Joseph (opera)

Joseph (also known as Joseph en Égypte) is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer Étienne Méhul. The libretto, by Alexandre Duval, is based on the Biblical story of Joseph and his brothers. The work was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 17 February 1807 at the Théâtre Feydeau. It mixes musical numbers with spoken dialogue and is described in both the libretto and the printed announcement for the opening night as a "drame en trois actes, mêlé de chant", although the Méhul scholar Elizabeth Bartlet catalogues it as an "opéra en prose".

Méhul probably met Duval, an ex-soldier and actor, at the salon of Sophie Gay and suggested composing an opera on the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis. In writing Joseph, Méhul and his librettist may have been trying to exploit the contemporary vogue for operas on religious themes and the French fascination for Egypt after Napoleon's expedition to the country in 1798. Duval was directly inspired by Pierre Baour-Lormian's verse tragedy Omasis, ou Joseph en Égypte, which had appeared in September 1806.

The opera was a critical success and in 1810 it was awarded a prize for the best piece staged by the Opéra-Comique in the previous decade. Nevertheless, it ran for only a few weeks after its premiere and, although it enjoyed several revivals in France in the 19th century, it was more favourably received in Italy, Belgium and Germany, where it was often performed as an oratorio (the many choral and ensemble numbers outweigh those for the soloists). Carl Maria von Weber praised the score, which he conducted in Dresden in 1817 under the title Jacob und seine Söhne. In 1812 he composed piano variations (Opus 18) on the aria À peine sorti de l'enfance. Gustav Mahler conducted a performance in Olmütz in 1883. A new edition by Richard Strauss was given at the Dresden State Opera in November 1920. [Ref: Deutsche Buhnen Spielplan]. There was a new French production in Paris to mark the bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989.

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