Scylla et Glaucus is a tragédie en musique with a prologue and five acts, the only full-length opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 by Jean-Marie Leclair

Jean-Marie Leclair

Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné, also known as Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder, was a Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school...

. The libretto by d'Albaret is based on Ovid's

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...

 Metamorphoses, books 10, 13 and 14.

Performance history

It 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...

 in 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 4 October 1746. It was given 18 times.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 4 October 1746 (Conductor:)
Prologue
The chief of the Amathons	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Person
First Propoetida, in denial of Vénus	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...
Second Propoetida, in denial of Vénus	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...  (taille Baritenor Baritenor is a musical term formed by a blend of the words "baritone" and "tenor". It is used to describe both baritone and tenor voices. In Webster's Third New International Dictionary it is defined as "a baritone singing voice with virtually a tenor range"... )	Louis-Antoine Cuvillier
Vénus	soprano	Mlle Romainville
L'Amour (Cupid)	soprano	Marie-Angélique Coupé
Tragédie (Acts 1–5)
Circé, a sorceress	soprano	Marie-Jeanne Fesch "Mlle Chevalier"
Dorine, Circé's confidante	soprano	Louise Jacquet
Glaucus, a sea god	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:...	Pierre Jélyotte Pierre Jélyotte Pierre Jélyotte was a French operatic tenor, particularly associated with works by Rameau, Lully, Campra, and Destouches.-Life and career:...
Licas, Glaucus's friend	baritone	de La Marre (also spelled Lamare or Lamarre)
Scylla, a nymph	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...
Témire, Scylla's friend	soprano	Marie-Angélique Coupé
Divertissement (during Act 1)
Shepherd, attracted to Scylla	haute-contre	La Tour (also spelled Latour)
Sylvan, attracted to Scylla	baritone	Albert
Shepherdess	soprano
Dryad	soprano
Hécate	baritone	Albert
Girl from Sicily	soprano
People of Amanthus and Sicily, Propoetides, shepherds, sylvans, attendants of Circe, sea gods, underworld gods

Synopsis

During the prologue members of a cult in Amanthus called the Propoetides are turned to stone for denying the authority of Vénus. The tragédie proper (Acts 1-5) that follows is a love triangle. Circé, the sorceress, loves Glaucus, a sea god, who loves Scylla, a nymph. Circé eventually turns Scylla to stone in the form of the famous rock in the Strait of Messina

Strait of Messina

The Strait of Messina is the narrow passage between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Calabria in the south of Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Ionian Sea, within the central Mediterranean...

, beside the whirlpool of Charybdis

Charybdis

Charybdis or Kharybdis was a sea monster, later rationalised as a whirlpool and considered a shipping hazard in the Strait of Messina.-The mythological background:...

.