Les fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour

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Les fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour is an opéra-ballet in three three entrées and a prologue by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, who is best remembered today for his operas. The work was first performed on the 15th March 1747 at the La Grande Ecurie, Versailles, and is set to a libretto by Louis de Cahusac. The opera was originally composed as part of the celebrations for the Dauphin's marriage to Maria Josepha of Saxony. Les fêtes de l'Hymen proved to be a popular work and by the March of 1776 it had been performed exactly 106 times. The librettist, Cahusac, was especially pleased with the ways in which he had succeeded in giving especial import to the supernatural elements of the work - the plot is based on Egyptian mythology - and to allow particular use of impressive large-scale stage machinery, which was much admired by the audience. The opera contains seven ballets, a consequence of Cahusac's desire to further integrate dance and drama, which grew from the typical French devotion to ballet, particularly when allied with opera.