Delibes: Le roi l'a dit

Tonality

Without a unique tone. Like every opera, it goes through many tonalities along its aryan, chorus and scenes.

From the atril

Le roi l'a dit («The king said it.»), premiered in the Opéra-Comique in 1873, was the first large-format opera of Delibes after years of light operas. It is a comedy set in the court of Louis XIV, full of entanglement and courtesan humor.

A Marquis who only has daughters commits the reckless to tell the king that he has a son. As the king wants to meet him, the Marquis has to «manufacture» one in a hurry: a young peasant poses as his heir, with the comic consequences to be imagined. Delibes writes an elegant and graceful music, with winks like the 17th century, such as gavotas and minuets, along with arias and very French air sets. It is a kind work that is hardly represented today, but its overture and some numbers show the theatrical craft that would lead to Lakmé.

What to hear

• The overture.
• The winks of the 17th century dances.
• The comic sets.

Listen

Leo Delibes.- Le Roi l'a dit · Miguel Los Santos Uhide
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