MEYERBEER, Giacomo 1791-1864

L'Étoile du Nord Opéra-Comique en trois Actes Paroles de Eug. Scribe Partition Piano & Chant. [Piano-vocal score].

Paris: Brandus & Cie. [PN B. & Cie. 9406]], [ca. 1882].

Large octavo. Quarter mid-brown calf with marbled boards, spine with raised bands in decorative compartments gilt, titling gilt, marbled endpapers. 1f. (recto illustrated title by Barbizet, verso named cast list, printed in brown), 1f. (recto contents printed in brown verso blank), 404 pp., 2ff. (publisher's catalogue). Lithographed.

Named cast includes Battaille, Jourdan, Duprez, Lefebvbe[!], Mocker, Hermann-Léon, Lemercier, Decrois, Riquier-Delaunay, Nathan, Duvernoy, and Carvalho.

Binding worn, rubbed, and bumped; lower hinge split. Occasional light foxing; small facsimile signature handstamp to lower margin of title.

First version.

L'étoile du Nord, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe, was first performed in Paris at the Opéra-Comique (Salle Favart) on 16 February 1854.

"[The opera] is characterized by a large number of incidental choruses and strophic arias, even by the standards of opéra comique; Meyerbeer is particularly successful in imbuing each with distinctive colour and inventive ideas... [Meyerbeer was] the most frequently performed opera composer during the 19th century, linking Mozart and Wagner." Steven Huebner in Grove Music Online.

Item #29925

Price: $100.00  other currencies