Apelle et Campaspe

Apelle et Campaspe was offered on 12 July 1798 as an opera in a single act. This love story had been used by Noverre and Rodolphe as the basis for a ballet, but neither the earlier ballet nor the later opera enjoyed any measure of success. Demoustier did its libretto; Eler composed the score. Mlle Latour and Lainé created the title roles. The drama is based upon the fact that Campaspe prefers her first love, Apelle, to Alexandre, the great conqueror who orders Apelle to paint Campaspe’s…