Paris Flashcards
Politics in Paris
- 1686: Still authoritarian monarchy in Paris, but equally big focus on arts etc – comédie Française opened, founded by Louis XIV (great interest in theatre, dancing).
- Louis XIV reigned for 72 years (longest recorded reign in European history). Focus on territorial expansion. Also domestic policy: building on power of single figure. Narcissist personality.
- ## Paris was largest city in Europe at the time – difficult to keep great diversity of city in line with homogenous political agenda.
Politics influence on opera
Opera still happening. Public Opera house 1669 (Académie d’Opéra) opened by Louis, for wider admission-paying audience.
- Cardinal Mazarin ruled for Louis XIV until his death in 1661 (while Louis was a child). He set up a programme of bringing Italian opera to Paris e.g. Orfeo.
- But reaction against this because of strong French tradition of theatre, especially Molière. So Lully became the supplier of French opera (worked with Molière).
Lully and the king
- Lully took control of Académie d’Opéra, which sometimes put on court productions for Louis XIV.
- Louis performed in ballets e.g. Ballet Royal de la Nuit (1653)…ballet lasted 13 hours, very elaborate.
Comedie Ballet
- Combining dance, classical theatre, comedy.
- Play with musical set pieces interspersed (but all part of main plot. E.g. Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670). Still sense that music is an added idea, text and drama in foreground.
- Shown first in Louis’ court but then in front of larger courtly/urban audience. Different elements would have resonated differently with various audience members of different classes.
Bourgeois gentillhome plot
- 1670
- Bourgeois man (M.Jourdain) wants to be an aristocrat. - His daughter Lucile has a middle class suitor (Cléonte) who Jourdain refuses her to marry. So Cléonte dresses up as the son of the Turkish sultan – has to undergo an important ceremony:
Bourgeois Gentillhome music/exoticism
Pidgin language (not actually Turkish)
- Music is generally a simple French dance, with extra percussion
- Racist depiction through costumes and choreography
- Lully reportedly danced the role of ‘mufti’ – see costume on slide
- Strong elements of exoticism in the play, representing foreigners/elements of foreign cultures – especially Ottoman/muslim (Ralph Locke)
- French relation with Ottomans unique to France since France had more limited reach (less naval presence) and relied on alliance with the Ottomans (unusual) established in the 16th century. Fascination for all things Turkish.
Why turn to tragedie en musique?
- Lully and Moliere fell out
- Louis patronage: tragedie en musique celebrates king
tragedie en musique aims
- Sovereign centred
- Mythological subjects.
- Resistance to lyricism/virtuosity of Italian opera – offensive to French sensibilities.
- Close melding of words and musical line that sits between recit and aria (in Italian opera the division is much clearer)
- Theatre in the Palais Royal – seated c.2000
- Bigger budget because King’s patronage
tragedie en musqiue frenchness/lully-ness
- Less distinction between aria and recit
- Less floridity
- Extravagant sets
- French overture: two halves, first dotted and slow, second fugal. French poise, reflection of royal court.
- 5 acts, mirroring French tragedy structure
- Ballet scenes – specific French choreo. Lully himself a dancer and the king too – French as Lullian but also Louis-an
- No castrati, because associated with Italian tradition
- French tragedy relation – direct/moral plots.
- All French for various reasons, but mainly because Lully made it French. French = Lullian.
Cadmus et Hermione French vs Italian
- 1673
- Earlier style, more Italian features
o Plot: mythological narrative, but comical sub-plot. Against ideals of tragic drama.
o Strict contrasts between recit and arias. - French features:
o French overture
o Dances
o Composed for Versailles – shown to king before public.
o More flexible recitative, shifting between triple and quadruple metre because of changing no. of feet in Quinault’s livret. More augmented intervals too – beginnings of récitatif mesuré.
Armide general
- Premiered 1686 in the Palais Royal
- Huge crowds attending piece which solidates social order and values.
- Last scene with destruction of Armide’s palace by demons: grand scenery of 5th act.
- Love vs duty plot based on poem by Italian, Tasso (libretto by Quinault). Set during crusade, sorceress armide and knight Renaud fall in love.
- Stayed in repertoire for 80 years, unusually. Italianate subject matter but French music marked it out as opéra tragique (French style).
Frenchness of Armide
- Rooted in French neoclassical tragic dramas of Racine and Corneille
- Rhythmically flexible recit because of versification of poetic metre. Allows for emotional flexibility
- E.g. Act II scene 5 ‘Enfin il est en ma puissance’ - as she decides not to kill Renaud but instead falls in love with him we hear new recit mesuré with trills on first beat – more emotionally expressive than Italian recitativo.
Exoticism of Armide
- Armide’s change of heart, from killing to falling in love with Renaud.
- Plays on idea of how women could occupy the exotic themselves (as non-male) and her being a sorceress amplifies exoticising element. Perceived threat of powerful woman. Has to undergo civilising moral lesson - falling in love with man.
- But music does not contribute to exocitising element.
Charpentier - general
- Charpentier studied in Italy, so blend/midpoint of French (Lullian) and Italian styles.
- Employed in Parisian household of Marie of Lorraine, Duchess of Guise – who loved Italian music
Politics of Charpentier’s Underworld
- In both Orphee and Les Arts florissants focus on underworld
- Olivia Bloechl makes this comparison.
- Appearance of rulers, courts, judges, citizens and supreme sovereign.
- Pluto as absolute monarch: tragic convention of vraisemblance making supernatural relatable to audience. Omnipresence of monarchical values, even infiltrating supernatural world.
- Unlike Lully, Charpentier not tied to king (chamber opera) so can criticise monarchy.
