- Acante et Céphise
"Acante et Céphise, ou La sympathie" is an
opera byJean-Philippe Rameau , first performed on19 November ,1751 at the Opéra inParis . It takes the form of a "pastorale héroïque " in three acts. The librettist wasJean-François Marmontel . The opera was written to celebrate the birth of theDuke of Burgundy , the elder brother of the futureKing Louis XVI . The plot concerns a pair of lovers, Acante and Céphise, who suffer at the hands of a wickedgenie Oroès. They are saved by the good fairy Ziriphile, who uses her magic powers, including the gift oftelepathy (the "sympathie" of the title), to defeat Oroès. ["Viking" p.844] The work is richly scored and contains the first surviving use ofclarinet s in a French opera. They appear in theoverture , which contains a section imitating the firework display celebrating the birth of the duke. [Girdlestone pp.458-462]Roles
References
ources
*Girdlestone, Cuthbert, "Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work", New York: Dover, 1969 (paperback edition)
*Holden, Amanda, ed., "The Viking Opera Guide", New York:Viking, 1993
*Sadler, Graham, ed., "The New Grove French Baroque Masters" Grove/Macmillan, 1988
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