(Young Henri) is an opera by the French composer Étienne Méhul. It takes the form of a (a type of ) in two acts. The libretto, by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, is based on an episode from the life of King Henri IV of France. It was first performed on 1 May 1797 at the Théâtre Favart in Paris. The opera was a failure but the overture was warmly applauded and has often been performed separately since. Known as La chasse du jeune Henri ("Young Henri's hunt"), it is a piece of programme music describing the course of a hunt from dawn to the killing of the stag.
Bouilly was later to become famous as the author of (1798), the basis of Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio. He had written the libretto for (under the title ) in 1791 for Grétry, who had turned it down. Méhul had composed the score but the first staging had been delayed for years for political reasons. The premiere was a "major disaster" thanks to the poor quality of Bouilly's libretto. The audience applauded Méhul but hissed Bouilly. A reviewer in wrote that "it would be impossible to imagine anything worse" and that there was "no intrigue, no action, nothing of interest."Music and the French Revolution p.167Adélaïde de Place p.104 (original French: "").
The overture was encored at the premiere and became a favourite orchestral piece throughout the 19th century. It contains traditional hunting horn calls taken from Philidor's opera Tom Jones. It influenced the "Royal Hunt and Storm" in Berlioz's Les Troyens.Orga
Roles Roles and cast taken from Pougin, p. 142, note 1.
RoleVoice typePremiere CastHenrisoprano (role travesti)Marie Gabrielle Malagrida ("Mademoiselle Carline")IsauresopranoAnne-Marie Simonet ("Madame Crétu")ClémentinesopranoJeanne-Charlotte Schroeder ("Madame Saint-Aubin")ChristinesopranoFrançoise Carpentier ("Madame Gonthier")SuzannesopranoMademoiselle LejeuneValencehaute-contreAugustin Alexandre d'Herbez ("Saint-Aubin")Sévérobaritone Jean-Pierre SoliéDanielbasse-taille (bass-baritone)Simon ChénardJacquestenorPhilippe Cauvy ("Philippe")Fidelitenor?Mr AllaireAntoine?Paulin
Recordings There have been several recordings of the overture: Included on Sir Thomas Beecham Conducts Berlioz, Grétry, Méhul and Massenet with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the Royal Philharmonia Orchestra (Sony Classical reissue, 2003) Included on Méhul Overtures, Orchestre de Bretagne, conducted by Stefan Sanderling (ASV, 2002) Included on Méhul The Complete Symphonies, Orchestra of the Gulbenkian Foundation, conducted by Michel Swierczewski (Nimbus Records, 1989)
References
Sources Adélaïde de Place Étienne Nicolas Méhul (Bleu Nuit Éditeur, 2005) pp. 104–105 Arthur Pougin Méhul: sa vie, son génie, son caractère (Fischbacher, 1889) Malcolm Boyd (ed.) Music and the French Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2008) Booklet notes to the Sanderling recording by Ates Orga