Les Horaces
Opera by Antonio Salieri
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Les Horaces (The Horatii) is an operatic tragédie lyrique by Antonio Salieri. The text was by Nicolas-François Guillard after Pierre Corneille's Horace.
| Les Horaces | |
|---|---|
| Tragédie lyrique by Antonio Salieri | |
Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David, exhibited at the Salon in Paris in 1785 (the year prior to the premiere of the opera in that city), depicts the titular Horatii. | |
| Librettist | Nicolas-François Guillard |
| Language | French |
| Based on | Corneille's Horace |
| Premiere | |
The opera was commissioned by the Paris Opera after the success of Salieri's Les Danaïdes with the company.
Performance history
According to different sources, Les Horaces was first performed either at Fontainebleau on 2 November 1786,[2] or at Versailles on 2 December 1786.[3] According to Spire Pitou, however, both dates seem to be errors and "the correct date of the world première of Salieri's Les Horaces is 7 December 1786 at the Royal Academy of Music ...".[4] Whatever the case, it was not well received.[5] The failure of the opera to some extent has been blamed on the lackluster performances of the original performers.[6]
Roles
| Cast | Voice type | Premiere, 2 December 1786[1] (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Old Horace | bass-baritone | Auguste-Athanase (Augustin) Chéron |
| Young Horace | tenor/baritone | François Lays |
| Curiace | tenor | Étienne Lainez |
| Camille | soprano | Antoinette Cécile de Saint-Huberty |
| A woman of Camille's retinue | soprano | Adélaïde Gavaudan "cadette"[7] |
| The High Priest | bass-baritone | Martin-Joseph Adrien |
| Valère | baritone | Claude-Armand Chardin (stage name, "Chardini") |
| A Roman | bass-baritone | M. Moreau |
| An Alban | bass-baritone | M. Châteaufort |
| An oracle | bass-baritone | M. Moreau |