title: L'école de la jeunesse
text: # L'école de la jeunesse
  
  L'école de la jeunesse ou Le Barnevelt françois (The School of Youth or The French Barnwell) is an opéra comique (specifically a comédie mêlée d'ariettes) in three acts by the composer Egidio Duni. The libretto, by Louis Anseaume, is based on George Lillo's play The London Merchant or The History of George Barnwell (1731). The opera was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 24 January 1765.
  
  ## Main roles
  
  Roles, voice types, premiere cast :
  
  | Cast | Voice type | Premiere cast, 24 January 1765 |
  | - | - | - |
  | Cléon | tenor | Jean-François Lejeune |
  | M. Oronte, Cléon's uncle | baritone | Joseph Caillot |
  | Sophie, bethrothed to Cléon | soprano | Marie-Thérèse Laruette, 'Madame Laruette' |
  | Dubois, a valet of M. Oronte | tenor | Jean-Baptiste Dehesse [fr] |
  | Hortense, a young widow | soprano | Pétronille-Rosalie Beaupré |
  | Finette, an attendant of Hortense | soprano | Eulalie Desgland(s) |
  | Mondor, a friend of Hortense | haute-contre | Jean-Louis Laruette [fr] |
  | Damis | tenor | Robert Desbrosses |
  | Javard, a creditor of Cléon | basse-taille (bass-baritone) | M. Renaud |
  | A Gascon knight | haute-contre | Antoine Trial |
  | A baron | basse-taille (bass-baritone) | not reported |
  | A singer | tenor | M. Lobreau |
  | A milliner | spoken | Rosalie Lafond |
  | A bailiff A pedlar | spoken | Gabiel-Éléonor-Hervé Dubus Champville, 'Soli' |
  | A valet | spoken | not reported |
  