Lucile. Comédie en un acte et en vers - Grétry, André-Ernest-Modeste 1741-1813; Marmontel, Jean-François 1723-1799 (Paris Grétry, 1769)
Lucile is enjoying a morning preparing for her wedding. She is joined by her fiancé young Dorval, her father Timante and Dorval's father. The celebrations are interrupted by the old peasant Blaise, who reveals that his wife has just confided a secret to him on her deathbed: she had been a wet nurse to Timante's child, but when the baby died she decided to hide the truth and exchange it for her own daughter to ensure a better future for the latter. The grown-up child is Lucile. Lucile's poor background means she can no longer marry the middle-class Dorval. However, Timante persuades Dorval's father to let the wedding go ahead regardless and the opera concludes with general rejoicing.
the characters in the opera, though not the actual story, were derived from "L'école des pères", one of Marmontel's Contes moraux ("Moral Tales"). The melody from "Où peut-on être mieux qu'au sein de sa famille?" was later reused in Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerto No. 5, Op.37
05J08: short ms. notes in ink about the opera on front matter
05J08: contains the stamp of the publisher Jenny Grétry
Ex libris Alessandro Kraus Figlio, Via dei Cerretani N. 10, Firenze (stamp; compare with 01A06 and 09L24). Alessandro Kraus jr. (1853-1931) was a musicologist, pianist and collector of exotic—particularly Japanese—instruments (which helped inspire Pietro Mascagni's 'Iris').
Premiered at the Comédie-italienne, Paris, 5 January 1769
01A22: Ex libris Alessandro Kraus Figlio (Stamp)
Keywords: Opéra-Comique (Paris, France); 18th Century (1701-1800); Opera; Comedy; Paris (France)