La princesse de Navarre
Encyclopedia
La princesse de Navarre (The Princess of Navarre
) is a comédie-ballet
with music by Jean-Philippe Rameau
and words by Voltaire
, first performed on 23 February 1745 at La Grande Ecurie, Versailles
.
to Louis, Dauphin of France. La princesse de Navarre opened the wedding festivities, while another new Rameau opera, Platée
, closed them. The piece takes the form of a comédie-ballet, effectively a play with a large amount of incidental music, recalling the collaborations of Molière
and Lully
in the 17th century.
Voltaire was a great admirer of Rameau, even considering him too good a composer for such a task. Nevertheless, Rameau wrote around an hour of music for the play, including an overture
and three divertissements (musical interludes which ended each act). Little of it has much bearing on the main action of the drama which concerns the complicated love life of the eponymous mediaeval princess. Voltaire found Rameau to be a demanding and critical collaborator, leading the dramatist to declare: "Poor Rameau is mad...Rameau is as great an eccentric as he is a musician". The production was a spectacular one, involving no less than 180 "extras". Voltaire complained about the acoustics of the hall in which it was staged claiming "the ceiling was so high that the actors appeared pygmies and they couldn't be heard". Nevertheless, the music was a critical success. Much of the material was reworked to produce another opera, Les fêtes de Ramire
, later the same year.
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
) is a comédie-ballet
Comédie-ballet
Comédie-ballet is a genre of French drama which mixes a spoken play with interludes containing music and dance.-History:The first example of the genre is considered to be Les fâcheux, with words by Molière, performed in honour of Louis XIV at Vaux-le-Vicomte, the residence of Nicolas Fouquet, in...
with music by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
and words by Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, first performed on 23 February 1745 at La Grande Ecurie, Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
.
Performance history
It was commissioned to celebrate the marriage of the Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of SpainMaria Teresa Rafaela of Spain
Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain (María Teresa Antonia Rafaela; 11 June 1726 – 22 July 1746, Infanta of Spain, wife of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), son of Louis XV of France. She died in childbirth aged 20, leaving no surviving...
to Louis, Dauphin of France. La princesse de Navarre opened the wedding festivities, while another new Rameau opera, Platée
Platée
Platée is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Adrien-Joseph Le Valois d'Orville. Rameau bought the rights to the libretto Platée ou Junon Jalouse by Jacques Autreau and had d'Orville modify it...
, closed them. The piece takes the form of a comédie-ballet, effectively a play with a large amount of incidental music, recalling the collaborations of Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
and Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
in the 17th century.
Voltaire was a great admirer of Rameau, even considering him too good a composer for such a task. Nevertheless, Rameau wrote around an hour of music for the play, including an overture
Overture
Overture in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera...
and three divertissements (musical interludes which ended each act). Little of it has much bearing on the main action of the drama which concerns the complicated love life of the eponymous mediaeval princess. Voltaire found Rameau to be a demanding and critical collaborator, leading the dramatist to declare: "Poor Rameau is mad...Rameau is as great an eccentric as he is a musician". The production was a spectacular one, involving no less than 180 "extras". Voltaire complained about the acoustics of the hall in which it was staged claiming "the ceiling was so high that the actors appeared pygmies and they couldn't be heard". Nevertheless, the music was a critical success. Much of the material was reworked to produce another opera, Les fêtes de Ramire
Les fêtes de Ramire
Les fêtes de Ramire is an opera in the form of a one-act acte de ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Voltaire, first performed on 22 December 1745 at Versailles....
, later the same year.
Roles
Source: http://books.google.it/books?id=r080AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Oeuvre+compl%C3%A8tes+de+Voltaire+La+princesse+de+navarre&source=bl&ots=I6hzhLci4c&sig=Z0I4K6TV39Oc7y3vO97HoOF5RSM&hl=it&ei=Z0DATN7hLoSbOvWEmf0L&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=falseOeuvres complètes de Voltaire, Théatre, ninth tome, Société Littéraire-typographique, 1784 (digitalized by Google)] (accessed 21 October 2010)Characters of the comedy
- Constance, Princess of Navarre
- The Duke of Foix
- Dom Morillo, a country gentleman
- Sanchette, Morillo's daughter
- Leonor, the princess's maid
- Hernand, the squire of the Duke
- An officer of the guards
- An alcaldeAlcaldeAlcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...
- A gardener
- Followers
Recordings
- La princesse de Navarre English Bach Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan (1 CD, Erato, 1980)