Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, Titon et l'Aurore (1753)

I can't deny that Medici is making a solid pitch for itself with this, a for-now exclusive video--the first of anything by the composer, I think--by Les Arts Florissants. Mondonville was highly successful in his time, a younger contemporary of Rameau, but I fear he has fallen into obscurity. Alas!

We have a rather typical plot for a French opera of the time: after a lengthy prologue where Prometheus brings humanity to life and Amour gives their lives meaning, we have Titon (Tithonus, best-known, at least to English-speakers, from Tennyson's poem) is a shepherd in love with the goddess Aurore, which is great and all, but Eole (Aeolus, the wind god) is also in love with Aurore. On the advice of the goddess Palès, herself in love with Titon, he separates them and tries to put the moves on her, unsuccessfully. Palès is equally unsuccessful with Titon. To avenge herself for his indifference, she curses him with instant old age, but then Amour appears and reverses the curse, and everyone's happy. This last is kind of interesting, because the prologues of baroque operas are generally totally segregated from the main action: I think this is the first time I've seen a character from the prologue have a singing role elsewhere in the opera.

Could I distinguish between Mondeville's music and Rameau's? Almost certainly not! But it bangs pretty hard regardless. I thought it was doggone great. This is a brand-new performance, with a 2021 copyright date. You can tell it was recorded during COVID times because all the musicians are masked and the theater appears to be empty--there's a scattering of applause at the end, but I think it's all from the orchestra and singers. As usual from these guys, the production is a lot of fun. It's extremely sheep-centric: sheep wandering around, stacks of sheep, sheep floating around--perhaps the most ovine production I've ever seen. I also liked how we see Palès and Eole (who would otherwise just be written out) get together at the end--a generous touch that fits the spirit of the material.

Yeah, man. Mondonville wrote nine operas, and now I really want to see more. I realize that's a common sentiment when I see a new composer, but I mean it super hard this time. So you know I'm serious.