Evrard Titon du Tillet & The French Parnassus

The French Parnassus monument was created by the scultptor Louis Garnier, but Garnier only did what he was told to do. The author of the project was Evrard Titon du Tillet.

Evrard Titon du Tillet was born in Paris on January 16, 1677.
His father, Maximilien Titon, seigneur d'Ognon, was a counsellor to the Parlement of Paris. Evrard studied law and became a lawyer, but his father wanted him to be a soldier.
In 1697 he was captain of a Dragoon Regiment when peace left him unemployed. He bought the position of maître d'hôtel at the duchesse de Bourgogne's (Louis XV's mother). In 1712, the duchesse died and Evrard lost his job. He got back to the army, as a superintendent of the War.
He had started his French Parnassus in the years 1708 and it became a lifelong project.
Evrard died in Paris on december 26, 1762.

'The French Parnassus' at the MET

I named a Yahoo! group and my blog after that work.
I'll give the story of the project and a complete description of the monument in a next post.

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The French Parnassus
Louis Garnier (ca. 1638–Paris, 1728);
Medallions by Simon Curé (ca. 1680–Paris, 1734);
Later additions by Augustin Pajou (Paris, 1730–Paris, 1809)Paris, 1718–1721; Pajou additions, 1762 and 1777
Bronze group; 102 3/8 x 92 1/2 x 90 9/16 in. (260 x 235 x 230 cm)
Versailles, Musée National de Versailles, MV 6023

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Exhibition :
Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution
February 24, 2009–May 24, 2009
MET - Special Exhibition Galleries, 1st floor

Corporal Violet's Secret

A bit off-topic but I wanted to share it.
Corporal Violet (le 'Caporal La Violette') is how they nicknamed Napoleon, and that 1815 colour print by Jean-Dominique Etienne Canu, titled Le Secret du Caporal La Violette, is about him.

Can you see Napoleon, his wife and his son in the bunch of violets ?

Portraits of Louis XIV & the Royal Family

Louis XIV at various ages

Found on Gallica, an artwork by Antoine Benoist (1632-1717), showing Louis XIV at the age of 5, 10, 16, 22, 28, 34, 40, 46, 54 & 59.

The Royal Family

Louis XIV (at the age of 64) ; Louis, dauphin (23) ; Maria Anna of Bavaria, Dauphine (24) ; Louis, duc de Bourgogne (22) ; Marie Adélaïde, duchesse de Bourgogne (19) ; Philippe, duc d'Anjou (19) ; Charles duc de Berry (18) ; Louis XIII (15?) ; Maria Teresa of Austria (22?) ; Anna of Austria (63).

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Gallica dated the works from the years 1690.

CHMTL

The Center for the History of Music Theory and Literature (CHMTL - Indiana University) provides a wealth of theoretical writings covering the whole history of music.

A special section, Traités français sur la musique, is dedicated to the treatises written in French. Other sections gather text written in Latin, Italian and English.

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The picture is a detail of a wallpaper found on gallica. Simon, 1799.

Old Opera Productions Revived

Platée staged by Laurent Pelly

- Jean-Philippe RAMEAU, Platée - Les Musiciens du Louvre/Marc Minkowski - staging, Laurent Pelly
Opéra de Paris December 02-30, 2009.
Both Paul Agnew and Jean-Paul Fouchécourt will be Platée, so you can make your choice or, better, buy two tickets and enjoy both of them.
Opéra de Paris

- Jean-Baptiste LULLY, Atys, Les Arts Florissants/William Christie, in the mythical 1987 production staged by Jean-Marie Villégier - 2011 (not sure, yet - the project is still under discussion).

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The revival of old famous productions seems to be the new trend in the operatic wold. La Monnaie in Brussels recently revived Herbert Wernicke's staging of La Calisto.

International Seminar of Early Music in Wallonia

International Seminar of Early Music in Wallonia

Cavalli - YBOP

The Yale Baroque Opera Project (YBOP) announced a conference entitled From Page to Stage : Manuscript-Edition-Production, Readying Francesco Cavalli's Operas for the Stage, which will take place at Yale University, Whitney Humanities Center from 30 April to 2 May 2009.
The conference, which will feature musicologists, textual scholars, conductors, directors, stage designers, and theorists of drama, will coincide with a production of Cavalli's most popular opera, Giasone, by YBOP.
Yale Baroque Opera Project