Le Claperman; L’Âne d’or. By Alexis PironDerek Connon Alexis Piron was a significant figure in France in the first part of the eighteenth century and his twenty or so opéras-comiques include some of the finest works in the genre. The two plays included in this edition are among Piron’s best, and have in common the fact that they make use of pre-existing sources, although these are very different in kind, being, on the one hand, a short and obscure text made available by a group of writers working in the Netherlands but writing in French, and, on the other, one of the best known works of classical literature, the only novel in Latin to survive complete, The Golden Ass of Apuleius. The introduction studies how these disparate texts have been adapted, and notes draw attention to points of detail, comparing and contrasting the two plays. The background to the development of the genre of opéra-comique is also discussed, as is Piron’s use of the musical material associated with the genre in the first decades of its existence. |
Common terms and phrases
actors Alexis Piron âne APOLLON appears Apuleius ARLEQUIN audience authors book CALLIOPE character characters Chorus Claperman clear clearly COCUAGE Colette COLOMBINE Comédie commedia dell'arte commentary cook cross-dressing Cupid despite different Dutch edition Effen episode fact femme flon Foire found French FRIPPE-SAUCE given gives GLORIOLET goddess identified intended ISABELLE Italian J'ai Julien-Scopon Justus van Effen known L'AMOUR L'ANE L'Âne d'or L'HYMEN Lanturelu love Lucius Madame Garguille Madame Gautier Magistrat makes marriage married meaning means metaphorical MÉZÉTIN MEZZETIN money lender Mordienne music name nightwatchman novel OCTAVE OLIVETTE opéra-comique original text Passe-tems agréable performance perhaps Perrette PIERROT Piron play priests published reference refrain repertoire réveil-matin Rigoley Rigoley de Juvigny rire same Scaramouche SCÈNE seems sense sexual source text spelling stage suggests Talaleri Ternate Théâtre theatres three time title tune used usually various vaudeville version veux Whilst word work written