L'enfant prodigue
Music by Daniel Auber · libretto by Eugène Scribe · premiered 1850 · at Paris Opera
L'enfant prodigue (The Prodigal Son) is a grand opera in five acts composed by Daniel Auber to a French libretto by Eugène Scribe based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Académie Nationale de Musique in Paris on 6 December 1850. The role of Azaël (the prodigal son of the title) was sung in the premiere by the celebrated French tenor, Gustave-Hippolyte Roger, (1815-1879). A stage production, "Azael, the prodigal : a grand romantic spectacle, in three acts" using excerpts from the opera, selected and arranged by one Henri or Henry Laurent; Edward Fitzball, librettist; was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 19 February 1851. The ballet music was used by Constant Lambert in 1933 for the ballet Les Rendezvous with choreography by Frederick Ashton.
Text from the Wikipedia article "L", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (French: [danjɛl fʁɑ̃swa ɛspʁi obɛːʁ]; 29 January 1782 – 12 May 1871) was a French Romantic composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when the family's fortunes failed in 1820. He soon established a professional partnership with the librettist Eugène Scribe that lasted for 41 years and produced 39 operas, most of them commercial and critical successes. He is mostly associated with opéra-comique and composed 35 works in that genre. With Scribe he wrote the first French grand opera, La Muette de Portici (The Dumb Woman of Portici) in 1828,…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Daniel Auber", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Daniel Auber
- Gustave III
- La circassienne (1787)
- Fra Diavolo (1800)
- La muette de Portici (1830)
- Le cheval de bronze (1835)
- L'ambassadrice (1836)
- La part du diable (1843)
- La sirène (1844)