Tom Jones (Philidor)

Tom Jones
Opéra comique by François-André Danican Philidor
Portrait of Philidor, London, 1777
Librettist	Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poisenet Bertin Davesne
Language	French
Based on	Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
Premiere	27 February 1765 (1765-02-27) Comédie-Italienne, Paris

Tom Jones is a comédie mêlée d'ariettes, a kind of opéra comique, by the French composer and chess champion François-André Danican Philidor which first appeared at the Comédie-Italienne, Paris, on 27 February 1765. Its French libretto, by Antoine-Alexandre-Henri Poisenet and Bertin Davesne, is loosely based on the 1749 novel by Henry Fielding.

The opera was initially a failure but Philidor had the libretto revised by Michel-Jean Sedaine and this new version, first performed on 30 January 1766, proved one of the most popular opéras comiques of the late 18th century. It was produced in a number of other countries, and translated into German, Swedish and Russian.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 27 February 1765 (Conductor: )
Monsieur Western	bass	Joseph Caillot
Madame Western, his sister	mezzo-soprano	Bérard
Sophie, his daughter	soprano	Desglands
Honora, her companion	soprano	Marie-Thérèse Laruette-Villette
Allworthy, their neighbour	baritone	Antoine Trial
Tom Jones, his ward	tenor	Clairval (Jean-Baptiste Guignard)
Blifil, Allworthy's nephew	tenor	Jean-Louis Laruette
Quaker Dowling	spoken

Recordings

François-André Danican Philidor: Tom Jones, Lausanne Opera and Le Sinfonietta de Lausanne

• Conductor: Jean-Claude Malgoire
• Principal singers: Sébastien Droy, Sophie Marin-Degor, Marc Barrard, Sibyl Zanganelli, Carine Séchehaye, Rodolphe Briand, Léonard Pezzino & Guillaume Michel
• Recording date: staged in 2005; recorded on 17, 18 and 20 January 2006
• Label: Dynamic 33509 (DVD), CDS509 (CD)

Sources

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Tom Jones". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
• Rushton, Julian (1992), "Tom Jones (i)" in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
• The Viking Opera Guide, ed. Amanda Holden (1993)