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Omphale (1701) - André Cardinal Destouches
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Background
Omphale (1701) is one of Destouches’s contributions to the Lullian genre of the five-act tragédie en musique. Half a century after the premiere, Friedrich Melchior Grimm targeted the opera in his pamphlet “Lettre sur Omphale” (1752), which continued the earlier debate between advocates of Lully and Rameau. This written attack also precipitated the famous guerre des bouffons, which was sparked by a performance of Pergolesi’s La serva padrona (1733) in 1752.
Grimm used Omphale to illustrate what he considered to be “bad taste” in French music, writing:
In my opinion, this music is from one end to the other in bad taste and full of contradictions, lugubrious, without any expressiveness, and always inappropriate to its subject, which itself is the worst fault of all.[1]
That Grimm would turn to an older opera indicates that Omphale must have enjoyed some success during the time between its premiere and the publication of the “Lettre.” However, Destouches had realized that the tragédie en musique was on its way out, and he stopped composing in that genre after 1718, turning to the opéra-ballet introduced by his contemporary André Campra.
[1] Translation in Georgia Cowart, The Origins of Modern Musical Criticism: French and Italian Music 1600-1750 (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1981), 107.
Plot
In the Prologue, Love appears surrounded by the Graces and the Pleasures. Juna arrives and implores Love to curse Hercules with love: Love agrees to cast a spell on the hero.
In Act One, preparations are being made for celebrations to honor Hercules, who has just defended queen Omphale’s kingdom of Lydia from a rebellion. Hercules confides in his friend Iphis, confessing his love for the queen Omphale. When Omphale arrives with her attendants to thank Hercules for his help, the smitten soldier reveals his love to the queen, only to have it dismissed as Omphale puts an end to the festivities.
When the second act begins, Cephise encourages Omphale to marry Hercules, as he possesses all the attributes to be a perfect king. Omphale responds that she does not love Hercules, and reveals her affection for Hercules’s friend Iphis. Soon thereafter, Iphis arrives to plead on behalf of Hercules; Omphale replies that she is in love with another man, whose name, however, she does not disclose. But now, Iphis, too, has fallen in love with Omphale; once out of the queen’s presence, he laments his lot, convinced that she is in love with someone else. Hercules arrives and Argine reproaches Hercules for loving Omphale when she, Argine, is in love with him. Argine is determined to seek vengeance for her unrequited love.
As Act Three opens, Omphale’s lamentations of unrequited love are overheard by Argine, who mistakenly deduces that Omphale is in love with Hercules. Argine decides to avenge her love for Hercules by killing Omphale, but Hercules arrives in time to stop her, at which point Argine asks Hercules to kill her. Omphale reveals that she loves someone other than Hercules, but again does not reveal her love’s name.
In the fourth act, Hercules informs Iphis of his encounter with Argine and Omphale, and tells his friend of the existence of an unnamed rival. Hercules implores Argine to help him avenge his love by revealing the identity of his rival, whom he plans to kill. Argine finally acquiesces and invokes her father, the ghost of Thirezie, to divulge the identity of the object of the Queen’s affection. The ghost refuses Argine’s request but does foresee that Omphale and her unnamed love will be married that same day. Dejected, Hercules goes off to prevent Omphale’s marriage by slaying the Queen and her lover.
At the opening of Act Five, Omphale is offering sacrifice to the goddess of Love, asking her for Iphis’ love and to spark Hercules’ feelings toward Argine. Iphis arrives, and the two reveal to each other their mutual love. Hercules appears on the scene, prepared to slay Omphale and her lover. When he sees Iphis, Hercules assumes that his friend has come to help him prevent the marriage of Omphale and her lover. Iphis is so distraught at the sight of his friend that he attempts to commit suicide, only to be stopped by Hercules, who then sets out to kill everyone, including himself. However, Jupiter arrives just in time to save the day, and reminds Hercules of the importance of virtue. Hercules’ anger is appeased and he blesses, albeit begrudgingly, the marriage between Omphale and Iphis.
Bibliography
Title from title page: OMPHALE, / TRAGEDIE / EN MUSIQUE
Genre: Tragédie en musique
Composer: André Cardinal Destouches, 1672-1749
Librettist: Antoine Houdar Lamotte, 1672-1731
Libretto based on: Greek mythological story
Premiere: Paris, Opéra, 10 November 1701
First published: Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1701
Volume in the UNT Collection: Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1701
For further reading on Omphale, see:
Anthony, James R. “Destouches, André Cardinal.” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 17 December 2003]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
________. French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau. Revised edition. New York: Norton, 1978.
Isherwood, Robert M. Music in the Service of the King: France in the Seventeenth Century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1973.
Rosow, Lois. “From Destouches to Berton: Editorial Responsibility at the Paris Opéra” Journal of the American Musicological Society 40 (1987): 285–309.
Weber, William. “La musique ancienne in the Waning of the Ancien Régime.” Journal of Modern History 56 (1984), 58–88.
Physical
Dimensions: 18.8 x 24 cm.
Conservation: Foxing; cockling and creasing; bleed-through; discoloration due to adhesive residue; worn cover front free endpage is scuffed due to removal of library label; inside cover torn exposing board.
Binding: Brown leather on board with spine that reads "Omphale."
Comments: From the Lloyd Hibberd Collection; North Texas property stamps; dealer information pasted on second front free endpage with pencil marks.