Le jeune sage et le vieux fou
The opera was well received. A review in the "Chronique de Paris" of 1 April described the music as "by turns original, witty and romantic." According to David Cairns, this marks the first reference to Romanticism in music. The overture musically depicts the two main characters: unaccompanied flutes represent the wise young man and cellos, trombones and basses the old fool. Variations on these themes recur throughout the score. Synopsis. Cliton is a 16-year-old obsessed with appearing wise. His father, Merval, is over 60 and a libertine, much to the embarrassment  of his son. Cliton thinks marriage will make Merval more responsible and urges him to take the young and sensible Rose as his wife while Cliton himself plans to marry Rose's aunt, the prudish Élise. However, it emerges Rose is secretly in love with Cliton and Merval persuades his son to marry her instead while Merval will marry the aunt. After more comic confusion, Élise finally accepts this state of affairs. Recordings. The overture appears on: Méhul "Overtures", Orchestre de Bretagne, conducted by Stefan Sanderling (ASV, 2002) Catalogue number CD DCA 1140. References. Sources Le jeune sage et le