Although the story of Bluebeard was familiar to French readers from Charles Perrault’s 1698 collection of children’s tales, transferring it to the operatic stage was problematic due in large part to the gruesome nature of the plot. Other violent works had appeared in Paris, but in this instance, the drama was to be performed at the Comédie-Italienne, which typically featured lighter plots than that of Raoul and Isaure. Nevertheless, the opera had a successful run, receiving over a hundred performances in the decade after its premiere. After its initial popularity, Raoul Bluebeard was staged less frequently, but it still made an impression on nineteenth-century composers, particularly Weber.

Paisiello’s Il barbiere di Siviglia was based on the first play, Le barbier de Séville, ou La precaution inutile (1772), of Beaumarchais’s famous trilogy. The controversial commentary on aristocracy caused the play to be banned from the stage for three years. The ban was lifted in 1775 and the work premiered that same year; Beaumarchais finally saw the work performed in 1780 when he was employed by Catherine II in St. Petersburg. Although Rossini’s later opera (of 1816) is more familiar today, Paisiello’s rendition was extremely popular throughout Europe during its time. The work was first performed in St. Petersburg in September of 1782.

1789 edition of Musikalischer Almanach für Deutschland.

The plot of this oratorio centers around Hercules's death by an inadvertent action of his wife Dejanira. Handel set to music the English libretto by Rev. Thomas Broughton's English, based on Sophocles' Trachiniae, and additions from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The performance forces include: soloists (SATB) and mixed chorus with oboes (2) violins (2), viola, Bass (unspecifdied) and continue. The index that appears on p.248 contains the incipits of arias, recitative and choruses for each of the three acts.

This is a [ca. 1788] score of one of the arrangements Handel made of his "Music for the Royal Fireworks." The caption title gives indication that this version contains the music as performed in 1749. The Grove Dictionary of Music lists two other arrangements from ca. 1746. The performance forces of this edition include: trumpets (3), horns (3), timpani, oboes (2), bassoon, and strings (violin, viola, violoncello, and contrabass). The plate no. appears in both Roman and Arabic forms: No. XXIV and No. 24.

This item is a copy from [ca. 1790] of the score of Handel's opera Sosarme to a libretto by Matteo Noris. The performance forces include: oboe, horns, strings (violin, viola, bass), continuo, and soloist singers. A list of important musical numbers, solo arias and duets of each act appears on p.116. The names of the subscribers appear on pp.[119-120]. The title page contains an engraving showing two mythological figures [possibly, the god Apollo and the Muse Erato] and musical instruments signed by the London engraver [John] Strongitharm of Pall Mall.

The tenth edition of J. Joseph Hart's collection of hymn lyrics.

Lucile Grétry’s opera Le mariage d’Antonio premiered in Paris when she was a mere fourteen years old. As the second daughter of André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry, she was afforded lessons at a young age in counterpoint and declamation. Her father supplied the orchestral parts for her comédie mêlée d’ariettes after Lucile had composed the vocal, bass, and harp parts. Although Le mariage d’Antonio was a modest success, Lucile’s second endeavor, a divertissement mêlée d’ariettes entitled Toinette et Louis (1787), did not receive the same positive attention. The young composer died from tuberculosis before she could establish herself further at the Comédie-Italienne.

This is a copy of Giovanni Battista Casti's libretto for the comic opera "Prima la musica e poi le parole". On the back of the t.p. appears a list of characters and names Antonio Salieri as the composer of the music. The one-act opera was commissioned by Emperor Joseph II. Members of the Burgtheater's Italian troupe premiered it at the Schönbrunn Palace on February 7, 1786. The library's copy is bound with the libretto of Zaccaria Valaresso's "Rutzvanscad, il giovine."

As with many French operas, Rousseau’s Le devin du village was first staged for the court, appearing at Fountainebleau on 18 October 1752. The work was then performed at the Paris Opéra on 1 March 1753. The historical importance of this short intermè is closely tied to its role in the famous Querelle de bouffons, a debate about the merits of French serious opera in comparison to Italian comic opera (especially Pergolesi’s La serva padrona).

This is the third volume of a five-volume anthology featuring arias and songs from various oratorios by G. F. Handel. The vocal score contains musical selections arranged for 1-2 voices with unrealized figured bass intended for harpsichord (continuo), oboe, or flute accompaniment. The English text is printed between the treble and bass, or alto staves. A publisher's note on the t.p. announced the availability of instrumental parts sold separately. The table of content indicates the oratorio from which the arias and songs were taken. The songs are numbered continuously from 161-240 paginated from 334-498.

Panurge, like Colinette à la cour, features recitative, rather than spoken dialogue. In his memoirs, Grétry recognized Panurge for being the first comic opera to enjoy a successful run at the Opéra, and he saw it as a turning point for this theater, which traditionally presented serious plots (Grétry, Memoires; ou, Essais sur la musique, 377). The overture to Panurge was featured on concerts in the nineteenth century, and although the opera eventually disappeared from the repertoire, its long stint was noted as late as 1866, by which time it was no longer being performed (Crozet, Revue de la musique dramatique en France, 275-76).

Basso parts for Sei quartetti per due violini, alto e violoncello obbligati, Dedicati a veri dilettanti e conscitori di musica, opera I ; Sei divertimenti per due violini, alto e violoncello, opera XI, libro quarto di quartetti ; Six quatuors à deux violons, viole et basse obligés, oeuvre XXXII / Boccherini. Trois quatuors nouveaux pour deux violons, alto, et basse, op. 37 ; Trois quatuors pour deux violons, alto, et basse / Mozart. Bound subsequent to publication.

Viola parts for Sei quartetti per due violini, alto e violoncello obbligati, Dedicati a veri dilettanti e conscitori di musica, opera I ; Sei divertimenti per due violini, alto e violoncello, opera XI, libro quarto di quartetti ; Six quatuors à deux violons, viole et basse obligés, oeuvre XXXII / Boccherini. Trois quatuors nouveaux pour deux violons, alto, et basse, op. 37 ; Trois quatuors pour deux violons, alto, et basse / Mozart. Bound subsequent to publication.

First violin parts for Sei quartetti per due violini, alto e violoncello obbligati, Dedicati a veri dilettanti e conscitori di musica, opera I ; Sei divertimenti per due violini, alto e violoncello, opera XI, libro quarto di quartetti ; Six quatuors à deux violons, viole et basse obligés, oeuvre XXXII / Boccherini. Trois quatuors nouveaux pour deux violons, alto, et basse, op. 37 ; Trois quatuors pour deux violons, alto, et basse / Mozart. Bound subsequent to publication.

Second violin parts for Sei quartetti per due violini, alto e violoncello obbligati, Dedicati a veri dilettanti e conscitori di musica, opera I ; Sei divertimenti per due violini, alto e violoncello, opera XI, libro quarto di quartetti ; Six quatuors à deux violons, viole et basse obligés, oeuvre XXXII / Boccherini. Trois quatuors nouveaux pour deux violons, alto, et basse, op. 37 ; Trois quatuors pour deux violons, alto, et basse / Mozart. Bound subsequent to publication.

A 1784 edition of Sacchini's Chimène, ou, le Cid. A label is pasted over original publishing imprint, and reads: Chez Imbault marchand de musique au mont d'or rue st honoré et la rue de Poulies NO. 627.

Antonio Salieri began work on Les Danaïdes upon the recommendation of Gluck, whose health prevented him from fulfilling a commission for the work. Although Salieri was living in Vienna, the tragedie-lyrique was written for the Opéra in Paris, with a libretto by François Louis Gand Leblanc Roullet and Ludwig Theodor Tschudi based on Calzabigi’s Italian libretto.

Like Renaud, Sacchini’s second French opera, Dardanus, faced problems due in large part to the composer’s Italian heritage. The opera is based on Rameau’s Dardanus, which had been a topic of earlier dispute between the Lullistes and the Ramistes. After an initially disappointing reception, Dardanus was reduced from four acts to three. In its first form, the opera received only six performances, but the three-act version was performed more than thirty times during the eighteenth century. Dardanus went on to enjoy several productions in the first decade of the nineteenth century.

L’épreuve villageoise started out as Théodore et Paulin before Grétry convinced Desforges to rewrite the libretto. The original three-act opera was reduced to two acts, and the improbabilities of the original plot were reworked. Théodore et Paulin received one performance at Versailles on 5 March 1784, but it was never published. L’épreuve villageoise appeared at the Comédie-Italienne on 24 June 1784. This revision remained one of the most popular of Grétry’s opéra-comiques, receiving performances throughout the nineteenth century.

A sacred oratorio for mixed chorus (SATB) and orchestra (2 violins, viola, "principale", 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, timpani, and continuo). The score includes a list of subscribers and an index for each of the three sections of the oratorio. The anthem "God save the King" is included on pp. 164-26, each page bearing an additional sequence number from 14-26.

Armide was premiered at the Paris Opéra on September 23, 1777, recalling the earlier success of Lully’s opera of the same name, which premiered nearly a century earlier on February 15, 1686. After collaborating on several reform operas with Calzabigi, Gluck revived the older dramatic tradition of Quinault (Lully's librettist) by setting the older text in the modern musical style. The seventeenth-century five act model requires more continuous music, with few distinct arias, as well as divertissements and spectacular effects. Gluck also respects the tragic conclusion endemic to the model, avoiding the modern practice of the lieto fine ("happy ending") in which misfortunes are reversed at the last possible moment.

Armide was premiered at the Paris Opéra on September 23, 1777, recalling the earlier success of Lully’s opera of the same name, which premiered nearly a century earlier on February 15, 1686. After collaborating on several reform operas with Calzabigi, Gluck revived the older dramatic tradition of Quinault (Lully's librettist) by setting the older text in the modern musical style. The seventeenth-century five act model requires more continuous music, with few distinct arias, as well as divertissements and spectacular effects. Gluck also respects the tragic conclusion endemic to the model, avoiding the modern practice of the lieto fine ("happy ending") in which misfortunes are reversed at the last possible moment.

1783 edition of Musikalischer Almanach für Deutschland.