Amadis de Gaule
Music by Johann Christian Bach · libretto by Philippe Quinault · premiered 1779 · at Paris Opera
Amadis de Gaule, or Amadis des Gaules (Amadis of Gaul), is a French opera in three acts by the German composer Johann Christian Bach. The libretto is a revision by Alphonse de Vismes of Amadis by Philippe Quinault, originally set by Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1684, which in turn, was based on the knight-errantry romance Amadis de Gaula (1508). Bach's opera was first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris, on 14 December 1779. It followed the contemporary French fashion for resetting libretti by Quinault (Armide by Gluck and Roland by Piccinni are other examples of this trend). The work was not a success with the Parisian public, mainly because it pleased neither the supporters of Gluck nor those of Piccinni, the two leading rival opera composers in France at the time. It was the last opera J. C. Bach composed.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Amadis de Gaule (J. C. Bach)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Johann Christian Bach (5 September 1735 – 1 January 1782) was a German composer of the Classical era and the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach received his early musical training from his father, and later from his half-brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in Berlin. After his time in Berlin he made his way to Italy to study with the famous Padre Martini in Bologna. While in Italy, J.C. Bach was appointed as an organist at the Milan Cathedral. In 1762 he became a composer to the King’s Theatre in London where he wrote a number of successful Italian operas and became known as "The English Bach". Bach is responsible for the development of the sinfonia concertante form. He became one…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Johann Christian Bach", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.