Proserpine (Proserpina) is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault first performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 3 February 1680.
Prologue | ||
---|---|---|
La Paix (Peace) | soprano | Catherine Ferdinand |
La Félicité (Felicitas) | soprano | Mlle Rebel |
L'Abondance (Abundantia) | soprano | Mlle Puvigné (or Puvigny) |
La Discorde (Discord) | tenor (en travesti) | Puvigné (or Puvigny) |
La Victoire (Victoria) | soprano | Claude Ferdinand |
Tragédie | ||
Pluton (Pluto) | bass | Jean Gaye |
Ascalaphe (Ascalaphus), son of Acheron, confidant of Pluton | bass | Antoine Morel |
Proserpine | soprano | Claude Ferdinand |
Cérès (Ceres) | soprano | Mlle de Saint-Christophe (or Saint-Christophle) |
Jupiter | bass | Godonesche |
Alphée (Alpheus) | haute-contre | Bernard Cledière |
Aréthuse (Arethusa) | soprano | Catherine Ferdinand |
Mercure (Mercury) | tenor | Langeais |
Cyané, a Sicilian nymph, confidante of Cérès | soprano | Mlle Bony |
Crinise, god of the Sicilian river Crinisus | basse-taille | Arnoul |
Furies | 2 tenors and a basse-taille(?) | Claude Desvoyes, Puvigny (or Puvigné) and Le Maire |
A blessed spirit | soprano | |
Based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, the plot centers around the abduction of Proserpine by Pluton, with side plots concerning Cérès's love for Jupiter and the love intrigue between Alphée and Aréthuse.