SAINT-SAËNS, Camille 1835-1921

Les Barbares Tragédie lyrique en 3 actes et un prologue Poème de Victorien Sardou et P.B. Gheusi ... Partition pour chant et piano réduite par Georges Marty. [Piano-vocal score]

Paris: A. Durand [PN D. & F. 5927], [1901].

Large octavo. Quarter contemporary red calf with flexible textured red cloth boards, rules and titling gilt to spine, marbled endpapers. 1f. (frontispiece illustration of the final scene of the opera by Berthaud after G. Rochegrosse), [i] (title), [i] (printer's statement), 1f. (named cast list for the first performance), 1f. (table of contents), 1f. (illustration of the Théatre Antique d'Orange by Bertraud), iv (summary of the opera), 291, [i] (blank) pp. Text in French.

Printer's notes to lower margins of cast list and final page.

Binding slightly worn, rubbed, and bumped; tail of spine lacking; upper board partially detached; joints split. Slightly browned; some corners slightly creased; occasional light soiling and staining to blank margins, not affecting music.

First Edition. Ratner II, p. 254.

The première of Les Barbares, at the Opéra in Paris on 23 October 1901, was a great success. "Live oxen were brought on stage in an ensemble and gave the management many problems of housing and feeding during performances." Debussy famously criticized the opera as being a vehicle unworthy of the composer's talents. Brian Rees in Camille Saint-Saëns: A Life, p. 348.

Item #26245

Price: $135.00  other currencies