L'école de la jeunesse

L'école de la jeunesse ou Le Barnevelt françois (The School of Youth or The French Barnwell) is an opéra comique (specifically a comédie mêlée d'ariettes) in three acts by the composer Egidio Duni. The libretto, by Louis Anseaume, is based on George Lillo's play The London Merchant or The History of George Barnwell (1731). The opera was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 24 January 1765.

L'école de la jeunesse
Opéra comique by Egidio Duni
The composer, by Carmontelle c. 1760
Translation	The School of Youth
Librettist	Louis Anseaume
Language	French
Based on	Lillo's play The London Merchant
Premiere	24 January 1765 (1765-01-24) Opéra-Comique, Paris

Main roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast

Cast	Voice type	Premiere cast,[1] 24 January 1765
Cléon	tenor	Jean-François Lejeune
M. Oronte, Cléon's uncle	baritone[2]	Joseph Caillot
Sophie, bethrothed to Cléon	soprano	Marie-Thérèse Laruette, 'Madame Laruette'
Dubois, a valet of M. Oronte	tenor[3]	Jean-Baptiste Dehesse [fr]
Hortense, a young widow	soprano	Pétronille-Rosalie Beaupré
Finette, an attendant of Hortense	soprano	Eulalie Desgland(s)
Mondor, a friend of Hortense	haute-contre	Jean-Louis Laruette [fr]
Damis	tenor[3]	Robert Desbrosses
Javard, a creditor of Cléon	basse-taille (bass-baritone)[4]	M. Renaud
A Gascon knight	haute-contre	Antoine Trial
A baron	basse-taille (bass-baritone)[4]	not reported
A singer	tenor[5]	M. Lobreau
A milliner	spoken	Rosalie Lafond
A bailiff A pedlar	spoken	Gabiel-Éléonor-Hervé Dubus Champville, 'Soli'
A valet	spoken	not reported

References

Notes

1. According to the original libretto.
2. Caillot, the first performer, was endowed with a very wide compass which enabled him to sing as a basse taille, but also to reach up to the haute-contre tones (Jean Gourret, Histoire de l'Opéra-Comique, Paris, Les publications universitaires, 1978, p. 43). According to Rodolfo Celletti "he was a baritenor and a bass at the same time": Grétry and Monsigny used to notate his parts in the bass clef, but to set them in high-baritone tessiture (Voce di tenore, Milan, Idealibri, 1989, p. 59, ISBN 88-7082-127-7).
3. Notated in the tenor clef in the original score.
4. Notated in the bass clef in the original score.
5. The role of 'Le chanteur' is assessed as a tenor part by Elisabeth Cook. It is notated in the tenor clef in the original score.

Sources

• Original libretto: L'École de la jeunesse, ou Le Barnevelt français, Comédie. En trois Actes et en vers, mêlée d'ariettes, Paris. Duchesne, 1775
• Original score: L'École de la jeunesse, ou Le Barnevelt françois, Comédie. En trois Actes et en vers, Paris, Chez l'Auteur & Lyon, Chez Castaud, s.d. via Gallica
• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."L'école de la jeunesse, 24 January 1765". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
• Cook, Elisabeth (1992), "Ecole de la jeunesse, L'" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7