Phaëton (LWV 61) is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Philippe Quinault wrote the French libretto after a story from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It can be read as an allegorical depiction of the punishment awaiting those mortals who dare to raise themselves as high as the "sun" (i.e. the Sun King).
Librettist | Philippe Quinault (after Ovid's Metamorphoses) |
Premiered | 1683, January 6th (Palace of Versailles) in Versailles, France |
Type | Tragédie en musique (Musical Tragedy) |
Catalogue | LWV 61 |
Spoken language | French |
Instruments |
Chorus/Choir
- Followers of Triton; Kings and Tributaries of Merops; Egyptians, Ethiopians, Indians; followers of Phaëton; Priestesses; Worshippers of Isis; Furies; Hours of the Day; Four Seasons
Orchestra Voice (Soprano) - Astrée (Astraea, a goddess) Voice (Bass) - Saturne (Saturn, a god from a former age) Voice (Soprano) - Libie (Libya, daughter of Merops by his first wife) Voice (Soprano) - Théone (Theona, daughter of Proteus, Phaëton's lover) Voice (Haute-contre) - Phaëton (the son of Clymene and the Sun) Voice (Soprano) - Climène (Clymene, daughter of Oceanus, second wife of Merops) Voice (Baritone) - Protée (Proteus, a sea god, Triton's herdsman) Voice (Haute-contre) - Triton (a sea god, brother of Clymene) Voice (Baritone) - Epaphus (a son of Jupiter, Libya's lover) Voice (Bass) - Merops (king of Egypt) Voice (Haute-contre) - Le Soleil (the Sun, a god) Voice - Female ; Une Bergère égyptienne (An Egyptian shepherdess) Voice (Tenor) - La Terre (the Earth, a goddess) Voice (Bass) - Jupiter (king of the gods) |
Autotranslations beta |
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Phaëton, LWV 61 Jean-Baptiste Lully: Phaëton, LWV 61 Jean-Baptiste Lully: Phaëton, LWV 61 |