Composer

:

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Genre

:

Opera

Style

:

Opera

Publication Date

:

1683

First Performance

:

Jan 8, 1683

Average_duration

:

139:51

Movement_count

:

72

Movement ....

Phaëton is an opera composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully with a libretto by Philippe Quinault. It was first performed at the Paris Opera on January 6, 1683. The opera is based on the Greek myth of Phaëton, the son of the sun god Helios, who attempts to drive his father's chariot across the sky but loses control and falls to his death. The plot of the opera follows Phaëton as he seeks to prove his divine heritage by driving his father's chariot. Despite warnings from his father and the chorus of Hours, Phaëton insists on taking the reins and sets off on his journey. However, he quickly loses control of the chariot and causes chaos in the heavens, endangering the earth below. Jupiter intervenes and strikes Phaëton with a thunderbolt, causing him to fall to his death. The opera is composed of five acts and features a variety of musical styles, including recitative, arias, and choruses. Lully's music is characterized by its use of dance rhythms and elaborate vocal ornamentation, as well as its incorporation of French and Italian musical traditions. Phaëton was a significant work in the development of French opera, as it marked a departure from the more traditional forms of opera that had been popular in France up to that point. The opera's use of dance and spectacle, as well as its incorporation of French language and culture, helped to establish a distinctively French style of opera that would come to dominate the genre in the 18th century. Despite its initial success, Phaëton was not without controversy. Some critics objected to the opera's use of pagan mythology and its portrayal of the gods as flawed and fallible. Others criticized the opera's extravagant staging and its use of special effects, which were seen as distracting from the music and the drama. Despite these criticisms, Phaëton remained a popular work throughout the 18th century and beyond. Its influence can be seen in the works of later French composers such as Rameau and Gluck, who continued to develop and refine the French operatic tradition that Lully had helped to establish.

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