L'amant jaloux
L'amant jaloux, ou Les fausses apparences ("The Jealous Lover, or False Appearances") is a French comédie mêlée d'ariettes in three acts by André Grétry first performed at Versailles on 20 November 1778. The libretto is by the Irish playwright Thomas Hales (also known by the French name Thomas d'Hèle) with the verse passages provided by F. Levasseur. It was based on the play "The Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret" (1714) by Susannah Centlivre.

The most famous arias in the opera include "O douce nuit", the tenor serenade "Tandis que tout sommeille" ("While all are sleeping") (recorded by Roberto Alagna, amongst others) and the coloratura display piece "Je romps la chaîne qui m'engage". The composer admitted the last named aria had no dramatic function, but he wanted to give his soprano star Marie-Jeanne Trial ("the finest voice ever formed by nature") "a chance to shine". The musicologist David Charlton claims Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte knew Grétry's opera and were influenced by its ensembles when they wrote "The Marriage of Figaro".

Grétry's score for "L'amant jaloux" includes mandolins. Philip J. Bone, historian of the mandolin, speculated that Grétry was exposed to the instrument while in Italy, and said "he makes use of it upon various occasions, in this instance with a telling and marked impression." "This instance" was the seranade "Tandis que tout sommeille" ("While all are sleeping") in "L'amant jaloux". Bone called the serenade "a delicate accompaniment for two mandolins".

Bampton Classical Opera performed the opera in English in 2012. The role of Isabelle was sung by the Australian soprano Martene Grimson.

The opera was performed by The Pinchgut Opera in December 2015, in the City Recital Hall, Sydney, Australia.
Q2650956
comédie mêlée d'ariettes
Concept
Q210962
André Grétry
PER
Q2946
Versailles
LOC
Q131084
libretto
Concept
Q7790350
Thomas Hales
PER
Q931103
Susannah Centlivre
PER
Q178122
aria
Concept
Q215911
serenade
Concept
Q267617
Roberto Alagna
PER
Q898783
coloratura
Concept
Q254
Mozart
PER
Q268166
Lorenzo da Ponte
PER
Q201873
The Marriage of Figaro
ORG
Q15429973
Philip J. Bone
PER
Q4853531
Bampton Classical Opera
ORG
Q7194931
Pinchgut Opera
ORG
Q5123393
City Recital Hall
LOC
Q408
Australia
LOC
Q9018197
L'amant jaloux
Concept
Q9018197
L'amant jaloux
Concept
Q9018197
L'amant jaloux
Concept
1778-11-20T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
20 November 1778
DATE
2012-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2012
DATE
2015-12-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 2015
DATE
+1714^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1714
NUMBER
composer
librettist
notable work
composer
librettist
country