Orphée

Orphée, with a score by Louis Lully and a libretto by Du Boullay, was the first lyric tragedy in three acts billed at the Palais-Royal. This distinction was not enough to guarantee the success of Orphée because the unpublished log of the Opéra indicates that its first and only run extended from 21 February to 8 April 1690. Its singular intrigue presented married protagonists defending their marital love against the adulterous intentions of a spurned but persistent rival. Lullist prologues were…