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Antonio Sacchini à Paris
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[extrait de:] David DiCHIERA: 'Antonio Sacchini', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2 July 2004), http://www.grovemusic.com :
"Faced with the threat of imprisonment, Sacchini left England in 1781 and went to Paris. He was already famous there because of performances of his La colonie (L’isola d’amore) in 1775 and L’olympiade (Olimpiade) in 1777, in adaptations by Framery. […] In autumn 1781 the composer appeared at Versailles, where he was presented to Marie Antoinette and received with enthusiasm. […] Determined to keep the composer in France, the queen persuaded the directors of the Opéra to accept his demand for 10 000 francs for each of three operas.
From the very first, Sacchini found himself the object of intrigue and ill-will. M. de la Ferté, the intendant des Menus-Plaisirs, contrived to stall the performance of his first opera for Paris, Renaud, and to draw attention to the queen’s preference for foreign composers, while the Gluckistes attempted to estrange the composer from his Piccinnist supporters. When Renaud was finally performed on 28 February 1783 it was not well received. […]Sacchini’s next opera, Chimène, was performed at Fontainebleau on 18 November 1783 in an atmosphere of open rivalry with Piccinni, whose Didon had been given a month and two days earlier and proclaimed a masterpiece. Although Chimène suffered in comparison, receiving only one performance while Didon received three, both composers were presented to the king (Sacchini by the queen herself) and given a large pension. Chimène was first performed at the Opéra on 9 February 1784 and received 16 performances. […]
The music for Sacchini’s next opera, Dardanus, was completely original, and with this and the operas that followed, he attempted to create works that conformed to the ideals of French music drama. The failure of Dardanus can be attributed in part to an undramatic libretto and an inadequate staging brought about by his enemies at the Opéra. In autumn 1785 the queen had Dardanus given at Fontainebleau in a revised version, which proved a success. In the same year Sacchini completed his Œdipe à Colone, which the queen had promised would be the first opera to be performed at Fontainebleau during the court’s forthcoming stay there, but mounting criticism of her preference for foreigners forced her to revoke her pledge and to cede the honoured place to the French composer Lemoyne. Sacchini’s beloved pupil, Henri Berton, asserted that this disappointment contributed greatly to the composer’s death, which occurred shortly afterwards on 6 October 1786, although Sacchini had been suffering many years from gout and the effects of dissipation. Œdipe was performed at the Opéra on 1 February 1787 and hailed as his masterpiece. The work formed a standard part of the repertory until 1830 with 583 performances. Arvire et Evelina, Sacchini’s last opera, was completed by Rey, the conductor of the Opéra orchestra, and given its première in Paris on 29 April 1788. Although it did not gain the popularity of Œdipe, it was heard in Paris until 1827 and had 95 performances."
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Objet
Sacchini, Antonio + composer