Dauvergne's final operatic work follows neither of the established genres of the period, neither tragédie lyrique nor opéra-ballet. With La Vénitienne, the composer turned towards...

Dauvergne's final operatic work follows neither of the established genres of the period, neither tragédie lyrique nor opéra-ballet. With La Vénitienne, the composer turned towards comedy. Taking a libretto written during the reign of Louis XIV in 1705, he drew on the very best of his talent and skill and created a synthesis of everything that was modern at that time: it is as if Rameau, Pergolesi, Grétry and Mondonville had joined forces to compose this work that is by turn tragic, tender and richly comic, in which the virtuosity of the arias and the splendour of a large orchestra is blended with the piquant spirit of the Age of Enlightenment.