Tarare is an opéra (tragédie lyrique) composed by Antonio Salieri to a French libretto by Pierre Beaumarchais. It was first performed by the Paris Opera at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin on 8 June 1787. Salieri also reworked the material into an Italian version retitled Axur, re d'Ormus with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, which opened in Vienna in January 1788.
Roles +RolesVoice type"Tarare di Salieri" at italianOPERA.org, accessed June 10, 2010.Premiere, 8 June 1787According to the original libretto.Conductor: Jean-Baptiste ReyThe genius that presides over the reproduction of creatures, or NaturesopranoSuzanne JoinvilleThe genius of fire, which presides over Sun, in love with Naturebasse-taille (bass-baritone)Louis-Claude-Armand Chardin (stage name, "Chardini")Atar,This character also appears in the prologue in the form of his/her own shadow. King of Ormus, a wild and unrestrained manbasse-taille (bass-baritone)Auguste-Athanase (Augustin) ChéronTarare, a soldier in his service, honoured for his great virtuestaille (baritenor)Étienne LainezAstasie, Tarare's wife, both tender and pioussopranoMarie Thérèse MaillardArthénée, High Priest of Brahma, a misbeliever devoured by pride and ambitionbasse-taille (bass-baritone)Martin-Joseph AdrienAltamort, an army general, son of the High Priest, a reckless and fiery youthbasse-taille (bass-baritone)M ChâteaufortUrson, captain of Atar's guard, a valiant man of great honorbasse-taille (bass-baritone)M MoreauCalpigi, chief of the Eunuchs, a European slave and a former singer emerged from the Chapels of Italy, being sensitive and gayhaute-contreSources traditionally report only the initial letter (J.) of this singer's name; full details, however, can be found in "Organico dei fratelli a talento della Loggia parigina di Saint-Jean d'Écosse du Contrat Social (1773–89)" (list of the members of this Masonic lodge), reported as an Appendix in Zeffiro Ciuffoletti and Sergio Moravia (eds), La Massoneria. La storia, gli uomini, le idee, Milan, Mondadori, 2004, .Spinette, a European slave woman, Calpigi's wife and a former Neapolitan cantatrice, being meddlesome and coquettishsopranoAdélaïde Gavaudan, "cadette"Elamir, a boy of the Augurs, being naive and very devoutboy sopranoJoseph-François-Narcisse CarbonelCarbonel, a singing student of the Paris Opera, was fourteen when he took part in the premiere of Tarare (Alexandre Choron & François Fayolle (editors), Dictionnaire Historique des Musiciens, Paris: Valade/Lenormant, 1810, I, p. 118, accessible for free online at Internet Archives).A priest of Brahmabasse-taille (bass-baritone)Pierre-Charles Le Roux "cadet" (the younger)Le Roux was a member of the Choir included among the tailles (bari-tenors) (cf. composition of the Choirs reported in the original libretto).A slavebasse-taille (bass-baritone)Pierre-Charles Le Roux "cadet" (the younger)A eunuchbasse-taille (bass-baritone)Pierre-Charles Le Roux "cadet" (the younger)A shepherdess/A shadow (prologue)soprano "l'aînée"A peasantbasse-taille (bass-baritone)M Dessaules
Discography Cyrile Dubois, Tarare and ombre de Tarare, Karine Deshayes, Astasie and ombre de Astasie, Jean-Sébastien Bou, Atar and ombre d'Atar, Judith van Wanroij, La Nature and Spinette, Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe Rousset. Aparté 2019.
References
Notes
Sources Original libretto: Tarare, Opéra en cinq actes, avec un prologue; Représenté, pour la première fois, sur le Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, le vendredi 8 Juin 1787, Paris: Delormel, 1787 (accessible for free online at books.google) Georges d'Heylli & Fernand de Marescot (editors), Théâtre complet de Beaumarchais. Réimpression des éd. princeps, avec les variantes des ms originaux ..., Paris: Académie des bibliophiles, 1869–1871, IV, pp. 1–171 (accessible for free online at Gallica, Bibliothèque Nationale de France) Francesco Blanchetti, Tarare, in Piero Gelli and Filippo Poletti (editors), Dizionario dell'opera 2008, Milan, Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2007, pp. 1259–1260, (reproduced online at Opera Manager) John A. Rice, Antonio Salieri and Viennese Opera, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998, 385–403
External links
Score, University of North Texas Music Library
John A. Rice, "Salieri, Beaumarchais, and Tarare" (liner notes in French, German, and English for Christophe Rousset's CD)