GOUNOD, Charles 1818-1893

Philémon et Baucis Opéra en 2 ou 3 actes de J. Barbier et M. Carré ... A Madame Carvalho ... Partition Chant et Piano réduite par H. Salomon. [Piano-vocal score]

Paris: Choudens [PN A.C. 703], [ca. 1900].

Large octavo. Red cloth-backed textured blue paper boards with decorative device and titling printed in black to upper, titling gilt to spine. 1f. (recto title within decorative architectural border, verso blank), 1f. (recto named cast list and contents, verso blank), 49, [i] (50-54), 55-178 pp. Some leaves unopened.

Named cast includes Nicot, Chapuyt, Bouhy, and Giraudet from the Opéra-Comique, and Froment, Carvalho, Battaille, Balanqué, and Sax from the Théâtre Lyrique.

Binding slightly worn and soiled; upper hinge partially split. Browned; some signatures split.

Third version, second issue.

Philémon et Baucis, to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré after Jean de La Fontaine’s fable, was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre Lyrique on 18 February 1860.

"At the suggestion of Léon Carvalho, director of the Théâtre Lyrique, Gounod expanded his original two-act frame into three by adding a middle act that depicts the orgiastic celebrations of the townspeople in Jupiter’s temple ... For the 1876 revival at the Opéra-Comique which established Philémon in the repertory of that house until World War II, Gounod reduced the work to two acts." Steven Huebner in Grove Music Online.

Item #28830

Price: $30.00  other currencies