SAINT-SAËNS, Camille 1835-1921

Le Timbre d'Argent Drame Lyrique en 4 actes de J. Barbier et M. Carré... Partition Chant & Piano arrangée par Georges Bizet. [Piano-vocal score]

Paris: Choudens Père et Fils [PN A.C. 3558.], [1877].

Large octavo. Quarter contemporary green calf with textured green paper boards, rules and titling gilt to spine. 1f. (title within decorative borders, engraved by J. Bourgeois), 1f. (dedication to Albert Libon by the composer), [1] (named cast list for the first performance and table of contents), 2-304 pp. Text in French.

With vendor's handstamp to lower margin of title and printer's note to the lower margin of table of contents ("Paris, Imp. Fouquet... Baudon Gr.").

Binding slightly worn, rubbed and bumped. Slightly browned; occasional light stainiing; many leaves with light to moderate foxing or mold, especially to margins.

First Edition of the first version. Ratner II, p. 73.

Le Timbre d'argent, to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris on February 23, 1877.

"Composed in 1864–5 for the Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, the opera was kept from the stage first by the theatre’s bankruptcy, then by the Franco-Prussian War, and was not played until 1877. In the meantime Saint-Saëns had recomposed the dialogue to form a grand opera version, which was not played until 1913. The music is enormously fluent and versatile ... There are some bold scenic ideas, including a theatre seen from the back of the stage and some fanciful transformations. It seems no coincidence that the opera’s 18 performances in 1877 exactly coincided with Offenbach’s first concentrated labours on Les contes d’Hoffmann." Hugh Macdonald in Grove Music Online.

Item #26236

Price: $250.00  other currencies