(Section C)
Led by Laurance Turner
Conducted by Constant
Lambert Kathleen Long (pianoforte)
After the production of Dardanus at the Paris Opera in 1739, Rameau wrote nothing for the stage for five years. But in 1744, in obedience to a Royal command, he set to work on a libretto by Voltaire (who was then the official Court Poet), and the following year, on February 23, in celebration of the marriage of the Dauphin with the Infanta Marie-Therese, La Princesse de Navarre was produced at Versailles.
In the words of Voltaire, La
Princesse de Navarre was ' a mixture of opera, comedy, and tragedy ' ; but it won the approval not only of the public, but of Louis XV himself, who promptly appointed Rameau ' Composer to the Court', with a yearly. salary of 2,000 livres.
See the article on Constant Lambert on page 13