Les fêtes de Paphos
Encyclopedia
Les fêtes de Paphos is an opéra-ballet
in three acts (or entrées) by the French
composer Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville. The work was described as a ballet héroïque on the title page of the printed score. Each act had a different librettist
. Les fêtes de Paphos was first performed at the Académie royale de musique
, Paris
on 9 May 1758 and was a popular success. Mondonville recycled material from two of his previous operas for the first two acts, namely Erigone (1747) and Vénus et Adonis (1752), both originally composed for Madame de Pompadour
's Théâtre des Petits Cabinets.
The title of the work is explained in the preface to the printed score. Paphos
was a city in Cyprus
sacred to Venus, the goddess of love. "Reunited on the island [sic] of Paphos, Venus, Bacchus and Cupid decide to enliven their leisure in such a pleasant location by celebrating their first loves, and this gives rise to the following three acts and the title Les fêtes de Paphos."
Source: the myth of Venus and Adonis
The jealous god Mars plots against Adonis
, his rival for the love of Venus. In spite of Venus's entreaties, Adonis sets off for a hunt where he is killed. Venus turns him into an anemone
. Mars wants to destroy the flower but Jupiter brings Adonis back to life and he is happily reunited with Venus.
Source: the myth of Bacchus
and Erigone
The nymph
Erigone is in love with Bacchus but he thinks only of his own glory. Jupiter encourages their love by holding a celebration in the course of which Bacchus succumbs to Erigone's charms.
Source: the myth of Cupid and Psyche
Psyche is in love with Cupid (L'Amour) but is punished by the jealous Venus. Cupid and Psyche are shipwrecked in a storm conjured up by the Fury Tisiphone
and Psyche drowns. Cupid journeys to the underworld and rescues Psyche but daylight reveals that her beauty has been destroyed by Tisiphone. Nevertheless, Cupid declares he is still in love with her. Venus is so touched by this declaration of faithfulness that she restores Psyche's beauty and blesses the couple's love.
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 (or entrées) by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
composer Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville. The work was described as a ballet héroïque on the title page of the printed score. Each act had a different librettist
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...
. Les fêtes de Paphos was first performed at the Académie royale de musique
Académie Royale de Musique
The Salle Le Peletier was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and constructed by the architect François Debret on the site of the former Hôtel de Choiseul...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 9 May 1758 and was a popular success. Mondonville recycled material from two of his previous operas for the first two acts, namely Erigone (1747) and Vénus et Adonis (1752), both originally composed for Madame de Pompadour
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, also known as Madame de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to her death.-Biography:...
's Théâtre des Petits Cabinets.
The title of the work is explained in the preface to the printed score. Paphos
Paphos
Paphos , sometimes referred to as Pafos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, about west of the...
was a city in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
sacred to Venus, the goddess of love. "Reunited on the island [sic] of Paphos, Venus, Bacchus and Cupid decide to enliven their leisure in such a pleasant location by celebrating their first loves, and this gives rise to the following three acts and the title Les fêtes de Paphos."
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast |
|---|---|---|
| Vénus (Acts 1 and 3) | 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... |
Marie-Jeanne Fesch |
| Aglaé (Act 1), Amour (Act 2) | soprano | Marie-Jeanne Lemière |
| Érigone (Act 2) | soprano | Marie Fel Marie Fel Marie Fel was a French opera singer, daughter of the organist Henri Fel.Marie Fel was born at Bordeaux. She made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1733 and sang regularly at the Concert Spirituel... |
| Psyché (Act 3) | soprano | Sophie Arnould Sophie Arnould Sophie Arnould was a French operatic soprano.Born Magdeleine Sophie Arnould, she studied in Paris with Marie Fel and La Clairon, and made her stage debut at the Opéra de Paris on 15 December 1757 and sang there for 20 years.She created for Christoph Wilibald Gluck the roles of Eurydice in Orphée... |
| Adonis (Act 1) | haute-contre Haute-contre The haute-contre is a rare type of high tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera until the latter part of the eighteenth century.-History:... |
François Poirier |
| Mercure/Amour (Act 3) | haute-contre | Jean-Pierre Pillot |
| Mars (Act 1), Tisiphone (Act 3) | bass | Nicolas Gélin |
| Bacchus (Act 2) | bass | Henri Larrivée |
| Comus Comus In Greek mythology, Comus or Komos is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Bacchus. Comus represents anarchy and chaos. His mythology occurs in the later times of antiquity. During his festivals in Ancient Greece, men and women exchanged... (Act 2) |
bass | Monsieur Person |
Act One: Vénus et Adonis
Librettist: Jean-Baptiste Collet de MessineSource: the myth of Venus and Adonis
Adonis
Adonis , in Greek mythology, the god of beauty and desire, is a figure with Northwest Semitic antecedents, where he is a central figure in various mystery religions. The Greek , Adōnis is a variation of the Semitic word Adonai, "lord", which is also one of the names used to refer to God in the Old...
The jealous god Mars plots against Adonis
Adonis
Adonis , in Greek mythology, the god of beauty and desire, is a figure with Northwest Semitic antecedents, where he is a central figure in various mystery religions. The Greek , Adōnis is a variation of the Semitic word Adonai, "lord", which is also one of the names used to refer to God in the Old...
, his rival for the love of Venus. In spite of Venus's entreaties, Adonis sets off for a hunt where he is killed. Venus turns him into an anemone
Anemone
Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones...
. Mars wants to destroy the flower but Jupiter brings Adonis back to life and he is happily reunited with Venus.
Act Two: Bacchus et Érigone
Librettist: Charles-Antoine le Clerc de la BruèreSource: the myth of Bacchus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
and Erigone
Erigone (daughter of Icarius)
In Greek mythology, Erigone was the daughter of Icarius of Athens. Icarius was from Athens. He was cordial towards Dionysus, who gave his shepherds wine. They became intoxicated and killed Icarius, thinking he had poisoned them. His daughter, Erigone, and her dog, Maera, found his body. Erigone...
The nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
Erigone is in love with Bacchus but he thinks only of his own glory. Jupiter encourages their love by holding a celebration in the course of which Bacchus succumbs to Erigone's charms.
Act Three: L'Amour et Psyché
Librettist: Claude-Henri de Fusée de VoisenonSource: the myth of Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche , is a legend that first appeared as a digressionary story told by an old woman in Lucius Apuleius' novel, The Golden Ass, written in the 2nd century CE. Apuleius likely used an earlier tale as the basis for his story, modifying it to suit the thematic needs of his novel.It has...
Psyche is in love with Cupid (L'Amour) but is punished by the jealous Venus. Cupid and Psyche are shipwrecked in a storm conjured up by the Fury Tisiphone
Tisiphone
Tisiphone is the name of two figures in Greek mythology.-Erinyes:Tisiphone was one of the Erinyes or Furies, and sister of Alecto and Megaera. She was the one who punished crimes of murder: parricide, fratricide and homicide...
and Psyche drowns. Cupid journeys to the underworld and rescues Psyche but daylight reveals that her beauty has been destroyed by Tisiphone. Nevertheless, Cupid declares he is still in love with her. Venus is so touched by this declaration of faithfulness that she restores Psyche's beauty and blesses the couple's love.
Recordings
- Les fêtes de Paphos Jean-Paul FouchécourtJean-Paul FouchécourtJean-Paul Fouchécourt is a French tenor, mostly as an opera singer. He was born on August 30, 1958, at Blanzy in the Burgundy region. He is best known for singing French Baroque music, especially the parts called in French haute-contre, written for a very high tenor voice with no falsetto...
, Véronique GensVéronique GensVéronique Gens is a French soprano. She has spent much of her career recording and performing Baroque music....
, Sandrine PiauSandrine PiauSandrine Piau is an opera soprano. Trained as a harpist, she studied voice at the Collège Lamartine and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique du Paris....
, Agnès Mellon, Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe RoussetChristophe RoussetChristophe Rousset is a French harpsichordist and conductor, specializing in the performance of baroque music on period instruments.-Biography:...
(Decca, L'Oiseau Lyre, 1997)
Sources
- Le magazine de l'opéra baroque by Jean-Claude Brenac
- Amadeus Online
- Booklet notes to the above recording.