Aucassin et Nicolette
Music by André Grétry · libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine · premiered 1779
Aucassin et Nicolette, ou Les moeurs du bon vieux tems (Aucassin and Nicolette, or The Customs of the Good Old Days) is a French opéra comique by André Grétry. It takes the form of a comédie mise en musique in four acts. The work was first performed by the Comédie-Italienne at the Palace of Versailles on 30 December 1779 and subsequently at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris on 3 January 1780. It was also revived in 1782 in a version reduced to three acts. The libretto is by Michel-Jean Sedaine, after the early medievalist Jean-Baptiste de La Curne de Sainte-Palaye's Les amours du bon vieux tems, a modernised version of the Old French chantefable Aucassin et Nicolette.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Aucassin et Nicolette (Grétry opera)", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
André Ernest Modeste Grétry (French: [gʁɛtʁi]; baptised 11 February 1741; died 24 September 1813) was a composer from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (present-day Belgium), who worked from 1767 onwards in France and took French nationality. He is most famous for his opéras comiques. His music influenced Mozart and Beethoven both of whom wrote variations on his works.
Text from the Wikipedia article "André Grétry", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by André Grétry
- Guillaume Tell
- Le tableau parlant
- Les mariages samnites
- Andromaque (1735)
- Lucile (1769)
- Céphale et Procris (1773)
- Le magnifique (1773)
- L'amant jaloux (1778)