February 8, 2019

By WFMT |

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We played an example this morning of the distinctively French form called ‘opéra-ballet’ which brings two genres together to make a third. For composers of 18th century France, opera-ballet signaled something charmingly diverse, along the lines of the work we excerpted, “Les fêtes d’Hébé” (“Hebe’s Festivities”). Its composer, one of the greats of the Baroque era, didn’t produce his first opera until he was 50. Who is he?