Électre (opera)

For the 1886 operatic oratorio–cantata, see Électre (Gouvy).

Électre (Electra) is an opera by the French composer Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opéra) on 2 July 1782. It takes the form of a tragédie lyrique in three acts. The libretto, by Nicolas-François Guillard, is based on the Greek myth of Electra.

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast

Cast	Voice type	Premiere cast
Égisthe (Aegisthus)	baritone[1]	François Lays
Clytemnestre (Clytemnestra)	soprano	Françoise-Claude-Marie-Rosalie Campagne (called Mlle Duplant)
Électre (Electra)	soprano	Rosalie Levasseur
Oreste (Orestes)	basse taille (bass-baritone)	Henri Larrivée
Pilade (Pylades)	taille (baritenor)	Étienne Lainez
Arcas	basse taille (bass-baritone)	Moreau
Chrysothémis (Chrysothemis)	soprano	Antoinette Saint-Huberty
Un officer du palais (an officer of the palace)	basse taille (bass-baritone)	Simon Chénard
Le grand prêtre (the high priest)	basse taille (bass-baritone)	Simon Chénard
Une Argienne (a woman of Argos)	soprano	Suzanne Joinville
Un Argien (a man of Argos)	haute-contre	Jean-Joseph Rousseau [it][2]
Chorus: Lords and ladies of the court, people of Mycenae, Trojan captives, Eumenides, demons

Notes

1. The part of Égisthe is sometimes notated in the tenor clef, sometimes in the bass clef.
2. Sources traditionally report only the initial letter (J.) of this singer's name; full details, however, can be found in "Organico dei fratelli a talento della Loggia parigina di Saint-Jean d'Écosse du Contrat Social (1773–89)" (list of the members of this Masonic lodge), reported as an Appendix in Zeffiro Ciuffoletti and Sergio Moravia (eds), La Massoneria. La storia, gli uomini, le idee, Milan, Mondadori, 2004, ISBN 978-8804536468 (in Italian).

Sources

• Original libretto: Electre,//Tragédie//en 3 actes,//Représentée//Pour la première fois,//Par l'Académie-royale//de musique,//Le Mardi 2 Juillet 1782, Paris, De Lormel, 1782, via Gallica – BNF (in French)
• Original printed score: Electre//Tragédie,//en Trois Actes,//Mise en Musique et Dediée//à la Reine//par Mr. Le Moyne, Paris, Chez l'auteur, 1782, via Gallica – BNF
• Félix Clément and Pierre Larousse, Dictionnaire des Opéras, p. 245. (in French)
• Benoît Dratwicki [fr], "Foreigners at the Académie Royale de Musique" in Antonio Sacchini, Renaud, Madrid, Ediciones Singulares, 2013 (book accompanying the complete recording conducted by Christophe Rousset). ISBN 978-84-939-6865-6