Le devin du village ("The Village Soothsayer") is an interméde / one-act
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by
Jean-Jacques RousseauJean Jacques Rousseau was a major philosopher, writer, and composer of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, whose political philosophy influenced the French Revolution and the development of modern political and educational thought.His novel, Emile: or, On Education, which he considered his most...
, who also wrote the
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
.
It was first performed before the court at
FontainebleauThe Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards...
on 18 October 1752. King Louis XV loved the work so much that he offered Rousseau the great honor of a life pension. Rousseau refused the honor. However, the opera became one of the most popular of its day and brought him both wealth and fame.
An English translation by
Charles BurneyCharles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of author Frances Burney.-Biography:Charles Burney was born at Shrewsbury, and educated at Shrewsbury School. He was later sent to the public school at Chester, where his first music master was Edmund Baker, organist of the cathedral,...
,
The Cunning Man was performed in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
in 1762.
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Le devin du village ("The Village Soothsayer") is an interméde / one-act
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by
Jean-Jacques RousseauJean Jacques Rousseau was a major philosopher, writer, and composer of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, whose political philosophy influenced the French Revolution and the development of modern political and educational thought.His novel, Emile: or, On Education, which he considered his most...
, who also wrote the
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
.
It was first performed before the court at
FontainebleauThe Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards...
on 18 October 1752. King Louis XV loved the work so much that he offered Rousseau the great honor of a life pension. Rousseau refused the honor. However, the opera became one of the most popular of its day and brought him both wealth and fame.
An English translation by
Charles BurneyCharles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of author Frances Burney.-Biography:Charles Burney was born at Shrewsbury, and educated at Shrewsbury School. He was later sent to the public school at Chester, where his first music master was Edmund Baker, organist of the cathedral,...
,
The Cunning Man was performed in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
in 1762. Rousseau's work was the object of a parody in the
SingspielA Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias...
Bastien und BastienneBastien und Bastienne , K. 50 is a one-act singspiel, comic opera, with German libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Weiskern and music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart....
by the twelve-year-old Mozart.
The opera was also performed at the wedding of the future Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Roles
- Colin (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...
)
- Colette (soprano
A soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music...
)
- The Soothsayer (baritone
Baritone is a type of classical male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek βαρύτονος, meaning 'deep sounding', music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second G below middle C to the F above...
or bass)
Plot synopsis
Colin and Colette love one another, yet they suspect each other of being unfaithful. They each seek the advice and support of the village soothsayer in order to reinforce their love. After a series of deceptions, Colin and Colette reconcile and are happily married.
Recordings
- Janine Micheau
Janine Micheau was a French singer, one of the leading lyric sopranos of her era in France.Janine Micheau was born in Toulouse, France, and studied voice at the Music Conservatory there, and later at the Paris Music Conservatory...
as Colette, Nicolai GeddaThe Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda is a famous opera singer and recitalist. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history...
as Colin, Michel RouxMichel Roux was a French baritone, an established principal at the Paris Opéra who also enjoyed an international career. He was born in Angoulême on 1 September 1924 and died in Paris on 4 February 1998....
as the soothsayer, Louis de FromentLouis de Froment was a French conductor. Born in Toulouse, he started his musical studies at the city conservatory. He later attended the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique of Paris and was a pupil of Louis Fourestier, Eugene Bigot and André Cluytens...
conductor. Recorded April 1956. cpo 999 559-2
- Gabriela Bürgler as Colette, Michael Feyfar as Colin, Dominik Wörner as the soothsayer, Andreas Reize conducting the Cantus Firmus Consort, on period instruments. Recorded live August 2006. cpo 777 260-2
External links