French Opera
in the
17th and 18th Centuries:
A Facsimile Series

This anticipated seventy-five volume facsimile series of approximately 100 orchestral scores will provide a comprehensive panorama of the history of French opera from its origins to the end of the 18th century. The works were chosen on the basis of their historical significance and intrinsic value, and will, ultimately, provide a judicious balance of operatic genres -tragédies lyriques, opéras ballets, opéras comiques, comédies mélées d'ariettes, and musiques de scéne. Very few of the works projected are available today in full score.

Each volume contains facsimiles of the score and libretto, an extensive introduction (dealing with the composer, the librettist, the opera, the sources, and performance history), a summary of the plot, iconographic materials, bibliographies, and appendices. Facsimiles are of the best available contemporary source: in autograph, contemporary copy, or first edition that appeared during the composer's lifetime.

The first thirteen volumes are:

• No. 1 Issé": Pastorale héroique (1697) by André Cardinal Destouches and Antoine Houdar de La Motte, edited by Robert Fajon (Vol. XIV in the series)
  
  

• No. 2 La Caverne: Drame lyrique (1793) by Jean-François Le Sueur and Palat dit Dercy, edited by Jean Mongrédien (Vol. LXXIV)
  
  

• No. 3 Les Paladins: Comédie lyrique (1760) by Jean-Philippe Rameau, edited by R. Peter Wolf (Vol. XLIV)
  
  

• No. 4 Mélidore et Phrosine: Drame lyrique en vers (1794) by Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, edited by M. Elizabeth Bartlet (Vol. LXXIII)
  
  

• No. 5 Carnaval de Venise: Comédie lyrique (1699) by André Campra, edited by James R. Anthony (Vol. XVII)
  
  

• No. 6 Medée et Jason: Tragédie en musique (1713) by Joseph-François Salomon, edited by Leslie Ellen Brown (Vol. XXVIII)
  
  

• No. 7 Atys: Tragédie lyrique (1780) by Niccolò Piccinni, edited by Julian Rushton (Vol. LXV)
  
  

• No. 8 Ermelinde: Tragédie lyrique (1767) by François-André Danican Philidor, edited by Julian Rushton (Vol. LVI)
  
  

• No. 9 Les Visitandines: Comédie mêlée d'ariettes (1792) by François Devienne, edited by Sherwood Dudley (Vol. LXXIIa)
  
  

• No. 10 Ballet de la Jeunesse: Divertissement meslé de comédie et de musique (1686) by Michel-Richard Delalande, edited by Barbara Coeyman (Vol. IX)
  
  

• No. 11 Stratonice: Comédie héroïque (1792) by Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, edited by M. Elizabeth Bartlet
  
  

• No. 12 Tancrède (1702) by André Campra, edited by Antonia L. Banducci
  
  

• No. 13 Armide (1686) by Jean-Baptiste Lully, edited by Lois Rosow

Contact information:

Claire Brook, Editor-in-Chief
French Opera in the 17th and 18th Centuries
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016

(212) 817-1991 (tel.)
(212) 817-1569 (fax)

cbrook1019@aol.com