challenging his niece's seducer to a duel. Sick of his life of intrigue, Versac decides to accept. The duel takes place offstage, with both participants firing their pistols into the air. Versac repents his former ways and offers to marry Belmont. He persuades Emilie that the accusations against the real Philinte were nothing but slander and the opera ends with everything happily resolved.
Sources
Modern sources
- Michel Brenet Grétry: sa vie et ses œuvres (F. Hayez, 1884)
- David Charlton Grétry and the Growth of Opéra Comique (Cambridge University Press, 1986)
- Ronald Lessens Grétry ou Le triomphe de l'Opéra-Comique (L'Harmattan, 2007)
- Alfred Loewenberg Annals of Opera 1597-1940 (Third edition, Calder, 1978)
References
- ^ Charlton, p. 175 and Note 6 on p. 348