La reine de Saba
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| Operas by Charles Gounod |
|---|
Sapho (1851, rev. 1884) |
La reine de Saba ("The Queen of Sheba") is a grand opera in four[1] acts by Charles Gounod to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré inspired by Gérard de Nerval's Le voyage en Orient.
It premiered at the Paris Opera on February 28, 1862.
Contents |
[edit] Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, February 28, 1862[2] (Conductor: Louis Dietsch) |
|---|---|---|
| Balkis, the queen | soprano | Pauline Guéymard-Lauters |
| Benoni | mezzo-soprano | Hamäckers |
| Sarahil | mezzo-soprano | Tarby |
| Adoniram, sculptor and architect of the first temple | tenor | Louis Guéymard |
| Soliman, the biblical Solomon | bass | Jules-Bernard Belval |
| Amrou | tenor | Raphaël-Auguste Grisy |
| Phanor | baritone | Mécène Marié de l'Isle |
| Méthousaël | bass | Théodore-Jean-Joseph Coulon |
| Sadoc | bass | Frèret |
[edit] English version by Henry Farnie
An English reworking of the libretto by Henry Farnie "interwoven [with] certain legends and traditions of freemasonry" was titled Irene. It transposed the action to Istanbul in the time of Suleyman the Magnificent and the building of the Great Mosque and used almost all of Gounod's music.
[edit] Sources
Steven Huebner. "La reine de Saba", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed Jan 2008), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
[edit] References
- ^ Partition Chant et Piano par Georges Bizet, Choudens fils, Paris nd.; Grove says five acts.
- ^ Information from AmadeusOnline.net
