La Sérénade

True to her predilection for the Grand Siècle of Louis XIV, Sophie Gail joined forces at the beginning of the Restoration with her near namesake, Sophie Gay, to adapt Jean-François Regnard’s play La Sérénade (1694) for the opera stage. The plot concerns the marriage of Léonor, who is betrothed to a wealthy old man who turns out to be the father of Valère, the man she loves. Sophie Gail’s final opera was well received at the time of its premiere, with La Quotidienne praising in particular its ‘varied and witty music’ (‘musique variée et spirituelle’).