Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Pierre le Grand

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
First performance
  
13 January 1790

Librettist
  
Jean-Nicolas Bouilly

Composer
  
André Grétry

Language
  
French

Pierre le Grand

Similar
  
Guillaume Tell, La caravane du Caire, Richard Coeur‑de‑lion, L'amant jaloux, Zémire et Azor

Pierre le Grand (Peter the Great) is an opéra comique by André Grétry. The libretto, by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, is based on the early life of the Russian tsar Peter the Great. It was first performed in Paris on January 13, 1790, with Louise-Rosalie Lefebvre, known as Madame Dugazon, as Catherine.

Contents

Gr try pierre le grand overture orchestra of the helikon opera stadler 2002


Synopsis

The plot tells how the young Tsar Peter disguised himself as a carpenter to work in a Russian shipyard where he fell in love with and married a peasant girl, Catherine (later the Empress Catherine I). Bouilly was working on his play at the time the French Revolution was breaking out in 1789 and the work reflects the political events of the day. Tsar Peter is intended to symbolise King Louis XVI, Catherine is Marie Antoinette and the Swiss Le Fort alludes to the Genevan financier Jacques Necker, who had attempted to reform the French economy. Peter and Catherine are depicted as ideal figures, deeply concerned for the welfare of the common people, and the liberal Bouilly clearly hoped the French king and queen would follow their example.

Recordings

  • (La jeunesse de) Pierre le Grand — Christophe Einhorn, Anne-Sophie Schmidt, Philippe Le Chevalier, Namur Chamber Choir, Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Olivier Opdebeeck (CD on Cascavelle or DVD on Disques DOM, 2001, live in Compiègne)
  • Pierre le Grand — Maxim Mironov, Elena Voznessenskaya, Nikolai Galin, Chorus and Orchestra of Helikon Opera, conducted by Sergey Stadler (DVD on Arthaus, 101 097, shot in Moscow in 2002)
  • References

    Pierre le Grand Wikipedia