L'Europe galante (Galant Europe) is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra to a French libretto by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.
The opera is regarded as the first opéra-ballet, with the entrées sharing a common theme – in this case 'love' in four countries, France (entrée 1), Spain (entrée 2), Italy (entrée 3) and Turkey (entrée 4) – rather than a common narrative.
Performance history
editL'Europe Galante was first performed on 24 October 1697 by the Paris Opéra under Marin Marais in the Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. It was successful and was revived periodically until 1775. In 1997 – on the 300th anniversary of its creation – Istanbul Baroque led by Leyla Pınar staged L'Europe Galante in Istanbul Dolmabahçe Palace. They then toured it to the Brussels Printemps baroque du Sablon festival the same year.[1]
Roles
edit| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 24 October 1697[2] Conductor: Marin Marais |
|---|---|---|
| Vénus (prologue) | soprano | Clément |
| La Discorde (prologue) | taille (baritenor) | Claude Desvoyes |
| Philène (1) | haute-contre (high tenor) | Jean Boutelou |
| Silvandre (1) | bass | Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard |
| Céphise (1) | soprano | Marie-Louise Desmatins |
| Doris (1) | soprano | Dupeyré |
| Dom Carlos (2) | bass | Charles Hardouin |
| Dom Pédro (2) | haute-contre (high tenor) | Pierre Chopelet |
| Octavio (3) | haute-contre (high tenor) | Louis Gaulard Dumesny |
| Olympia (3) | soprano | Fanchon Moreau |
| Zuliman (4) | bass | Gabriel-Vincent Thévenard |
| Roxane (4) | soprano | Marie Le Rochois |
| Zäide (4) | soprano | Marie-Louise Desmatins |
Sources
edit- ^ Martin, Serge (26 April 1997). "Une Europe Galante Déroutante".
- ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "L´Europe galante, 24 October 1697". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
Further reading
edit- Anthony, James R. (1992), "Europe galante, L" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
