#Grétry

[empirearchives]

The Composer André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, circa 1804-8

By Jean-Baptiste Stouf, Belgian

[hedgehog-moss]

I was reading a book of musical anecdotes written by un pernicieux rosbif an Englishman not very long after the last Napoleonic Wars and you can tell relations between our two countries were still somewhat tense 😔

At one point he goes on and on for a whole page about how gorgeous the Paris Opera is, "sumptuous", "magnificent", the interior décor is "one of the finest in the world", "a chandelier of the grandest order", and the painted ceiling!, and the blue velvet in the boxes!, and you're like "he's saying nice things? about us? 🥺" — then he concludes with:

"the opera in Paris is top-tier in every respect except if you want to listen to good opera"

[lesser-known-composers]

André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (1741-1813) - Les fausses apparences, Act III: O douce nuit, sous ton ombre paisible (Live) ·

Alexandra Oomens · Orchestra of the Antipodes · Erin Helyard · · Thomas d'Hele

[gentlemanpixelator]

Liège. Place de la République Française et Statue Grétry

[lounesdarbois]

Pour ce trente-cinquième épisode de l'émission La Libre Antenne sur ERFM, le camarade Blaise et la section Égalité & Réconciliation des Pays de la Loire m'ont convié à évoquer la praxis du bien vivre en ville en ce début de XXIe siècle... Merci les gars.

Sommaire et musiques:

01- Introduction 4 min 10 : Devienne - Sonate pour flûte, basson et piano 02- Le Prince et la Cité 12 min 06 : Devienne - Sonate pour flûte, basson et piano 03- Style urbain français entre 1840 et 1940 16 min 44 : Rameau - Les Fêtes de Polymnie – Ouverture 04- Paris nomadisée 20 min 42 : RAMEAU - Le Temple de la Gloire - Ouverture 05- Envers du décor et ascenseur 24 min 49 : Marais - Alcione - Deuxième Air des Matelots et Matelotes 06- Les HLM des années 1950-60 27 min 40 : Grétry - Richard Cœur de Lion – Ouverture 07- Banlieue parisienne 29 min 44 : Grétry - La caravane du Caire – Ouverture 08- La ville dortoir 31 min 19 : Philidor – Tom Jones - Ouverture 09- L’esthétique désolée 35 min 38 : Méhul - Symphonie No. 2 en D majeur - Andante 10- Exigence contre décadence 39 min 34 : Saint-Saëns - Bacchanale 11- La propriété comme bouclier 43 min 20 : Saint-George - Ernestine – Ouverture 12- Londres et les magasins provisoires 46 min 44 : Berlioz - Marche hongroise 13- Le ministère de l’Embellissement 49 min 44 : Méhul - Adrien – Ouverture 14- L’ameublement masculin 52 min 37 : Gounod - Symphonie No. 2 - Allegro agitato 15- Le mobilier sprezzatura 56 min 10 : Fauré - Pavane - Andante Molto Moderato 16- Les magasins de mobilier 58 min 56 : Gossec - Symphonie en D Majeur - Minuetto & Trio 17- Le mode d’éclairage intérieur 1 h 02 min 16 : Fauré – Sicilienne 18- La campagne française violée 1 h 04 min 45 : Ravel - Le tombeau de Couperin – Prélude 19- Le rapport de l’homme à la campagne 1 h 13 min 13 : Jaubert - Le Jour se lève 20- Henri Sellier 1 h 16 min 17 : Saint-George - L’Amant anonyme - Ouverture I. Allegro presto 21- Les smart cities 1 h 21 min 00 : Gossec - Symphonie en D Majeur – Allegro 22- Conclusion 1 h 24 06 : New Order - The Himm

[enbysiriusblack]

"Reg, I'm going out to Ray's."

Regulus glanced up from his desk to Sirius standing in his doorway, "Okay."

"I'll probably be there for a few hours at least."

"Okay", Regulus nodded, turning back to his desk.

Sirius' fingers drummed against the doorframe, "Did you... want to come with me? Ray might have some Grétry in stock?"

Regulus narrowed his eyes, "We haven't gone to Raymond's together in years."

Sirius shrugged, "So?"

"So why now?"

"We might not... be able to again."

"Why wouldn’t we? Raymond isn't closing down, he has one of the most successful music shops in London."

Sirius huffed, "He's not shutting down, it's just- Well, you never know what will happen. What if this is our last chance? Come on, Reg. We used to love going to Ray's together."

Regulus stared at Sirius for a moment before turning back around to his book, "I'm busy at the minute. Bellatrix sent me a new book on Ancient potion making and it's really quite interesting."

Sirius glanced to the new poster Regulus had hung above his desk, no doubt sent by Bellatrix along with the book. The snake moved, coming from the mouth of the skull and slithering around the edge of the poster.

"Right. Well then, if your little potion book gets dull then come to Ray's."

Sirius shut the door and left.

Regulus instantly stood up, grabbing his favourite jumper and making his way to Sirius' room. He opened Sirius' wardrobe doors, noting the only clothes left hung up were items chosen by their mother. He reached into the back of the wardrobe, immediately feeling a large duffel bag and pulled it out. Regulus opened it to find all Sirius' real belongings- muggle clothes, pictures of his friends, and records of rock music.

He neatly folded his jumper and placed it in the duffel bag before zipping it back up and putting it back where he had found it.

Regulus refused to go to Ray's. It would only make it harder when Sirius left. The best thing to do was to move on. Replace a wild, loud, impulsive sibling with a new one, one who wouldn't leave him or think worse of him for doing right by his family.

Regulus went back to his own room and started a letter to Bellatrix.

[stoportotouch]

about five weeks in. hodge makes a slightly disparaging reference to grétry's richard cœur-de-lion (or something similar). little immediately comes back with the next line of the libretto. (irving gives up all hope immediately, knowing what sort of person hodgson is and, critically, with which head he is thinking.)

little of course has a strong opinion on richard, on account of his father having been a clerk on board one of the ships that sent the response to the spithead mutiny. (Richard Coeur-de-Lion being a particularly monarchistic French opera written VERY shortly after the revolution.) hodgson does not know this at this point, on account of being a truly dreadful listener.

(regardless, hodgson skips this musicological assessment and goes straight to "talking to him about an opera featuring a love song between two men", of course. Johann Joseph Fux is a force far less powerful than wanting to fuck another man.)

[bttrflyblu]

GRÉTRY // L’Amant jaloux: Serenade. "Tandis que tout sommeille" by Marc Mauillon & Anna Schivazappa

[metmuseum]

The Composer André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry (1741–1813). 1804–8. Credit line: Purchase, Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation Inc. Gift and Charles Ulrick and Josephine Bay Foundation Inc. Gift, 1969 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/205107

[acrossthewavesoftime]

Thank you for the tag, @anarchist-mariner!

Nickname: Depends on who you ask; I appear to have quite a few. So if you have one for me, just try and see if I respond to it, I suppose. :)

Sign: Not a good one, if I you see me approach, smirking a little too contentedly.

Height: I am exactly William III of Orange-sized. Make of that what you will.

Last thing I googled: "Wetter [place name redacted]".

Song stuck in my head: I'm somewhere halfway between Comme un éclair from the opera La fausse magie (1775) by André-Ernest Modeste Grétry, and Arthur McBride.

No. of followers: a little over 300

Amount of sleep: Depends!

Lucky number: 3

Dream job: Joke answer? Morally Questionable Time Travelling Tulip Bulb Vendor. I planted north of 60 bulbs yesterday, which led me to think that had I a time machine, i would transport myself to the 1630s Netherlands, take a couple of bags of the most outlandish tulip bulbs I can find in my local garden centre (prized were especially white and red striped varieties, and anything out of the ordinary, really) and sell them at a huge profit. Thanks to coming from the future, I know when the bubble bursts, and can withdraw from the market in time. In a next step, I could travel on and use my immorally-begotten funds to support a venture or two that historically could have used some support. Perhaps we should make more than a few pikes be ready at the Rising of the Moon?

Real answer? Historian, or educator in a museum environment. History is, sadly, often regarded as an elitist discipline, inaccessible and boring, or reduced to a prop in 'historically inspired' fantasy fiction, when it really is so interesting and helps us understand the world we live in today.

Wearing: My robes of state, of course.

Movies/books that summarise you: I would not say that any book summarises me, as in, is the perfect blurb on the back cover of my personality, but I cherish the Horatio Hornblower and Aubreyad novels. I was about 10 or 11 years old when I found a novel on Gráinne Ní Mháille at my local public library, and have been hooked on historical naval fiction ever since.

Favourite song: Don't make me choose, I have so many!

Favourite instrument: harpsichord

Aesthetic: I really have no clue. At 300-something (a lady never reveals her true age!) i think I am a bit deaf to internet trends, alas. I might say dark academia (mostly because it's the first that springs to mind and it's actually quite nice visually), but having seen enough of academia to know, the much too bright 1960s light fixtures only go out when there's a power outage, so no.

Favourite authors: Marjorie Bowen, D. K. Broster

Favourite animal noise: a horse exhaling contentedly. Bonus points if the horse's head is resting on one's shoulder throughout.

Random: I'll never show my face on here, but apparently, I bear an uncanny resemblance to the Godfrey Kneller portrait of Mary II of England. I also do historical dancing, meaning we practice dances from between roughly the 1580s at the earliest, and the 18-naughties at the latest.

Thanks again for the tag! I'll tag whoever feels like participating! If anyone asks, tell them I tagged you! :)

[atadbitofworld]

Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France and Her Controversial Legacy

On 10th May, Louis XVI of France and his wife, the Austrian princess Marie Antoinette, began their reign. The young princess became the queen consort of France, a position that many desired. Marie Antoinette had a beautiful face and a graceful manner, and everyone was curious about what kind of queen she would be: a supporter of the arts, a subtle diplomat, a political counselor to her husband, a devout wife and queen? She ended up being all of these things – and more.

Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, the later Queen Marie Antoinette of France by Joseph Ducreux {PD}

She left a lasting impression on French history unlike any other French consort. Marie Antoinette was a talented musician – she played the harp and the harpsichord, and learned from Gluck in her childhood – as well as a singer and a fan of composers such as André Grétry. Marie Antoinette was also passionate about fashion and liked to invent new dresses and hairstyles, breaking with tradition and making the work of her ladies-in-waiting harder than usual.

Marie Antoinette playing the harp at the French Court by Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty {PD}

She enjoyed being daring – sculptures like this show her lively personality and extravagant style.

Marie Antoinette by Jean-Antoine Houdon, photo credit: Grundy Art Gallery, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA

Despite her great impact on the arts, Marie Antoinette was often regarded as the puppet of her mother, the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa – she was often attacked at the French court and called 'The Austrian' by her enemies. She soon became a scapegoat both at court and outside and, while she was initially loved by the French people, her lavishness during a hard economic time quickly turned this love into resentment. The more she tried to advise her husband in politics, the stronger the accusations against her became. She was vilified in pamphlets and libels, and her bad reputation affected her husband's as well. 

Empress Maria Theresia of Austria by Martin van Meytens {PD}

Louis XVI, King of France and Navarre, wearing his grand royal costume in 1779 by Antoine-François Callet {PD}

When the French Revolution started in 1789, Marie's mixed feelings about the situation caused a lot of damage to the French monarchy. She was advised by her family in Austria to escape, but she was conflicted between her willingness to compromise and her fears of the people's intentions. The royal family decided to flee, which led to the end of the monarchy in France.

The Royal Family of France in the Prison of the Temple by Edward Ward

Louis XVI was tried for treason and eventually executed on 21st January 1793. His reign will always be remembered by his failure to preserve the monarchy and the Bourbon dynasty, and will always be linked to the French Revolution.

As for Marie Antoinette – who, as the consort of France, was supposed to have a wonderful destiny and future – her final moments were far from glamorous. She was imprisoned with her children and her ladies-in-waiting, and she was eventually tried for treason and executed on 16th October 1793, at the age of only 37.

Marie Antoinette being taken to her Execution by William Hamilton {PD}

Her death caused outrage in the rest of Europe as most of her siblings were ruling other countries and realms. Her sister, Maria Carolina of Naples, swore to avenge her, developing a pure hatred against France for what they did. From an Austrian princess to a French queen consort, no one could have foreseen Marie Antoinette's terrible fate.

Marie Antoinette wrote to her sister-in-law, Madame Elisabeth, in her final moments. She had a close and sincere friendship with her over the years.

Elisabeth-Philippe-Marie-Hélène de France, dite Madame Elisabeth by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun {PD}

Her only thoughts were for her children, whom she wanted to protect desperately, even after her death. 'I am very saddened to leave my poor children; you know that they and you, my kind and loving sister, were my only reason to live.'

She advised, 'Let them both remember what I have always taught them, that virtuous principles and the faithful performance of every duty, are the first foundation of life; that their happiness will depend on their mutual love and trust.' She finished her letter with what she wanted her legacy to be: 'Let them never seek to avenge our death.' It was for her wise words and her maternal love that Marie Antoinette wanted her children to remember her.

Sadly, all her children died young except for Marie-Thérèse, who became the Duchess of Angoulême.

Queen Marie Antoinette of France and two of her Children (Marie-Thérèse Charlotte and Louis Joseph) Walking in The Park of Trianon by Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller (Nationalmuseum (Photo: Erik Cornelius)) {PD}

Portrait of Maria Theresia Charlotte of Bourbon by Heinrich Füger {PD}

Even today, especially in France, Marie Antoinette is a controversial figure. She is remembered for betraying France and for being the source of all its troubles, but her legacy is more complex, as her last letter shows. In the end, Marie Antoinette had her flaws, of course, but she also remained a loyal mother who was separated from her children and who tried to leave them a legacy of peace and love – if only through her words.

Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine-Habsbourg, Queen of France, and her children by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun {PD}

Portrait of Marie-Antoinette of Austria by Jean-Baptiste André Gautier-Dagoty {PD}

Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, in a court dress by François Hubert Drouais {PD}

[ronnydeschepper]

245 jaar geleden: 32ste symfonie van Mozart

Op 26 april 1779 voltooit Mozart in Salzburg zijn 32ste symfonie (KV.318). Het is zijn eerste symfonie na zijn mislukte reis naar Parijs. Aangezien het werk veel weg heeft van een ouverture van de Parijse opéra comique zoals van Grétry, heeft men een tijdlang gedacht dat dit de ouverture tot “Thamos” of “Zaide” moet geweest zijn, maar dat is niet zo (ze is in G, terwijl althans voor “Zaide” D…

[lesser-known-composers]

André Grétry (1741-1813)

[linsaad]

« L’ignorance est fille de l’orgueil, et l’orgueil et l’ignorance ont le funeste bonheur de ne douter de rien. »

André Grétry

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Month of New Operatic Works #3: Richard Cœur-de-lion (Versailles, 2019): Reactions

surprise, @carlodivarga-s​!!! today’s your lucky day!!!

oh child

mood

THAT’S A COOL SET

I’m living for a) the aesthetic and b) the ladies

and this BOPS

(even though it seems audio and video are ever-so-slightly out of sync)

aww still very cute even after fifty years...we all need some relationship tips from them

too cute

(but why no subs for the dialogue? luckily I can understand a good amount of it)

CHILD

omg I can’t I’m sorry

“alright let’s bounce”

why is everyone in this opera so cute

you can just say you’re gay it’s fine

poor guy just had a letter

(but what is an operatic letter without Drama attached???)

she’s not having all these baseless accusations and we stan

omg Antonio in the back

I’m sorry I’m in love with this child

Blondel (not pictured): “so that’s two men dead because of a rabbit”

(yes that is the actual line and what apparently happened before the opera started)

so if you’re not in a bel canto opera and your name is Leonore then it is Opera Law that your significant other is named Florestan

(ironically, this Florestan is a prison governor)

wait, so that French aria from Pikovaya dama IS AN ACTUAL FRENCH ARIA???

wow what a coincidence that I watch both operas for the first time within two days of each other

I love her

BROTP

other Opera Law: if your name is Marguérite (at right), then you are automatically gorgeous and amazing

always great to have a great drinking song

honey, you got a big storm comin’

storm averted; we get dancing instead

and there’s the man himself

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

look who’s breaking in

poor guy’s been in prison for a full year??? I’m sorry :(

he’s playing their song!!!

oh buddy

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy stop it

aww he told them he needed to talk to the prison governor and they immediately went and started tidying him up

omg everyone in this opera is too cute

Florestan is now putting on the Bad Cop act

oh honey

another BROTP

so we have a page...named Urbain...who’s a bass-baritone???

this is a fun trio

annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd Marguérite is going to join a convent because she thinks she’ll never get Richard back #justsopranothings

hahahahaha

she’s got a great entourage

this just makes me so happy

Williams: “but I wanted to fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight not plan a party”

“we promise we weren’t doing anything”

cute <3

this is so fun

look at the lovebirds being cute in the back

these dancers are GREAT

well THAT escalated quickly

WHOA COOL STAGE EFFECTS

WOW

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this was one of the cutest things I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE

[stoportotouch]

listening to richard coeur-de-lion and uh. much to think about. if i didn't know better*, i would think that m. grétry was making fun of the french revolution! (and also of mozart. and of beaumarchais, of course.)