- Capelle, Irmlind. “Les méprises par ressemblance von Grétry und Lortzings
Die beiden Schutzen.” In “Opéra-comique” und ihr Einfluss(#93), 347–361.
Was the 1786 Grétry work the basis for Lortzing’s 1839 opera? Les méprises
was not performed in Germany in the 1830s. But a play based on it was
staged, and Lortzing had an acting part in it. Line-by-line comparison of the
play with the Grétry libretto and a comparison of the two operatic settings. - Bartlet, M. Elisabeth. “Grétry, Marie-Antoinette, and La rosière de Salency.”
PRMA111 (1984–1985): 92–120.
Marie Antoinette, following her marriage to the future Louis XVI in 1770,
exerted considerable influence over opera composers and style. She preferred
the comédie-italienneto Lully and Rameau. Grétry was a favorite, and he pru-
dently included “compliments to royalty and in particular to Marie-
Antoinette” in his works. How he did that in La rosière de Salencyis
described. The musical content of the opera, along with a comparison of the
original with later modifications, is analyzed as well. - Bonnert, Olivier H. “Autour des persans dans l’opéra au XVIIIe siècle.” In
L’opéra au XVIIIe siècle (#2251), 185–203.
Considers Rameau’s Les Indes galantesand Zoroastre,Grétry’s Zémire,and
Salieri’s Tararefrom the viewpoint of their treatment of the Persian theme. The
curious stereotype arose from the vogue for the exotic in the 18th century. Var-
ious composers exhibit diversity in their approach, but essentially they por-
trayed a remote world, not very Persian.
Louis Gruenberg (1884–1964)
- Nisbett, Robert F. “Louis Gruenberg: His Life and Works.” Ph.D. diss., Ohio
State U., 1979. 441p.
Nisbett also published a quick overview, “Louis Gruenberg: A Forgotten Fig-
ure of American Music,” in Current Musicology 18 (1974): 90–95. - Metzer, David. “A Wall of Darkness Dividing the World: Blackness and White-
ness in Louis Gruenberg’s The Emperor Jones.” COJ7-1 (March 1995):
55–72.
The libretto departs from the Eugene O’Neill play in its handling of racial
depictions (changing the concept from colonialism to primitivism). This is
demonstrated in the examination of various scenes and in the ending (suicide
instead of massacre), but it is marred by the author’s quirky search for a homo-
sexual theme, both in the opera and in Lawrence Tibbett’s renowned portrayal
of the title role at the Metropolitan.
Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (1728–1804)
- Salvetti, G. “Un maestro napoletano di fronte alla riforma: l’Alcestedi Pietro
Alessandro Guglielmi.” In Napoli e il teatro(#2534), 97–120.
Compares this Alceste(1769) with Gluck’s (1767), finding that they diverge
sharply in certain aspects, while representing the reform style. Guglielmi, with
his librettist Giuseppe Parini, showed great flexibility in handling the dramatic
Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi 183