Nélée et Myrthis
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Portrait_of_Jean-Philippe_Rameau_-_Joseph_Aved.jpg/220px-Portrait_of_Jean-Philippe_Rameau_-_Joseph_Aved.jpg)
Nélée et Myrthis (or Mirthis) is a one-act
Background
The original title is now thought to have been Mirthis; the designation Nélée et Myrthis came about from a misreading of the manuscript.[2][3] The fact that the character of Mirthis dominates the opera lends credence to this idea.[4] Musicologists now think that Rameau originally intended Mirthis to be part of a multi-act opéra-ballet called Les beaux jours de l'Amour. There is some evidence this work was substantially complete by May 1751, but for unknown reasons it was never staged. The other acts were La naissance d'Osiris and Anacréon, both premiered at Fontainebleau in October 1754.[5] Mirthis was never performed and the score may be incomplete - the work is missing the usual dances and choruses which end Rameau's operas and there are only two instrumental movements.[6] If Mirthis was part of Les beaux jours de l'Amour then the librettist was almost certainly Louis de Cahusac, the author of the remaining sections.[7] Another point in favour of this theory is that - unusually - there is no use of the supernatural, something the libretto shares in common with Cahusac's Anacréon (1754).[8] Judging from crossings-out in the manuscript, the character of Nélée was originally named "Anacréon", suggesting that the Greek lyric poet Anacreon would have been the hero of two acts of Les beaux jours de l'Amour.[9]
Music
There are only two instrumental movements: an Entrée de triomphe (triumphal entrance) and a long chaconne, lasting 170 bars.[10] Mirthis has most of the important vocal music and is the most developed character. She moves from being lighthearted and insouciant to acquiring tragic depth when she thinks that Nélée has abandoned her.[11] The Rameau specialist Sylvie Bouissou draws attention to the aria "Malgré le penchant le plus tendre": "This air deserves special comment since Rameau here creates a fundamental antithesis between the sense of the words, which is vindictive in character, and the expressiveness of the music, which betrays Myrthis's profoundly tender feelings for Nélée. A dramatic disjunction of this sort would have aroused the interest of Gluck, Mozart and especially of Wagner."[12] Nélée and Corinne are less substantial roles, although Cuthbert Girdlestone praises Nélée's aria "Un amant rebuté".[13]
Roles
Role | Voice type |
---|---|
Nelée | baritone |
Myrthis | soprano |
Corinne | soprano |
Deux argiennes (Two Argive women) | sopranos |
Synopsis
The athlete Nélée is about to celebrate his triumph in the
Recordings
- Nélée et Myrthis (together with Pigmalion) Jérôme Correas(Nélée), Agnès Mellon (Myrthis), Françoise Semellaz (Corinne), Donatienne Michel-Dansac and Caroline Pelon (Deux Argiennes), Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (Harmonia Mundi, 1992)
References
- ^ Holden, p. 847
- ^ Sadler (2014), p.133
- ^ Bouissou (2014), p. 790
- ^ Bouissou (2014), p. 791
- ^ Bouissou, pp. 783-785
- ^ Bouissou (2014), p. 791
- ^ Sadler (2014), p. 133
- ^ Sadler (2014), p. 133
- ^ Bouissou (2014), pp. 784-785
- ^ Girdlestone, p. 470
- ^ Bouissou (2014), pp. 791-792
- ^ Bouissou (1992), p. 12
- ^ Girdlestone, p. 470
Sources
- Bouissou, Sylvie Jean-Philippe Rameau: Musicien des lumières (Fayard, 2014)
- Bouissou, Sylvie: Booklet notes to the Christie recording (1992)
- Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Nelée et Myrthis, 22 November 1974", in L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia
- Girdlestone, Cuthbert, Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work (Dover, 1969)
- Holden, Amanda (ed.) The Viking Opera Guide (Viking, 1993)
- Sadler, Graham The Rameau Compendium (Boydell, 2014)