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Les Mariages samnites (The Samnite Marriages) is an opéra comique, described as a drame lyrique, in three acts by André Grétry, The French text was by Barnabé Farmian Durosoy based on a work by Jean François Marmontel.
Performance history
It was first performed on 12 June 1776 by the Comédie-Italienne (with which the Opéra-Comique was merged at that time) at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast,
[1] 12 June 1776 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Agathis, in love with Céphalide | tenor | Jean-Baptiste Guignard, called Clairval |
| Parmenon, friend of Agathis | tenor | M Julien |
| Eumene, father of Agathis | basse-taille ( bass-baritone) | Pierre-Marie Narbonne |
| Céphalide | soprano | Marie-Jean Trial, née Milon |
| Éliane, friend of Céphalide | soprano | Marie-Thérèse-Théodore Rombocoli-Riggieri, called 'Mlle Colombe l'Aînée' |
| Euphémie, mother of Céphalide | soprano | Louise-Frédérique Moulinghen, née Schrœder |
| The Chief of the Elders | basse-taille | Philippe-Thomas Ménier (also spelt Meunier) |
| The General | M Labussière | |
| Two Samnite girls | Sophie Dufayel (ainée) and Marie Desbrosses |
References
- ^ Cast list is from the 1776 livret.
Sources
Period sources
- Original libretto: Les Mariages Samnites, Drame lyrique en 3 Actes et en Prose (new edition), Paris, Duchesne, 1776 (accessible for free online at Gallica - B.N.F.
- Period printed score: Les Mariages Samnites Drame lyrique en 3 Actes et en Prose, Paris, Dezauche, s.d. (accessible for free online at Gallica - B.N.F.)
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)
- Mariages samnites, Les by Michael Fend, in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
- Kutsch, K. J. and Riemens, Leo (2003). Großes Sängerlexikon (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. ISBN 978-3-598-11598-1.
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