Welcome to Naxos Records

“In re-discovering L’épreuve villageoise, I was taken by its deceptive simplicity and wit. Evidently much of the world was too, as it was one of Grétry’s most popular works, performed in Paris for 100 years after its première, and brought to many other cities. This included 19th-century New Orleans, where we set our production. We hope this première recording shines a welcome ray of light on the composer, much like the beautiful sunrise the chorus of villagers extol in his work’s extraordinary finale.”

– Ryan Brown, conductor

L’épreuve villageoise (The Village Trial) – which, in its original form as Théodore et Paulin, was first performed before Marie Antoinette at Versailles – was one of André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s most popular works. For a century after its 1784 première it enjoyed huge acclaim across Europe and even travelled to the New World, where it captivated audiences in New York. Grétry was a master of eighteenth-century opéra comique and this crisp and lively farce centres on a clever farmer’s daughter and her two competing suitors. Employing divergent stylistic registers – finesse and naiveté, music reminiscent of popular song, and extended ensembles – Grétry fashioned a score of sophisticated wit and huge charm.