Ciboulette is a French opérette in three acts, music by Reynaldo Hahn

Reynaldo Hahn

Reynaldo Hahn was a Venezuelan, naturalised French, composer, conductor, music critic and diarist. Best known as a composer of songs, he wrote in the French classical tradition of the mélodie....

, libretto by Robert de Flers

Robert de Flers

Robert de Flers was a French playwright, opera librettist, and journalist....

 and Francis de Croisset

Francis de Croisset

Francis de Croisset was a Belgium-born French playwright and opera librettist.His opera librettos include Massenet's Chérubin , based on his play of the same name, and Reynaldo Hahn's Ciboulette .He married, in 1910, Marie-Thérèse Bischoffsheim, the widow of banking heir Maurice Bischoffsheim and...

, first performed at the Théâtre des Variétés

Théâtre des Variétés

The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1975.-History:...

, in Paris, on April 7, 1923. One of the most elegant and refined composition of Hahn, considered as one of the last masterpieces of French operetta.

Principal roles

Role	Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types...	Premiere cast, 7 April 1923 (Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Paul Letombe)
Ciboulette	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Edmée Favart Edmée Favart Edmée Favart was a French soprano who had a varied and major career in opera and opéra comique and left many recordings of songs from roles she performed on stage.-Life and career:...
Zénobie	soprano	Jeanne Pierrat
Madame Pingret	bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...	Madeleine Guitty
Madame Grenu	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Jeanne Loury
Duparquet	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Jean Périer Jean Périer Jean Périer was a French operatic baritone and actor. Although he sang principally within the operetta repertoire, Périer did portray a number of opera roles; mostly within operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giacomo Puccini...
Antonin	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Henry Defreyn
Roger	baritone	Jean Calain
Olivier Métra	baritone	René Koval
Comtesse de Castiglione	soprano	Luce Fabiole
Chorus: Officers, courtesans, market workers, farmers, eight fiancés, Olivier Métra's guests

Synopsis

The action takes place in Paris, in 1867.

Duparquet is the controller of Les Halles

Les Halles

Les Halles is an area of Paris, France, located in the 1er arrondissement, just south of the fashionable rue Montorgueil. It is named for the large central wholesale marketplace, which was demolished in 1971, to be replaced with an underground modern shopping precinct, the Forum des Halles...

, and plays matchmaker between the young farm-girl Ciboulette and Antonin, a young spoiled aristocrat. After many adventures, the lovers are united.

Discography

• Ciboulette (abridged) - Géori Boué
  Géori Boué
  Georgette "Géori" Boué is a French soprano, particularly associated with the French repertory, especially Thais. She was born in Toulouse.- Life and career :...
  
  , Roger Bourdin
  Roger Bourdin
  Roger Bourdin was a French baritone, particularly associated with the French repertory. His career was largely based in France.- Life and career :...
  
  , Raymond Amadé - Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
  Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
  The Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire was a symphony orchestra established in Paris in 1828. It gave its first concert on 9 March 1828 with music by Beethoven, Rossini, Meifreid, Rode and Cherubini....
  
  , Marcel Cariven - Pathé (1952).
• Ciboulette (abridged) - Andrée Grandjean, Willy Clément
  Willy Clément
  Willy Clément was a French baritone , who was noted in light baritone roles and operetta. -Life and career:...
  
  , Michel Hamel, Françoise Ogéas - Chorus and Orchestra of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
  Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
  The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....
  
  , Paul Bonneau - Ducretet-Thomson (1955).
• Ciboulette - Mady Mesplé
  Mady Mesplé
  Mady Mesplé is a French opera singer, the leading high coloratura soprano of her generation in France, sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin.-Biography:...
  
  , José van Dam
  José van Dam
  Joseph, Baron van Damme , known as José van Dam, is a Belgian bass-baritone.At the age of 17, he entered the Brussels Royal Conservatory and studied with Frederic Anspach. A year later, he graduated with diplomas and first prizes in voice and opera performance...
  
  , Nicolai Gedda
  Nicolai Gedda
  Nicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history...
  
  , Colette Alliot-Lugaz
  Colette Alliot-Lugaz
  Colette Alliot-Lugaz is a French soprano, particularly associated with Mozart.-Career:Born in Notre-Dame-de-Bellecombe, she began her musical studies in Bonneville , and later in Geneva, with Magda Fonay-Besson. She completed her training at the Paris Opéra-Studio with René Koster and Vera Rosza...
  
   - Ensemble Choral Jean Laforge, Orchestre Philarmonique de Monte-Carlo, Cyril Diederich - EMI
  EMI
  The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
  
  (1983).

Sources

• Le guide de l'opéra, R. Mancini & J.J. Rouvereux, (Fayard, 1986) ISBN 2-213-01563-6