La caravane du Caire
Encyclopedia
La caravane du Caire is an opéra-ballet
in three acts by André Grétry, set to a libretto
by Etienne Morel de Chédeville. It was the most successful of Grétry's large-scale works that are lighter in tone: it received over 500 performances at the Paris Opéra up to 1829.
The opera was first performed at Fontainebleau on 30 October, 1783.
Opéra-ballet
Opéra-ballet was a popular genre of French Baroque opera, "that grew out of the ballets à entrées of the early seventeeth century". It differed from the more elevated tragédie en musique as practised by Jean-Baptiste Lully in several ways...
in three acts by André Grétry, set to a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Etienne Morel de Chédeville. It was the most successful of Grétry's large-scale works that are lighter in tone: it received over 500 performances at the Paris Opéra up to 1829.
The opera was first performed at Fontainebleau on 30 October, 1783.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 30 October 1783 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Almaïde | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Alexandrine-Adelaïde Gavaudan-Joinville |
| Florestan | bass | Henri Larrivée |
| Furville | bass | |
| Husca | bass | François Lays |
| Osman | bass | Auguste-Athanase Chéron |
| Osmin | bass | |
| Saint-Phar | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Étienne Lainez |
| Tamorin | countertenor Countertenor A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble... |
|
| Zélime | soprano | Marie-Thérèse Maillard |
Selected recordings
- Ricercar Academy, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Direction: Marc Minkowski. Cat: RIC 100084/085. Released 1992. Re-released July 2008.