Pigmalion RCT 52

Text by Sylvain Ballot de Sauvot

Scoring: 3S-solo,T-solo / GemCh-SATB / 2(auch pte fl),2,2,0,2 – 2,2,0,2 – Cordes, B.c. – Ballett

Composed for the Academie Royale de Musique, “Pigmalion” is the first one-act ballet to be introduced by an overture. Here Rameau turned to the form of the “petit opera”. From the moment of its initial revival “Pigmalion”was extremely successful, and it remained so until 1781.

Nathalie Berton-Blivet’s new edition is based primarily on the performance material used at the Opera between 1748 and 1781 and for the revival at Fontainebleau in October 1754.

This later version, the one Rameau considered final, is reconstructed in the volume of the complete edition Opera omnia Rameau (OOR). Francois Saint-Yves has prepared a new keyboard reduction from this version. The vocal score also contains an Introduction in French and English.