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Le mariage d'Antonio (1786) - Lucile Grétry
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Background
Lucile Grétry’s opera Le mariage d’Antonio premiered in Paris when she was a mere fourteen years old. As the second daughter of André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, she was afforded lessons at a young age in counterpoint and declamation. Her father supplied the orchestral parts for her comédie mêlée d’ariettes after Lucile had composed the vocal, bass, and harp parts.
Although Le mariage d’Antonio was a modest success, Lucile’s second endeavor, a divertissement mêlée d’ariettes entitled Toinette et Louis (1787), did not receive the same positive attention. The young composer died from tuberculosis before she could establish herself further at the Comédie-Italienne.
Plot
Le mariage d’Antonio’s plot is the sequel to Richard Cœur-de-lion, with Blondel assisting Antonio with his upcoming marriage. Blondel gives Antonio gold as a present, allowing Antonio to wed Colette.
Bibliography
Title from title page: LE MARIAGE D’ANTONIO / Divertissement, / En un Acte et en Prose
Genre: Comédie mêlée d’ariettes
Composer: Lucile Grétry, 1772-1790
Librettist: Mme. de Beaunoir (Alexandre L. B. Robineau), fl. 1780s
Libretto based on: an anonymous account in the Bibliothèque universelle des romans (1776)
Setting: Linz, in the area of the castle, around 1193
Premiere: Paris, Comédie-italienne (Salle Favart), 29 July 1786
First published: Paris: Haubaut, n.d.
Volume in the UNT Collection: Paris: Haubaut, n.d.
For further reading on Le mariage d’Antonio, see:
Adelson, Robert and Jacqueline Letzer. “Reconstructing the Author-function: Naming the Forgotten Women of Eighteenth-century Opera.” Women of Note Quarterly 5 (1997): 13-27.
Charlton, David. Grétry and the Growth of Opéra-comique. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Charlton, David. “Grétry, Lucile.” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 31 January 2004]. http://www.grovemusic.com
Physical
Dimensions: 34.1 x 24.2 cm.
Collation: [unable to determine formula]; 94 leaves, pp. [4] 1-114 [6] 1-62 [63-64].
Conservation: Foxing; bleed-through; dirty pages; tape used to repair some pages; cracked hinge; missing headcap; worn cover.
Binding: Tan-patterned paper-covered board with light brown paper-covered spine; paper label on spine reads “Gretry / L’Epreuve Villageoise”.
Comments: Copper-plate engraving (plates measure 27.3 x 20.2 cm).