Opera in the Age of Rousseau
Music, Confrontation, Realism

A wide-ranging account of opera on stage and in society in the age of Rousseau, from Rameau to Gluck.

David Charlton (Author)

9780521887601, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 October 2012

436 pages, 17 b/w illus. 55 tables 100 music examples
25.4 x 18 x 2.7 cm, 0.96 kg

'The tables given in the work are in themselves an outstanding resource, based on wide and deep archival research, statistical study and reconstruction of repertory. Overall, this is a breakthrough study …' Mark Darlow, 1650–1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

Historians of French politics, art, philosophy and literature have long known the tensions and fascinations of Louis XV's reign, the 1750s in particular. David Charlton's study comprehensively re-examines this period, from Rameau to Gluck and elucidates the long-term issues surrounding opera. Taking Rousseau's Le Devin du Village as one narrative centrepiece, Charlton investigates this opera's origins and influences in the 1740s and goes on to use past and present research to create a new structural model that explains the elements of reform in Gluck's tragédies for Paris. Charlton's book opens many new perspectives on the musical practices and politics of the period, including the Querelle des Bouffons. It gives the first detailed account of intermezzi and opere buffe performed by Eustachio Bambini's troupe at the Paris Opéra from August 1752 to February 1754 and discusses Rameau's comedies Platée and Les Paladins and their origins.

Part I. Princely Theatre: 1. Palaces and patronage: Le Devin and the 1754 Alceste
2. Acting: from convention to discipline
3. The Opéra: cycles versus changes
4. The reality of pastoral, 1742–52
5. Le Devin du Village: a contextual enquiry
Part II. Opinion: 6. Opera as a subject of debate
7. The Querelle: 'two ridiculous theses'
8. Visions of reform
Part III. Italian Opera for Paris: 9. Travelling opera
10. 'A real kick in the backside': Bambini's performances and their effect
11. Creative consequences
Part IV. Towards European Integration: 12. New generations, new tastes
13. In three acts: from Zaïde to Les Paladins
14. In three acts: the replacement of Rameau.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD], Literature & literary studies [D], Opera [AVGC9], Music [AV]