La Belle Arsène. Comédie féerie en quatre actes - Monsigny, Pierre-Alexandre 1729-1817; Favart, Charles-Simon 1710-1792 (Paris Bailleux, 1776)
The opera was the first to have excerpts sung in the air - thanks to Élisabeth Thible, the first woman aeronaut, who, dressed as Minerva, sung impromptu arias from the opera to an audience below her including Gustav III, from a Montgolfier balloon in 1784.
the libretto is based on Voltaire's 'La bégueule'
Premiered on 6 November 1773 in three acts by the Comédiens Italiens ordinaires du Roi before Louis XV at the Palace of Fontainebleau, as "Comédie-féerie en trois actes, mêlée d'ariettes"
the last pages contain some ms. writings in ink, probably unrelated to the score but coincidentally on the paper used to repair the pages
Représentée devant sa Majesté à Fontainebleau, le 6 novembre, 1773. Et à Paris le 14 aoust 1775. Et une seconde fois devant leurs Majeste le 4 novembre 1775.
Keywords: 18th Century (1701-1800); Opera; Comedy; Paris (France)