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© BnF
Some directors opt for new music for the comédie-ballets
Exhibition: "Molière en musiques" (‘Molière and Music’)
Although the original music of comédie-ballets had sometimes been replaced by new compositions as early as the end of the 17th century, it was in the 20th century, from the Second World War onwards, that some directors preferred to commission new music rather than restore the original music as best they could.
The Comédie-Française tentatively attempted to renew the genre by calling on contemporary composers such as Manuel Rosenthal (L'Amour médecin, 1939), Henri Dutilleux (La Princesse d'Élide, 1946; Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 1948), and Georges Auric (Le Malade imaginaire, 1958).
In 1951, Jean Dasté, wishing to free the theatre from slavishly conforming to Parisian tastes, staged Le Bourgeois gentilhomme at the Comédie de Saint-Etienne. So as not to disconcert the public, Lully's minuet was retained, but with a new score.
From the Théâtre National Populaire in 1957 with Daniel Sorano (Le Malade imaginaire) to Claude Stratz at the Comédie-Française (Le Malade imaginaire, 2001), many directors opted for a new musical accompaniment, calling on composers specialised in stage and film music, such as Maurice Jarre, Georges Delerue and Marc-Olivier Dupin.
Some productions used no music at all (often for financial reasons), while over the last thirty years or so, others have given pride of place to the original music by Lully and Charpentier.
Photograph : Psyché, Comédie-Française, 2013. Direction by Véronique Vella, stage design by Dominique Schmitt, costumes Dominique Louis, original music by Vincent Leterme. Photograph by Brigitte Enguérand. ©BnF, département des Arts du spectacle
