Tarare (opera)

Tarare is an opéra (tragédie lyrique) composed by Antonio Salieri to a French libretto by Pierre Beaumarchais. It was first performed by the Paris Opera at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin on 8 June 1787.[1] Salieri also reworked the material into an Italian version retitled Axur, re d'Ormus with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, which opened in Vienna in January 1788.

Tarare
Tragédie lyrique by Antonio Salieri
Adolphe Nourrit in the title role, in Paris 1823
LibrettistPierre Beaumarchais
LanguageFrench
Premiere
8 June 1787 (1787-06-08)
Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, Paris
Costume for Arthénée, High Priest of Brahma (1787)

Roles
Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Roles Voice type[2] Premiere, 8 June 1787[3]
Conductor: Jean-Baptiste Rey
The genius that presides over the reproduction of creatures, or Nature soprano Suzanne Joinville
The genius of fire, which presides over Sun, in love with Nature basse-taille (bass-baritone) Louis-Claude-Armand Chardin (stage name, "Chardini")
Atar,[4] King of Ormus, a wild and unrestrained man basse-taille (bass-baritone) Auguste-Athanase (Augustin) Chéron
Tarare,[4] a soldier in his service, honoured for his great virtues taille (baritenor) Étienne Lainez
Astasie,[4] Tarare's wife, both tender and pious soprano Marie Thérèse Maillard
Arthénée,[4] High Priest of Brahma, a misbeliever devoured by pride and ambition basse-taille (bass-baritone) Martin-Joseph Adrien
Altamort,[4] an army general, son of the High Priest, a reckless and fiery youth basse-taille (bass-baritone) M Châteaufort
Urson, captain of Atar's guard, a valiant man of great honor basse-taille (bass-baritone) M Moreau
Calpigi,[4] chief of the Eunuchs, a European slave and a former singer emerged from the Chapels of Italy, being sensitive and gay haute-contre Jean-Joseph Rousseau[5]
Spinette,[4] a European slave woman, Calpigi's wife and a former Neapolitan cantatrice, being meddlesome and coquettish soprano Adélaïde Gavaudan, "cadette"
Elamir, a boy of the Augurs, being naive and very devout boy soprano Joseph-François-Narcisse Carbonel[6]
A priest of Brahma basse-taille (bass-baritone) Pierre-Charles Le Roux "cadet" (the younger)[7]
A slave basse-taille (bass-baritone) Pierre-Charles Le Roux "cadet" (the younger)
A eunuch basse-taille (bass-baritone) Pierre-Charles Le Roux "cadet" (the younger)
A shepherdess/A shadow (prologue) soprano Anne-Marie-Jeanne Gavaudan "l'aînée"
A peasant basse-taille (bass-baritone) M Dessaules

Discography

Cyrile Dubois, Tarare and ombre de Tarare, Karine Deshayes, Astasie and ombre de Astasie, Jean-Sébastien Bou, Atar and ombre d'Atar, Judith van Wanroij, La Nature and Spinette, Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe Rousset. Aparté 2019.

References
Notes
  1. Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Tarare, 8 June 1787". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  2. "Tarare di Salieri" at italianOPERA.org, accessed June 10, 2010.
  3. According to the original libretto.
  4. This character also appears in the prologue in the form of his/her own shadow.
  5. Sources traditionally report only the initial letter (J.) of this singer's name; full details, however, can be found in "Organico dei fratelli a talento della Loggia parigina di Saint-Jean d'Écosse du Contrat Social (1773–89)" (list of the members of this Masonic lodge), reported as an Appendix in Zeffiro Ciuffoletti and Sergio Moravia (eds), La Massoneria. La storia, gli uomini, le idee, Milan, Mondadori, 2004, ISBN 978-8804536468 (in Italian).
  6. Carbonel, a singing student of the Paris Opera, was fourteen when he took part in the premiere of Tarare (Alexandre Choron & François Fayolle (editors), Dictionnaire Historique des Musiciens, Paris: Valade/Lenormant, 1810, I, p. 118, accessible for free online at Internet Archives).
  7. Le Roux was a member of the Choir included among the tailles (bari-tenors) (cf. composition of the Choirs reported in the original libretto).
Sources
  • Original libretto: Tarare, Opéra en cinq actes, avec un prologue; Représenté, pour la première fois, sur le Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, le vendredi 8 Juin 1787, Paris: Delormel, 1787 (accessible for free online at books.google)
  • Georges d'Heylli & Fernand de Marescot (editors), Théâtre complet de Beaumarchais. Réimpression des éd. princeps, avec les variantes des ms originaux ..., Paris: Académie des bibliophiles, 1869–1871, IV, pp. 1–171 (accessible for free online at Gallica, Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
  • Francesco Blanchetti, Tarare, in Piero Gelli and Filippo Poletti (editors), Dizionario dell'opera 2008, Milan, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, pp. 1259–1260, ISBN 978-88-6073-184-5 (reproduced online at Opera Manager)
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