ABSTRACT
Composed for a well-documented ensemble of singers and instrumentalists with whom Marc-Antoine Charpentier had close and direct contact, the repertory provides insight into many issues germane to French Baroque performance practices. Mlle Guyot sang the role of Melpomene in the Prologue in duet with Apollon, sung by de Villiers. Her full name was Judith de Nevers, dite Mlle Guyot, and she had belonged to the Marais company before she joined the Theatre de Guenegaud; rumour had it that she was the mistress of Guerin d’Estriche. Charpentier’s association with the Comediens du Roy began in 1672, spanned the Guenegaud years, and continued through the infancy of the Comedie-Francaise. When in the spring of 1672 Jean-Baptiste Lully assumed directorship of the Academie Royale de Musique, his ten-year collaboration with the playwright Moliere came to an end. Moliere sought a new collaborator in Marc-Antoine Charpentier, who had recently returned from his youthful studies in Rome.
