Enchanting music to one of the most touching classical plots – that is Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Pigmalion”. The ballet is now available in an authoritative edition.

Pigmalion, the acte de ballet set to music by Jean-Philippe Rameau to a libretto by Sylvain Ballot de Sauvot, is the first example of a one-act ballet with an overture composed specifically for the Académie royale de musique. According to a contemporary account, the music to Pigmalion was composed at the urgent request of the management of the Opéra in “less than eight days” (“Mercure de France”, April 1751). The libretto by S. Ballot de Sauvot was partly inspired by the entrée La Sculpture by Antoine Houdard de la Motte, set to music by Michel La Barre in Le Triomphe des arts in 1700, in which the plot is outlined in just thirty lines. The ballet features Pigmalion who, although he has renounced love, falls in love with a statue he has just sculpted. To reward Pigmalion, because he had “made good use of his power”, L’Amour brings the statue to life who reciprocates the sculptor’s passion. Although the first performance of Pigmalion at the Académie royale de musique on 27 August 1748 was only moderately well received, it rapidly went on to enjoy tremendous success, which continued through the numerous revivals it enjoyed until 1781. During Rameau’s lifetime it was revived at the Académie royale in 1751, 1752, 1753, 1760, 1762 and 1764, and at court in 1754.

Rameau’s score offers a particularly successful mixture of notable numbers constituting a tragédie en musique, beginning with Pigmalion’s moving monologue “Fatal amour! cruel vainqueur!”, and dances which satisfied the public taste for ballet: it is the dances which form the fundamental element of the work. Rameau’s contemporaries were not mistaken when they praised their beauty: “The music of this acte is always a success, but what adds a novel ornament is to see the Statue represented by Mlle Allard, whose voice entirely matches this role on the small stage; the essential and brilliant part is the dance, which seems to gradually instruct by the lessons of the Graces of which it soon becomes the mistress and the model. The ballet in this acte is charming, & through the airs & through the composition of the entrées“ (“Mercure de France”, March 1762). In fact the role of the Statue requires a dancer who also has a few verses to sing. The role of Pigmalion is characterised by great virtuosity, especially in the chorus “L’amour triomphe” and the ariette “Règne Amour”. The many attractive dances which pepper the score reveal Rameau’s experience, offering the choreographer a colourful sound tapestry of various characters, perfect support for the pantomime.

The score from the “Opera Omnia Rameau” is the first to be published since the 1913 publication as part of the old Complete Edition under the editorship of Saint-Saëns. Unlike many other lyric works by Rameau, Pigmalion quickly found its definitive form and only survives in a single version. Musicological study of the sources has revealed that just the overture and the accompanied dialogue in recitative “Que vois-je! Où suis-je! Et qu’est-ce que je pense” were subject to light revisions. The new edition is based principally on the score used at the Opéra between 1748 and 1781; various annotations contained in it reveal the evolution of the piece during this period, and the performance material made for the revival in 1754 at the court in Fontainebleau. It is this version established in 1754 which we follow in our edition, as it is the last one which was authorised by the composer. The Critical Comments document the earlier versions of the overture and the dialogue recitative of 1748. In line with the principles of the “Opera Omnia Rameau”, the full score, parts and vocal score are now available in the new edition.

Nathalie Berton-Blivet
(from [[t]akte 2/2018 –  translation: Elizabeth Robinson)