THOMAS, Ambroise 1811-1896

Le Songe d'une Nuit d'Eté Opéra Comique en trois Actes dédié à sa Majesté Guillaume III Roi des Pays-Bas, Prince d'Orange-Nassau Grand Duc de Luxembourg ... Poeme de MM. Rosier et de Leuven... Accompagnement de Piano par M. Vauthrot. Prix: 12f. net. [Piano-vocal score]

Paris: Léon Escudier [PN B.C. 1149], [ca. 1859].

Octavo. Original publisher's dark ivory printed wrappers. 1f. (title with publisher's catalog to lower), 1f. (named cast list and table of contents), 272 pp. Lithographed. Partially uncut.

Named cast includes Lefebvre, Grimm, Couderc, Boulo, Battaille, and Bellecour.

Publisher's handstamp to lower margin of title.

Wrappers slightly worn and soiled; minor loss to head of spine; small tear to margin of lower repaired. Minor internal wear, foxing, soiling, and staining; several signatures detached.

A later printing of the first version of the opera. Printed from Bureau Central de Musique plates. Lesure II p. 165-166. OCLC 21860489.

Le Songe d'une Nuit (A Midsummer Night's Dream), to a libretto by Joseph-Bernard Rosier and Adolphe de Leuven, was first performed in Paris at the Opéra-Comique on 20 April 1850.

"In 1850 Thomas wrote the Shakespearean potpourri Le songe d’une nuit d’été, which has little to do with A Midsummer Night’s Dream; it includes Falstaff, Elizabeth I and Shakespeare himself in the cast, and has an unusually high proportion of its action devoted to drinking ... Apart from signalling the composer’s interest in Shakespeare, this opéra comique shows Thomas’ ability to fuse many of the operatic styles current in his day, and demonstrates his increasing skill at orchestration, particularly in the entr’actes. The piece was revived at Compiègne in 1994 to mark the opening of the Channel Tunnel." Richard Langham Smith in Grove Music Online.

Item #26033

Price: $120.00  other currencies