# List of French haute-contre roles

The following list includes most of the roles which were created by the leading French hautes-contre of the 17th and 18th centuries, or at least those to be found in operas by the major composers of the same period. The table was compiled by collating data from the sources listed at the bottom of the page, either printed or online, and makes no pretence at being exhaustive. Rather, its purpose is to provide an outline of a significant period in French operatic singing: it extends chronologically from Bernard Clédière to Joseph Legros.
| Role | Title | Genre | Author | First performer | Theatre | Première date |
| Juturne, Dieu des jardins ("god of gardens") | Pomone | opéra or play set to music (or pastorale) | Robert Cambert | Bernard Clédière, Pierre Taulet (or Tholet) | Salle du Bel-Air (rue de Vaugirard) | 3 March 1671 |
| Apollon, Pan | Les peines et les plaisirs de l'amour | pastorale héroïque in lyric verse | Cambert | Clédière, Taulet | Salle du Bel-Air (rue de Vaugirard) | February/March 1672 |
| L'Envie ("Envy")/first Tyrian prince/the wet nurse, second Tyrian prince | Cadmus et Hermione | tragédie en musique | Jean-Baptiste Lully | Clédière, Gingan "cadet" | Salle du Bel-Air (rue de Vaugirard) | 27 April 1673 |
| Admète, Apollon/Alecton | Alceste, ou Le triomphe d'Alcide | tragédie en musique | Lully | Clédière, Le Roy | Palais-Royal | 19 January 1674 |
| Thésée, Bacchus, old man | Thésée | tragédie en musique | Lully | Clédière, de La Grille, Tholet | Saint-Germain-en-Laye | 11 January 1675 |
| Atys, Zephyr, le Sommeil ("Sleep") | Atys | tragédie en musique | Lully | Clédière, de La Grille, Ribon | Palais-Royal | August 1675 |
| Mercure, Apollon, a Fury | Isis | tragédie en musique | Lully | Clédière, de La Grille, Ribon | Saint-Germain-en-Laye | 5 January 1677 |
| Vertumne, Amour, Mercure, Vulcain, Zephire, Apollon, Mars, a Fury | Psyché | tragédie en musique | Lully | (unknown) | Palais-Royal | 18 April 1678 |
| Bellérophon, Bacchus/the Pythia | Bellérophon | tragédie en musique | Lully | Clédière, Le Roy | Palais-Royal | 31 January 1679 |
| Alphée, la Discorde ("Discord") | Proserpine | tragédie en musique | Lully | Clédière, Puvigné | Saint-Germain-en-Laye | 3 February 1680 |
| Persée | Persée | tragédie en musique | Lully | Louis Gaulard Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 17 April 1682 |
| Le Jeu ("Gambling") | Les plaisirs de Versailles | divertissement | Marc-Antoine Charpentier | Marc-Antoine Charpentier (?) | Versailles | 1682 |
| Phaëton | Phaëton | tragédie en musique | Lully | Dumesny | Versailles | 6 January 1683 |
| Actéon | Actéon | pastorale | Charpentier | Charpentier (?) | Hôtel de Guise | 1683 |
| Amadis | Amadis | tragédie en musique | Lully | Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 15 January 1684 |
| Médor | Roland | tragédie en musique | Lully | Dumesny | Versailles | 8 January 1685 |
| La Peinture ("Painting") | Les arts florissants | opéra de chambre | Charpentier | Charpentier | Collège Louis-le-Grand | 6 August 1685 |
| Florestan | La couronne de fleurs | pastorale | Charpentier | Charpentier | (inconnu) | 1685 (?) |
| Renaud, the Danish knight, a fortunate lover | Armide | tragédie en musique | Lully | Dumesny, (other performers unknown) | Palais-Royal | 15 February 1686 |
| Acis | Acis et Galatée | pastorale héroïque | Lully | Dumesny | Château d'Anet | 6 September 1686 |
| Orphée, Ixion | La descente d'Orphée aux enfers | opéra de chambre | Charpentier | François Anthoine, Charpentier | (uncertain) | 1686 |
| Achille | Achille et Polyxène | tragédie en musique | Lully et Pascal Collasse | Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 7 November 1687 |
| David, the Witch of Endor | David et Jonathas | tragédie biblique | Charpentier | (uncertain) | Collège Louis-le-Grand | 28 February 1688 |
| Pélée | Thétis et Pélée | tragédie en musique | Collasse | Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 11 January 1689 |
| Énée | Énée et Lavinie | tragédie en musique | Collasse | Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 7 November 1690 |
| Myrtil | Le ballet de Villeneuve Saint-Georges | opéra-ballet | Collasse | Dumesny | Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (at the Dauphin's) | 1 September 1692 |
| Eneé | Didon | tragédie lyrique | Henry Desmarets | Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 5 June 1693 |
| Jason | Médée | tragédie mise en musique | Charpentier | Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 4 December 1693 |
| Le Printemps ("Spring"), Zéphyre/Aquilon, l'Été ("Summer") | Le ballet des saisons or Les saisons | opéra-ballet | Collasse and Louis Lully | Renaud, Pierre Chopelet, Jean Boutelou | Palais-Royal | 18 October 1695 |
| Bacchus | Ariane et Bacchus | tragédie lyrique | Marin Marais | Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 8 March 1696 |
| Apollon (Philémon), le Sommeil ("Sleep")/a shepherd/oracle | Issé | pastorale héroïque | André Cardinal Destouches | Dumesny, J. Boutelou | Fontainebleau | 7 October 1697 |
| Octavio, Philène, Don Pédro | L'Europe galante | opéra-ballet | André Campra | Dumesny, J. Boutelou, Pierre Chopelet | Palais-Royal | 24 October 1697 |
| Amadis | Amadis de Grèce | tragédie lyrique | Destouches | Dumesny | Palais-Royal | 26 March 1699 |
| Télamon, un Plaisir ("a Pleasure") | Hésione | tragédie en musique | Campra | Chopelet, J. Boutelou | Palais-Royal | 21 December 1700 |
| Apollon/Dardanus, a magician/un Plaisir ("a Pleasure")/a shepherd | Scylla | tragédie lyrique | Theobaldo di Gatti | Chopelet, J. Boutelou | Palais-Royal | 16 September 1701 |
| Cariselli | Cariselli | divertissement comique | Robert Cambert | J. Boutelou | Palais-Royal | 1702/1703 |
| An enchanter/a warrior, a sylvan | Tancrède | opéra | Campra | Jacques Cochereau, J. Boutelou | Palais Royal | 7 November 1702 |
| Plutus, Mercure/the professor of folly | Le carnaval et la folie | comédie-ballet (comédie en musique) | Destouches | Cochereau, J. Boutelou | Fontainebleau | 17 October 1703 |
| Apollon/Aristippe, Palémon/Eraste, | Les muses | opéra-ballet | Campra | Chopelet, Cochereau | Palais-Royal | 28 October 1703 |
| Pylade, Triton | Iphigénie en Tauride | tragédie en musique | Desmarest et Campra | Poussin, Chopelet | Palais-Royal | 6 May 1704 |
| Octave, un Plaisir ("a Pleasure")/a boatman, a masker | La Vénitienne | ballet (comédie lyrique) | Michel de La Barre | Chopelet, J. Boutelou, Cochereau | Palais-Royal | 26 May 1705 |
| Athamas, a shepherd/Arcas, a genius | Philomèle | tragédie lyrique | Louis Lacoste | Cochereau, Chopelet, J. Boutelou | Palais-Royal | 20 October 1705 |
| Apollon, Ceix, le Sommeil ("Sleep"), Phosphore, a follower of Ceix | Alcyone | tragédie lyrique | Marais | Cochereau, Marin Boutelou, Chopelet, Robert Lebel, J. Boutelou | Palais Royal | 16 February 1706 |
| Apollon, Oreste, Arcas, the Simoeis | Cassandre | tragédie lyrique | François Bouvard and Thomas Toussaint Bertin de La Doué | Thomas-Louis Bourgeois, Cochereau, M. Boutelou, Chopelet | Palais-Royal | 22 June 1706 |
| Mercure, Ulixes, a hunter | Polyxène et Pyrrhus | tragédie lyrique | Collasse | Chopelet, M. Boutelou, J. Boutelou | Palais-Royal | 22 June 1706 |
| a Marsigliese, a Marsigliese, a warrior | Bradamante | tragédie lyrique | Lacoste | Cochereau, M. Boutelou, Bourgeois | Palais-Royal | 2 May 1707 |
| Triton/a shepherd, the high priest | Hippodamie | tragédie lyrique | Campra | Cochereau, Chopelet | Palais-Royal | 6 March 1708 |
| Adraste, Apollon | Sémélé | tragédie lyrique | Marais | Cochereau, Beaufort | Palais-Royal | 9 April 1709 |
| Daunus, Zéphyre | Diomède | tragédie lyrique | Bertin de La Doué | Cochereau, Chopelet | Palais-Royal | 28 April 1710 |
| Damiro/Eraste, A follower of Fortune | Les fêtes vénitiennes | opéra-ballet | Campra | Cochereau, Buseau | Palais-Royal | 17 June 1710 |
| Idamante, Arbas | Idoménée | tragédie en musique | Campra | Cochereau, Buseau | Palais-Royal | 12 January 1712 |
| Idas, the Pythia | Créuse l'athénienne | tragédie lyrique | Lacoste | Cochereau, Chopelet | Palais-Royal | 5 April 1712 |
| Agenor | Callirhoé | tragédie-opéra | Destouches | Cochereau | Palais-Royal | 27 December 1712 |
| Jason, a sailor | Médée et Jason | tragédie lyrique | François Joseph Salomon | Cochereau, Chopelet | Palais-Royal | 24 April 1713 |
| Pâris | Les amours déguisés | ballet lyrique (ballet héroïque) | Thomas-Louis Bourgeois | Cochereau | Palais-Royal | 22 August 1713 |
| Arsame, a priest of Hercules | Télèphe | tragédie lyrique | Campra | Cochereau, Chopelet | Palais-Royal | 28 November 1713 |
| Léandre | Les fêtes de Thalie | opéra-ballet | Jean-Joseph Mouret | Cochereau | Palais-Royal | 19 August 1714 |
| Télémaque, Arcas, Un Art ("an Art")/a demon turned into a pleasure | Télémaque | tragédie lyrique | Destouches | Cochereau, Buseau, Bourgeois | Palais-Royal | 29 November 1714 |
| Un Plaisir ("a Pleasure")/ Licidas, Timante, Bacchus/Lisis, Momus, a drunkard | Les plaisirs de la paix | opéra-ballet | Bourgeois | Thomas-Louis Bourgeois, Cochereau, Buseau, Lebel, Louis Murayre | Palais-Royal | 29 April 1715 |
| Leucippe, a man from Poitou/a warrior | Théonoé | tragédie lyrique | Salomon | Cochereau, Murayre | Palais-Royal | 3 December 1715 |
| Corèbe, Arbas | Ajax | tragédie lyrique | Bertin de la Doué | Cochereau, Murayre | Palais-Royal | 20 April 1716 |
| Lisis | Les festes de l'été | opéra-ballet | Michel Pignolet de Montéclair | Murayre | Palais-Royal | 12 June 1716 |
| Lyncée, an Egyptian/a shepherd/second coryphaeus | Hypermnestre | tragédie en musique | Charles-Hubert Gervais | Cochereau, Murayre | Palais-Royal | 3 November 1716 |
| Cérite, Zephire/a Volscian man | Camille, reine des Volsques | tragédie en musique | Campra | Cochereau, Murayre | Palais-Royal | 9 November 1717 |
| A shepherd, second Plaisir ("Pleasure")/a follower of la Folie ("Folly") | Ballet de la Jeunesse | ballet | Jean-Baptiste Matho e Alarius (Hilaire Verloge, ca 1684–1734) | Antoine Boutelou, Muraire | Palais des Tuileries | February 1718 |
| Léandre/Merlin, Artémise/Damon/an actor | Les âges | opéra-ballet | Campra | Cochereau, Murayre | Palais-Royal | 9 October 1718 |
| Arsane, a Babylonian/a genius | Sémiramis | tragédie lyrique | Destouches | Cochereau, Murayre | Palais-Royal | 4 December 1718 |
| Triton | Les amours de Protée | opéra-ballet | Gervais | Murayre | Palais-Royal | 23 May 1720 |
| le Plaisir ("Pleasure")/a singer, le Chagrin ("Affliction"), in the shape of la Raison ("Reason")/a singer/a shepherd, | Les folies de Cardénio | ballet for a heroicomic drama (ballet héroïque) | Michel-Richard Delalande | A. Boutelou, Muraire | Palais des Tuileries | 29 (or 20) December 1720 |
| Arion/Vertumne, Mercure | Les élémens | opéra-ballet | Destouches et de Lalande | A. Boutelou, Murayre | Palais des Tuileries | 31 December 1721 |
| Renaud, Arcas | Renaud (or La suite d'Armide) | tragédie lyrique | Desmarets | Denis-François Tribou, Grenet | Palais Royal | 5 March 1722 |
| Pirithoüs, la Discorde ("Discord") | Pirithoüs | tragédie lyrique | Mouret | Murayre, Tribou | Palais-Royal | 26 January 1723 |
| Tibulle, Éros, Amintas | Les fêtes grecques et romaines | ballet héroïque | François Collin de Blamont | Murayre, Grenet, Tribou | Palais-Royal | 13 July 1723 |
| Ali, the Euphrates | La reine des péris | comédie persane | Jacques Aubert | Murayre, Tribou | Palais-Royal | 10 April 1725 |
| Télémaque, the High Priest of Minerva | Télégone | tragédie-opéra | Lacoste | Murayre, Tribou | Palais-Royal | 6 November 1725 |
| Iphis/Lycas/slave and king of plays, Timante | Les stratagèmes de l'amour | opéra-ballet | Destouches | Murayre, Tribou | Palais-Royal | 21 March 1726 |
| Ninus | Pirame et Thisbé | tragédie lyrique | François Francœur et François Rebel | Murayre | Palais-Royal | 17 October 1726 |
| Apollon/a faun | Les amours des dieux | opéra-ballet | Mouret | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 14 September 1727 |
| Orion | Orion | tragédie lyrique | Lacoste | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 17 February 1728 |
| Tersandre | La princesse d'Élide | ballet héroïque | Alexandre de Villeneuve | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 20 July 1728 |
| Tarsis | Tarsis et Zélie | tragédie lyrique | Francœur and Rebel | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 19 October 1728 |
| Adonis/Linus | Les amours des déesses | ballet héroïque | Jean-Baptiste-Maurice Quinault | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 9 August 1729 |
| Acamas | Pyrrhus | tragédie lyrique | Joseph Nicolas Pancrace Royer | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 26 October 1730 |
| Nèrine | Le jaloux trompé | entrée de ballet | Campra | Tribou | Palais Royal | 18 January 1731 |
| Endymion | Endymion | pastorale héroïque | de Blamont | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 17 May 1731 |
| Ammon | Jephté | opéra sacré | Montéclair | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 28 February 1732 |
| Le Soleil ("Sun")/Protésilas | Le triomphe des sens (or Ballet des sens) | opéra-ballet | Mouret | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 5 June 1732 |
| Iphis | Biblis (or Byblis) | tragédie lyrique | Lacoste | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 6 November 1732 |
| L'Amour ("Cupid") | L'empire de l'amour | ballet héroïque | René de Galard de Béarn de Brassac | Tribou | Palai-Royal | 14 April 1733 |
| Hippolyte, l'Amour ("Cupid")/second Fate | Hippolyte et Aricie | tragédie en musique | Jean-Philippe Rameau | Tribou, Pierre de Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 1 October 1733 |
| Périandre | La fête de Diane | entrée (de ballet) | Colin de Blamont | Jéliotte | Palais-Royal | 9 February 1734 |
| Damon, Zéphyre | Les fêtes nouvelles | ballet (ballet héroïque) | Duplessis called "le Cadet" (first name unknown) | Tribou, Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 22 July 1734 |
| Ulysse, a shepherd/an Italian shepherd/Mercure | Achille et Déidamie | tragédie en musique | Campra | Tribou, Jéliotte | Palais-Royal | 24 February 1735 |
| Smindiride, Léonce | Les grâces | pastorale héroïque | Mouret | Tribou, Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 5 May 1735 |
| Valère/Don Carlos, Tacmas | Les Indes galantes | opéra-ballet | Rameau | Jélyotte, Tribou | Palais-Royal | 23 August 1735 |
| Scanderberg, the mufti/La Magie ("Magia")/the Janissary agha | Scanderberg | tragédie (tragédie en musique) | Francœur and Rebel | Tribou, Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 27 October 1735 |
| Damon | Les sauvages | entrée | Rameau | Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 10 March 1736 |
| L'Amour ("Cupid") | Les voyages de l'Amour | opéra-ballet | Joseph Bodin de Boismortier | Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 6 April 1736 |
| Iphis/Léon/Lindor, un genius/un opera genius | Les romans | ballet (ballet héroïque) | Jean-Baptiste Niel | Tribou, Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 23 August 1736 |
| Léandre/a sylph | Les génies | opéra-ballet | Mlle Duval | Tribou | Palais-Royal | 18 October 1736 |
| Hylas, Orphée, a follower of Églé | Le triomphe de l'harmonie | ballet (ballet héroïque) | François-Lupien Grenet | Tribou, Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 9 May 1737 |
| Castor, an athlete | Castor et Pollux | tragédie lyrique | Rameau | Tribou, Jean-Antoine Bérard | Palais-Royal | 24 October 1737 |
| Iphis/Mercure, Apollon/Philémon | Le ballet de la paix | opéra-ballet | Francœur and Rebel | Tribou, Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 29 May 1738 |
| Thélème/ Mercure, Momus/Lycurgue | Les fêtes d'Hébé | opéra-ballet | Rameau | Jélyotte, Bérard | Palais-Royal | 21 May 1739 |
| Almanzor, Octave | Zaïde, reine de Grenade | ballet héroïque | Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer | Tribou, Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 3 September 1739 |
| Dardanus, second Dream | Dardanus | tragédie lyrique | Rameau | Jélyotte, Bérard | Palais-Royal | 19 November 1739 |
| Cambise, a sailor/another person of the feast/ Salamandre | Nitétis | tragédie lyrique | Charles-Louis Mion | Jélyotte, Bérard | Palais-Royal | 17 April 1741 |
| Colin, Thibault | Les amours de Ragonde | comédie lyrique | Mouret | Jélyotte, Bérard | Palais Royal | 30 January 1742 |
| Alcidon | Isbé | pastorale héroïque | Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville | Jélyotte | Palais Royal | 10 April 1742 |
| Don Quichotte | Don Quichotte chez la duchesse | ballet comique (comédie lyrique) | Boismortier | Bérard | Palais-Royal | 12 February 1743 |
| Émire/Le Dieu du Jour ("the god of the Day") | Le pouvoir de l'amour | ballet héroïque | Royer | Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 23 April 1743 |
| Licas/Iphis/Agénor | Les caractères de la folie | opéra-ballet | Bernard de Bury | Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 20 August 1743 |
| Valère/Léandre | L'école des amants | opéra-ballet | Niel | Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 11 June 1744 |
| First priest | Les Augustales | prologue for a revival of Lully's "Acis et Galatée" | Francœur and Rebel | Jélyotte | Palais-Royal | 15 November 1744 |
| First and second voice, an astrologer | La princesse de Navarre | comédie-ballet | Rameau | Jélyotte, François Poirier, Jean-Paul Spesoller [it] (called La Tour or Latour) | Versailles | 23 February 1745 |
| Zélindor, the genius of France | Zélindor, roi de sylphes | acte de ballet | Francœur and Rebel | Jélyotte, Poirier | Versailles | 17 March 1745 |
| Platée, Thespis, Mercure | Platée | comédie-lyrique (or 'ballet bouffon') | Rameau | Jélyotte, La Tour, Bérard | Versailles | 31 March 1745 |
| Alcide/Antiochus, a chief of arts | Les fêtes de Polymnie | ballet héroïque | Rameau | Jéliotte, La Tour | Palais-Royal | 12 October 1745 |
| Apollon/Trajan, Bacchus/a vanquished king, a shepherd/another vanquished king | Le temple de la gloire | opéra-ballet | Rameau | Jéliotte, Poirier, La Tour | Versailles | 27 November 1745 |
| Apollon/a minister of Destiny, shepherd Daphnis/Morphée/a shepherd/a Pleasure, Jupiter | Jupiter vainqueur des Titans | tragédie en musique | Colin de Blamond/Bury | La Tour, Poirier, Jéliotte | Versailles | 11 December 1745 |
| Glaucus, a shepherd | Scylla et Glaucus | tragédie en musique | Jean-Marie Leclair | Jélyotte, La Tour | Palais-Royal | 4 October 1746 |
| Zéphire/Bacchus, Momus/The Coryphaeus | L'année galante | ballet héroïque | Mion | Jéliotte, Poirier | Versailles | 13 February 1747 |
| Osiris/Aruéris, Ageris, un Plaisir ("a Pleasure")/Egyptian shepherd, | Les fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour | opéra-ballet | Rameau | Jéliotte, La Tour, Poirier | Versailles | 15 March 1747 |
| Daphnis, un Plaisir ("a Pleasure")/a pastor | Daphnis et Chloé | pastorale | Boismortier | Jéliotte, La Tour | Palais-Royal | 28 September 1747 |
| Zaïs, a sylph | Zaïs | pastorale héroïque | Rameau | Jélyotte, Poirier | Palais-Royal | 29 February 1748 |
| Pygmalion | Pygmalion | acte de ballet | Rameau | Jéliotte | Palais-Royal | 27 August 1748 |
| Neptune, Neptune (prologue), Astérion | Naïs | pastorale héroïque | Rameau | Jéliotte, La Tour, Poirier | Palais-Royal | 22 April 1749 |
| A shepherd/Apollon, a follower of Euterpe | Le carnaval du Parnasse | ballet héroïque | Mondonville | Jéliotte, La Tour | Palais-Royal | 23 September 1749 |
| Zoroastre, Abenis/Orosmade/first Fury, third Fury/a voice from the clouds | Zoroastre | tragédie en musique | Rameau | Jéliotte, Poirier, La Tour | Palais-Royal | 5 December 1749 |
| Léandre | Léandre et Héro | tragédie lyrique | René de Galard de Béarn de Brassac | Jéliotte | Palais Royal | 5 May 1750 |
| Titon | Titon et l'Aurore | acte de ballet | de Bury | Jéliotte | Palais Royal | 18 February 1751 |
| Myrtil | La guirlande | acte de ballet | Rameau | Jéliotte | Palais-Royal | 21 September 1751 |
| The genius of America | Les génies tutélaires | acte de ballet | Francœur and Rebel | Jéliotte | Palais-Royal | 21 September 1751 |
| Acanthe, a coryphaeus, a shepherd | Acante et Céphise | pastorale héroïque | Rameau | Jéliotte, Poirier, La Tour | Palais-Royal | 19 November 1751 |
| Colin | Le devin du village | opéra pastoral (or intermède) | Jean-Jacques Rousseau | Jéliotte | Fontainebleau | 18 October 1752, |
| Daphnis /Bacchus, the grand priest of Hymen | Les amours de Tempé | ballet héroïque | Antoine Dauvergne | Jéliotte, Poirier | Palais Royal | 7 November 1752 |
| Titon, a shepherd | Titon et l'Aurore | pastorale héroïque | Mondonville | Jéliotte, Poirier | Palais-Royal | 9 January 1753 |
| Agis | Sibaris | acte de ballet | Rameau | Poirier | Fontainebleau | 13 November 1753 |
| Damon | La sibille | acte de ballet | Dauvergne | Jéliotte | Fontainebleau | 13 November 1753 |
| Daphnis | Daphnis et Églé | pastorale héroïque | Rameau | Jéliotte | Fontainebleau | 29 (or 30) November 1753 |
| Batyle (ou Bathylle) | Anacréon | acte de ballet héroïque | Rameau | Jéliotte | Fontainebleau | 23 October 1754 |
| Daphnis, Jeanet | Daphnis et Alcimadure | pastorale | Mondonville | Jélyotte, La Tour | Fontainebleau | 29 October 1754 |
| Iphis | Iphis et Célime (or Célime) | acte de ballet | M. le chevalier d'Herbain | Poirier | Palais-Royal | 28 September 1756 |
| Linus/Mercure/Agathocle, Euricles | Les surprises de l'Amour | opéra-ballet | Rameau | Poirier, Muguet | Palais-Royal | 31 May 1757 |
| Adonis, Mercure, a voice | Les fêtes de Paphos | ballet héroïque | Mondonville | Poirier, Jean-Pierre Pillot, Muguet | Palais-Royal | 9 May 1758 |
| Damon | Les fêtes d'Euterpe | opéra-ballet | Dauvergne | Pillot | Palais-Royal | 8 August 1758 |
| High Priest of the Sun | Phaétuse | acte de ballet | Pierre Iso | Pillot | Palais Royal | 20 July 1759 |
| The fairy Manto, Atis, a paladin | Les Paladins | comédie lyrique | Rameau | Pillot, Lombard, Muguet | Palais Royal | 12 February 1760 |
| Picus, Mégère | Canente | tragédie lyrique | Dauvergne | Pillot, Muguet | Palais-Royal | 11 November 1760 |
| Hilus | Hercule mourant | tragédie (lyrique) | Dauvergne | Pillot | Palais Royal | 3 April 1761 |
| Agénor (performing the role of Adonis) | L'opéra de société | comédie-ballet (acte de ballet) | François-Joseph Giraud | Pillot | Palais Royal | 1 October 1762 |
| Isménias | Ismène et Isménias | tragédie lyrique | Jean-Benjamin de La Borde | Jéliotte | Théâtre Royal de la Cour de Choisy-le-Roi | 13 June 1763 |
| Ali | Le rencontre imprévue | comédie mêlée d'ariettes | Christoph Willibald Gluck | Godard | Vienna, Burgtheater | 7 January 1764 |
| Zénis | Zénis et Almasie | ballet héroïque | de La Borde | Jélyotte | Fontainebleau | 2 November 1765 |
| Usbek | Aline, reine de Golconde | ballet héroïque | Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny | Joseph Legros | Palais des Tuileries | 15 April 1766 |
| Batyle (ou Bathylle) | Anacréon | entrée de ballet | Rameau | Legros | Tuileries | 29 August (or 2 September) 1766 |
| Lindor | Lindor et Ismène (or Isménie) | entrée de ballet | Pierre Montan Berton | Legros | Tuileries | 29 August (or 2 September) 1766 |
| Zamnis | Érosine | entrée de ballet | Louis-Joseph Francœur, called le Neveu | Pillot | Tuileries | 29 August (or 2 September) 1766 |
| Amintas | Sylvie | opéra-ballet | Montan Berton (acte I) et Jean-Claude Trial (prologue, actes I et II) | Legros | Tuileries | 18 November 1766 |
| Amphion | Amphion | ballet pastorale héroïque | de La Borde | Legros | Fontainebleau | 11 October 1767 |
| Sandomir | Ernelinde, princesse de Norvège | tragédie lyrique | François-André Danican Philidor | Legros | Tuileries | 24 November 1767 |
| Octave | La vénitienne | comédie-ballet (comédie lyrique) | Dauvergne | Legros | Tuileries | 3 May 1768 |
| Sandomir | Sandomir, prince de Danemarck | tragédie lyrique | Philidor | Legros | Tuileries | 24 January 1769 |
| Iphis | Omphale | tragédie lyrique | Jean-Baptiste Cardonne | Legros | Tuileries | 2 May 1769 |
| Hylas | La fête de Flore | pastorale héroïque | Trial | Legros | Palais-Royal | 18 June 1771 |
| The bailiff | La cinquantaine | pastorale | de La Borde | Legros | Palais-Royal | 13 August 1771 |
| Raimond de Mayenne | Adèle de Ponthieu | tragédie lyrique | de La Borde | Legros | Palais-Royal | 1 December 1772 |
| Ovide | Ovide et Julie | acte de ballet | Cardonne | Legros | Palais-Royal | 16 July 1773 |
| Bathilde/Floridan | L'union de l'amour et des arts | opéra-ballet héroïque | Étienne-Joseph Floquet | Legros | Palais-Royal | 7 September 1773 |
| Achille | Iphigénie en Aulide | tragédie-opéra | Christoph Willibald Gluck | Legros | Palais-Royal | 19 April 1774 |
| Orphée | Orphée et Eurydice | tragédie-opéra | Gluck | Legros | Palais-Royal | 2 August 1774 |
| Azolan | Azolan | opéra-ballet héroïque | Floquet | Legros | Palais Royal | 22 November 1774 |
| Alexis | Alexis et Daphné | pastorale | François Joseph Gossec | Legros | Palais-Royal | 26 September 1775 |
| Admète | Alceste | opéra-tragédie | Gluck | Legros | Palais-Royal | 23 April 1776 |
| (?) | Les romans | opéra-ballet héroïque | Giuseppe Maria Cambini | Legros, Étienne Lainez (or Lainé) | Palais-Royal | 30 July 1776 |
| Alain | Alain et Rosette | intermède | Joseph Pouteau | Lainez | Palais-Royal | 10 January 1777 |
| Renaud, the Danish knight | Armide | drame-héroïque (tragédie en musique) | Gluck | Legros, Lainez | Palais-Royal | 23 September 1777 |
| Myrtil | Myrtil et Lycoris | opéra (pastorale) | Léopold-Bastien Désormery | Lainez | Palais-Royal | 2 December 1777 |
| Médor, Coridon | Roland | tragédie lyrique | Niccolò Piccinni | Legros, Lainez | Palais-Royal | 27 January 1778 |
| The lord | La fête de village | intermède | Gossec | Lainez | Palais-Royal | 26 May 1778 |
| Neptune | Hellé | tragédie lyrique | Floquet | Legros | Palais-Royal | 5 January 1779 |
| Pylade, a Scythian | Iphigénie en Tauride | tragédie lyrique | Gluck | Legros, Lainez | Palais-Royal | 18 May 1779 |
| Narcisse, Cynire, a sylvan | Écho et Narcisse | drame-lyrique | Gluck | Lainez, Legros, Jean-Joseph Rousseau [it] | Palais-Royal | 24 September 1779 |
| Amadis | Amadis de Gaule | tragédie lyrique | Johann Christian Bach | Legros | Palais-Royal | 14 December 1779 |
| Atys, Idas | Atys | tragédie lyrique | Piccinni | Legros, Lainez | Palais-Royal | 22 February 1780 |
| Pyrrhus | Andromaque | tragédie lyrique | André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry | Legros | Palais-Royal | 6 June 1780 |
| Persée | Persée | tragédie lyrique | Philidor | Legros | Palais-Royal | 27 October 1780 |
| M. de Mersans, the parish priest | Le seigneur bienfaisant | opéra (comédie lyrique) | Floquet | Legros, Rousseau | Palais-Royal | 14 December 1780 |
| Pylade, a priest | Iphigénie en Tauride | tragédie lyrique | Piccinni | Legros, Lainez | Palais-Royal | 23 January 1781 |
| Apollon | Apollon et Coronis | opéra (pastorale) | Jean-Baptiste Rey and Louis-Charles-Joseph Rey | Legros | Palais-Royal | 3 May 1781 |
| The knight | L'inconnue persécutée | comédie mêlée d'ariettes | Jean-Baptiste Rochefort | Lainez | Salle des Menus-Plaisirs, rue Bergère | 21 September 1781 |
| Raimond de Mayenne | Adèle de Ponthieu | tragédie lyrique | Piccinni | Legros | Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin | 27 October 1781 |
| Alphonse | Colinette à la cour or La double épreuve | comédie lyrique | Grétry | Lainez | Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin | 1 January 1782 |
| Thésée | Thésée | tragédie lyrique | Gossec | Legros | Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin | 1 March 1782 |
| Pylade | Électre | tragédie lyrique | Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne | Lainez | Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin | 2 July 1782 |
| Renaud, an infernal goddess (Alecton?) | Renaud | tragédie lyrique | Antonio Sacchini | Legros, Rousseau | Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin | 28 February 1783 |

## Sources and references

* ↑ in Paris, unless otherwise stated
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 role en travesti
* ↑ this work, which is often regarded as the first French opera, was performed at the inauguration of the Académie royale des opéra
* ↑ there had already been two private performances in June 1670
* ↑ whereas in Cadmus et Hermione the male protagonist was still performed by a baisse-taille, starting from this opera Lully chose the voice type of the haute-contre for the leading amatory parts (Grove, I, article: "Cadmus et Hermione", p. 676)
* 1 2 place and date reported by Pitou (1983, article: "Atys", p. 164)
* ↑ Louis Gaulard Dumesny made his Opéra debut in this performance, as a "taille", interpreting the minor role of a Triton (Grove, I, article: "Dumesnil, [Duménil, Dumény, Du Mesny, du Mény]", p. 1273)
* ↑ cf. Thomas Corneille, Psyché : Tragédie, critical edition by Luke Arnason (master's thesis under the direction of Georges Forestier), Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2005 (accessible online at the University of Manitoba Website).
* ↑ Dumesny, who had originally created the minor role of the second Fury in the premiere at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, replaced Clédière as Alphée in the following Paris performances of this opera, being promoted to "principal haute-contre" of the Académie from his former position of "haute-taille". As for Clédière, he moved to the Musique du Roi (Grove, I, article: "Cledière, Bernard", p. 879)
* ↑ inauguration of 'the King's receptions' (appartements du Roi)
* ↑ this opera was given as part of the celebrations of the truce of Ratisbon
* ↑ according to Pitou (1983 , article: "Dumenil", p. 214) Dumesny might have performed the role of Turnus; according to The New Grove Dictionary (I, article: "Dumesnil, [Duménil, Dumény, Du Mesny, du Mény]", p. 1273) he was (much more likely) the protagonist (cf. also Magazine de l'opéra baroque)
* ↑ according to Théodore Lajarte, Colasse and the late (that is, Jean-Baptiste) Lully were cited as the composers (Pitou, 1983, article: "Les Saisons", p. 308)
* ↑ Sources do not report the first name of this rather mysterious singer.
* ↑ Boutelou is generally indicated by sources with his surname alone; the first name 'Jean' is now reported by the article on the singer in the Dictionnaire de l'Opéra de Paris sous l'Ancien Régime (1669–1791) (I, ad nomen). Not to be confused with his two sons: Marin, also a singer at the Académie Royale de Musique in the second half of the 1700s, and Antoine, a tenor at the Chapelle Royale starting from 1707.
* ↑ according to Pitou, "Ariadne et Bacchus" (1983, ad nomen, p. 158)
* ↑ The New Grove Dictionary (II, article: "Europe galante, L' ", p. 1273) claims that the haute-contre role is that of Silvandre, but it must be erroneous (see for instance Magazine de l'opéra baroque)
* ↑ it was added, during its first eight-month run, as a further entrée to the spectacle coupé, Les Fragments de M. De Lully, first staged on 10 September 1702 (Pitou, 1983, article: "Les Fragments de Lully", p. 192). The spectacle coupé was a type of program composed of several "acts taken from different works and presented on the same bill without any attempt to unify them" (Piyou, 1985, article: "Spectacle coupé", p. 502)
* ↑ erroneously attributed to Lully (Le magazin de l'opéra baroque Archived 2014-03-01 at the Wayback Machine); for the wrong attribution cf. Pitou, 1983 , articles: "Les Fragments de Lully", p. 228, and "Cariselli", p. 192
* ↑ Cochereau is reported to have made his Opéra debut two months before in the spectacle coupé "Les Fragments de M. De Lully" (Pitou, 1983 , ad nomen, p. 201)
* ↑ or Le Mariage de Carnaval et de la Folie
* ↑ Poussin, who was going shortly to die before his time, had been engaged by the Académie Royale de Musique as a haute-taille (Le magazin de l'opéra baroque, page: Cassandre Archived 2014-03-01 at the Wayback Machine), but he deserves to be cited here because his role of a lifetime, Pylade, was later to enter the repertoire of the greatest hautes-contre of the century, from Muraire to Legros
* ↑ The libretto just refers to this singer as 'Boutelou fils'; his first name 'Marin' is reported by the article on him in the Dictionnaire de l'Opéra de Paris sous l'Ancien Régime (1669–1791) (I, ad nomen) where, however, he is erroneously classed as a "basse taille". Not to be confused with his father Jean, a performer in this opera as well, and his younger brother Antoine, a tenor at the Chapelle royale starting from 1707.
* ↑ with the part of a "priest" Chopelet retired from the Opéra: having been the leading haute-contre for a short while, since 1702 due to illness he had had to content himself with numerous minor roles (Grove, I, ad nomen, p. 850)
* ↑ Murayre (or Muraire) joined the Opéra in 1715; he was to become the principal haute-contre of the Académie from 1719 till his retirement (very much regretted by the public) in 1727, after a long disease (Grove, III, ad nomen, p. 523)
* ↑ cast taken from the website Le magazine de l'opéra baroque.
* 1 2 3 The original libretto only reports this performer's surname, Boutelou, but he should almost certainly be the youngest member of the family of singers, Antoine: his father and his older brother, respectively Jean and Marin, had been members of the company of the Académie Royale de Musique during the two decades around the turn of the century. Antoine was instead a tenor at the Chapelle royale and, as such, he used not to be involved in the Académie's public performances, but was called upon on occasions to perform in court musical entertainments, as were the 'ballets du roy'. The information about the nomenclature of the Boutelou family, a traditionally confusing topic, is drawn from the Dictionnaire de l'Opéra de Paris sous l'Ancien Régime (1669–1791) , tome I (A–C), ad nomina.
* ↑ after the 1718–19 season Cochereau retired from the Opéra and was replaced by Murayre in his leading position (Grove, I, article: "Cochereau, Jacques", p. 893)
* ↑ French: ballet pour une pièce héroï-comique
* ↑ Tribou had made his most successful debut at the Opéra on 13 November 1721 in the role of the Sun, on the occasion of a revival of Lully's Phaéton; he was to become the principal haute-contre of the Académie Royale from 1727 until 1739, when his strong dislike for the new musical style introduced by Rameau led him to retire and to join the Musique du Roi as a theorbo master in 1741 (Pitou, 1985, ad nomen, p. 526; Grove, IV, ad nomen, p. 808)
* ↑ Persian comedy
* ↑ this entrée, which was given within a revival of Le carnaval et la folie, is a revision of the entrée written by Campra for the performance of the spectacle coupé Les Fragments de M. De Lully on 10 September 1702, when the grotesque role en travesti of Nérine had been performed by J. Boutelou
* ↑ Jélyotte had made his debut, at the age of twenty, on 11 June 1733, in the small role of "a Greek", in a revival of the ballet héroïque Les festes grecques et romaines by Colin de Blamont; within few years he was to replace Tribou in his post as the principal haute-contre of the Académie Royale and to be acclaimed as one of the greatest artists of his time
* ↑ this entrée was added, on the occasion of a revival, to the ballet héroïque Les fêtes grecques et romaines to make room for the new star, Jéliotte
* ↑ Tacmas is the protagonist of the third entrée Les Fleurs, fête persane which was added during the third performance; according to Pitou, however, it was not an addition, but only a rearrangement introduced from the fourth performance in order to remove the 'transvestism' of both the hero and princess Fatime in clothes of the opposite sex, which had aroused the public's displeasure (1985, article: "Les Indes galantes", p. 285)
* ↑ this opera fully followed the fashion of the time for turquerie: it was visually one of the most elaborate of the Turkish operas, with detailed scenic designs for mosques and seraglio courts; many exotic characters were displayed, as well
* ↑ it is the fourth entrée added to Les Indes galantes (according to Pitou this entrée was first performend only on 16 July 1744, 1985, ad nomen, p. 285)
* ↑ in the final divertissement
* ↑ in this play by Voltaire, the only comédie-ballet (a play with music, singing and dance added) composed by Rameau, there is an "unusually demanding duo for two haute-contres, 'Charmant amour' ..., [where] Poirier sung the upper part (a – d″) and Jélyotte the lower (f♯ – c″)" (Grove, II, article: "Haute-contre", p. 669). In fact, the incipit of the duo is "Charmant Hymen" (Oeuvres complètes de Voltaire, Théatre, ninth tome, Société Littéraire-typographique, 1784, pp. 142-143 (digitalized by Google), accessed 25 October 2010)
* ↑ Sources used not to report the full name of this singer, generally referred to just as La Tour, Latour or Delatour. The name Georges Imbart de La Tour, given by Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."Georges Imbart de La Tour". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian)., is erroneous as it belongs in fact to another tenor of the late nineteenth century. The exact full name is now reported by Sylvie Bouissou in her article Latour, Jean-Paul Spesoller de, in Dictionnaire de l'Opéra de Paris sous l'Ancien Régime (1669–1791), tome III (H–O), pp. 413–414.
* ↑ the première of March 1745, given on the occasion of the Dauphin's marriage with the Infanta of Spain, was at first the only performance of the opera; it had however a very successful first public run at the Palais-Royal in 1749, and was later revived again in 1750 and in 1754, always starring in the title role the second haute-contre of the Opéra, La Tour. According to Rodolfo Celletti ("La Scuola vocale francese e Rameau", p. 90, in (in Italian) Storia dell'Opera (ideata da Guglielmo Barblan e diretta da Aberto Basso), UTET, Torino, 1977, vol. III/1), the role of Platée performed by La Tour was the highest haute-contre part ever written by Rameau
* ↑ or "Acanthe et Céphise" (Pitou, 1985, ad nomen, p. 6)
* ↑ this opera was originally given in Languedocien; later on, Mondonville was forced to get it translated into French, seeing that after the departure of Jélyotte and of Mlle Fel, there were no more Gascon actors left at the Opéra
* ↑ this opera was originally performed on 27 November 1748, in a rather different version, as the season opening of Versailles' theatre of the Petits Appartements, upon the Grand Escalier des Ambassadeurs (Ambassadors' Great Staircase), with a cast starring Madame de Pompadour and other nobles of the Court
* ↑ Jélyotte had retired from the Académie Royal de Musique et de Danse from 1755, but he did not leave the Court and "continued to offer his services to the king and queen for the operatic programs at Fontainebleu and Versailles" until 9 November 1765, when he finally got to take "leave of royalty to return to his home and to enjoy a quiet retirement" in his native village near Pau (Pitou, 1985 , ad nomen, p. 301)
* ↑ this opera, composed to an old revised libretto of 1727 (Les pèlerins de la Mecque), was Gluck's last opéra-comique for Vienna. The role of Ali was interpreted by an haute-contre from the Paris Opéra (Grove, III, ad nomen, p. 1288–1289); according to Casaglia, Gherardo (2005)."La rencontre imprévue, 7 January 1764". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian). this tenor's name was Godard
* ↑ this work, which had originally been given as an acte de ballet héroïque, at the Palace of Fontainebleau, on 13 October 1754, was proposed to the public as the second entrée of the ballet héroïque pastiche Les fêtes lyriques (whose first and third entrées were Francœur and Berton's works, Lindor et Ismène and Érosine, respectively). This piece of Rameau's is not to be confused with the different acte de ballet bearing the same title, which was created by the great French composer in 1757 to a libretto by Gentil-Bernard with quite another plot, to serve as the third entrée to a revival of Les surprises de l'Amour
* ↑ this work was given as the last entrée of the spectacle coupé Les fragments nouveaux by various composers
* ↑ rewriting of Michel de La Barre's 1705 opera
* ↑ rearrangement of "Ernelinde, princesse de Norvège"
* ↑ in this opera the leading amatory role of the teenager protagonist, Colin, a sort of Cherubino longing for marriage, is allotted en travesti to a soprano, while the haute-contre is restricted to a traditional callous-hearted bailiff/mayor part: Legros had originally been cast for the part of Lubin, but he "disliked his role so thoroughly that he refused to appear in it at first. When he faced the prospect of confinement in prison for disobedience, however, he changed his mind and went on stage as the bailiff". (Pitou, 1985, article: "La Cinquantaine", p. 118)
* ↑ a nineteen-year-old "J. Rousseau" made his debut at the Opéra with the minor role of a sylvan in this drame lyrique; he was later considered the last real haute-contre of the Académie Royale (cf. Jérôme Lalande's Voyage en Italie (2/1786), p. 204–205, cited by Mary Cir, op. cit.), and, after Legros's retirement, he was to be "promoted to leading tenor of the company along with Lainé" (or Lainez); at the beginning of the 1790s, however, "he found himself a victim of a chronic illness, and this disability undermined his health to such an extent that he could not perform regularly in 1792, and thereafter until his death in 1800" when was not yet forty years old (Pitou, 1985, ad nomen, pp. 477–478). Sources traditionally report only the initial letter (J.) of this singer's name; full details, however, can be found in "Organico dei fratelli a talento della Loggia parigina di Saint-Jean d'Écosse du Contrat Social (1773–89)" (list of the members of this Masonic lodge), reported as an Appendix in Zeffiro Ciuffoletti and Sergio Moravia (eds), La Massoneria. La storia, gli uomini, le idee, Milan, Mondadori, 2004, ISBN 978-8804536468 (in Italian).
* ↑ inauguration of the new venue of the Académie Royale de Musique
* ↑ Renaud was the last creation by Legros, who retired in that same year 1783, widely regretted not only by the public: de La Ferté, the sole intendant (administrator) of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi, acknowledged [Legros's] value to the company by alluding to him as "the first singer of the Opéra" and "by saying without intent to flatter Legros that his departure 'would be a real loss for the Administration.' He also paid him the supreme compliment when he assured his superiors in 1783 that Legros alone was qualified to fill the vacant directorship of the Opéra." (Pitou, 1985 , article: "Legros, Joseph", p. 339). Legros was replaced in his post as the principal haute-contre of the Académie Royale, by his deputy, Étienne Lainez, and by Jean-Joseph Rousseau