Tom Jones (Philidor)

Tom Jones is a comédie mêlée d'ariettes, a kind of opéra comique, by the French composer and chess champion François-André Danican Philidor which first appeared at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris, on 27 February 1765. Its French libretto, by Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poisenet and Bertin Davesne, is loosely based on the 1749 novel by Henry Fielding.

Tom Jones
Opéra comique by François-André Danican Philidor
Portrait of Philidor, London, 1777
Librettist
  • Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poisenet
  • Bertin Davesne
LanguageFrench
Based onHenry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
Premiere
27 February 1765 (1765-02-27)
Comédie-Italienne, Paris

The opera was initially a failure but Philidor had the libretto revised by Michel-Jean Sedaine and this new version, first performed on 30 January 1766, proved one of the most popular opéras comiques of the late 18th century. It was produced in a number of other countries, and translated into German, Swedish and Russian.

Roles
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 27 February 1765
(Conductor: )
Monsieur Western bass Joseph Caillot
Madame Western, his sister mezzo-soprano Bérard
Sophie, his daughter soprano Desglands
Honora, her companion soprano Marie-Thérèse Laruette-Villette
Allworthy, their neighbour baritone Antoine Trial
Tom Jones, his ward tenor Clairval (Jean-Baptiste Guignard)
Blifil, Allworthy's nephew tenor Jean-Louis Laruette
Quaker Dowling spoken

Recordings

François-André Danican Philidor: Tom Jones, Lausanne Opera and Le Sinfonietta de Lausanne

  • Conductor: Jean-Claude Malgoire
  • Principal singers: Sébastien Droy, Sophie Marin-Degor, Marc Barrard, Sibyl Zanganelli, Carine Séchehaye, Rodolphe Briand, Léonard Pezzino & Guillaume Michel
  • Recording date: staged in 2005; recorded on 17, 18 and 20 January 2006
  • Label: Dynamic 33509 (DVD), CDS509 (CD)

Sources
    • Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Tom Jones". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
    • Rushton, Julian (1992), "Tom Jones (i)" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
    • The Viking Opera Guide, ed. Amanda Holden (1993)
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.