BIZET, Georges 1838-1875

Don Procopio Opéra Bouffe en deux Actes de Paul Collin et Paul Bérel D'après les Comédies Italiennes du XVIIe et du XVIIIe Siècles ... Révision musicale et Réduction pour Piano et Chant par Ch. Malherbe Partition Chant et Piano Textes Français et Italien ... 2ème Edition. [Piano-vocal score]

Paris: Choudens [PN A.C. 13062], [1906].

Large octavo. Quarter dark red morocco with marbled boards, raised bands on spine in decorative compartments gilt, titling gilt, marbled endpapers, original publisher's ivory wrappers printed in sepia bound in. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 1f. (recto notes on first performance, named cast list, and contents, verso blank), 1f. (recto quote from a Bizet letter of January 11, 1859, verso blank), 272, 281-285, [i] (blank) pp.

Named cast includes Jean Périer, Rousselière, Bouvet, Chalmin, Ananian, Angèle Pornot, and Jeanne Morlet.

Binding slightly worn, rubbed, and bumped; upper wrapper slightly soiled.

Second edition.

In two acts to a libretto by Carlo Cambiaggio after Luigi Prividali’s libretto I pretendenti delusi, Don Procopio was first performed in Monte Carlo at the Opéra on 10 March 1906, under the direction of Raoul Gunsbourg.

"The music, like the text, is wholly Italian, a style Bizet admired in Rossini and Donizetti, although he later spoke dismissively of it. His invention and wit are astonishing, since he infuses a familiar idiom – vocal coloratura, patter declamation, swift-moving ensembles, and so on – with frequent original touches, in harmony, orchestration and melodic style. His fluency and professionalism are remarkable. One piece, a march, was borrowed from the Symphony in C; other sections were later used in Les pêcheurs de perles and La jolie fille de Perth, including the famous Serenade from that opera." Hugh Macdonald in Grove Music Online.

Item #29931

Price: $100.00  other currencies