André Ernest Modeste Grétry
Richard Coeur de Lion – the well-known Richard Lionheart from the stories about Ivanhoe and Robin Hood- is a comical opera in three acts by André Ernest Modeste Grétry (1741 – 1813) on a libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine. It is a dramatization of the liberation of Richard Lionheart from his captivity in Austria. He had landed there after the Third Crusade as a consequence of the intrigues by Richard’s brother John. The premiere of the opera was in 1784.
This is a piece with a serious melody. Play the choral like melody as legato as possible.