Acante et Céphise
Music by Jean-Philippe Rameau · libretto by Jean-François Marmontel · premiered 1751
Acante et Céphise, ou La sympathie is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 19 November 1751 at the Opéra in Paris. It takes the form of a pastorale héroïque in three acts. The librettist was Jean-François Marmontel. The opera was written to celebrate the birth of the Louis, Duke of Burgundy, the elder brother of the future King Louis XVI. Although the plot has been described as "puerile....the plot evokes from Rameau a score of remarkable imagination"; it is richly scored and contains the first surviving use of clarinets in a French opera. They appear in the overture, which contains a section imitating the firework display celebrating the birth of the duke.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Acante et Céphise", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Jean-Philippe Rameau is the composer of record for this opera.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Jean-Philippe Rameau", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Jean-Philippe Rameau
- Les Boréades (1683)
- Hippolyte et Aricie (1733)
- Les Indes galantes (1735)
- Castor et Pollux (1737)
- Dardanus (1739)
- La princesse de Navarre (1745)
- Le temple de la Gloire (1745)
- La guirlande (1751)