L'Europe galante

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

L'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

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
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

  1. ^ Martin, Serge (26 April 1997). "Une Europe Galante Déroutante".
  2. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "L´Europe galante, 24 October 1697". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).

Further reading