La fauvette du temple
Encyclopedia
La fauvette du temple is an opéra comique
in three acts of 1885, with music by André Messager
and a French
libretto by Paul Burani
and Eugène Humbert.
The libretto
bears some similarities to the outline of a vaudeville
in three acts by the Cogniard brothers, La cocarde tricolore - épisode de la guerre d'Alger, seen at the old Folies-Dramatiques on 19 March 1831. Traubner describes the opera as "a militaristic, patriotic affair with Algerian scenes". It was first performed at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
on 17 November 1885 and ran for 150 performances.
, with the flower-shop and a wine-shop in view.
Pierre Aubertin is the fiancé of Thérèse – the pretty flower-girl, called the 'la fauvette du temple' – and Joseph Abrial, is betrothed to his love Zélie. Thérèse is overheard singing by the former star singer turned teacher Saint-Angénor, who is determined to make her his pupil – he says to make her fortune, but also so that he can prove the value of his singing method. Pierre and Joseph are called up and obliged to depart as soldiers for seven years. Saint-Angénor agrees to a demand from Thérèse, that, in return for becoming his pupil, he will give 2,000 francs to buy out Pierre from his military service. But Pierre, suspicious of the professor, refuses to take the money and leaves for Africa, while Saint-Angénor plans to go to Italy with his new pupil and her 'maid' Zélie.
After a scene in which Joseph expresses his boredom with army life and Lieutenant Pierre leads off the zouaves, an attachment of Arabs led by Bou Maleck emerge from the rocks. Ben-Ahmed and his men prepare a massive bomb of gunpowder for the Frenchmen when they return, and leave. Now Ali ushers in Angénor with Thérèse and Zélie. Thérèse has come to north Africa with her friend and Saint-Angénor in search of Pierre, with whom she is still in love. Ben-Ahmed, enamoured of Thérèse, returns and despatches Saint-Angénor to teach singing to his harem. Now Pierre and Joseph return and demand to know the whereabouts of a singer, 'Frasquita' (Thérèse’s stage name), who gave a concert the previous day and was arrested along with her manager. Ben-Ahmed refuses and condemns the two Frenchmen to death.
Joseph takes the disguise of a mute guard, sabotages the Arabs' arms and sounds the alarm to his comrades. The fauvette, Angénor and Zélie have been taken away by Ali, so the Frenchmen head off for Mascara.
Opéra comique
Opéra comique is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged out of the popular opéra comiques en vaudevilles of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent , which combined existing popular tunes with spoken sections...
in three acts of 1885, with music by André Messager
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
and a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
libretto by Paul Burani
Paul Burani
Paul Burani , born 26 March 1845 in Paris and died 9 October 1901, was a French author, actor, song-writer and librettist.He collaborated on libretti for the following operas:...
and Eugène Humbert.
The libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
bears some similarities to the outline of a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
in three acts by the Cogniard brothers, La cocarde tricolore - épisode de la guerre d'Alger, seen at the old Folies-Dramatiques on 19 March 1831. Traubner describes the opera as "a militaristic, patriotic affair with Algerian scenes". It was first performed at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue for the genre of mélodrame.In 1862, the theatre moved to the...
on 17 November 1885 and ran for 150 performances.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 17 November 1885 (Conductor: Thibault) |
|---|---|---|
| Saint-Angénor | 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... |
Gobin |
| Joseph Abrial | 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... |
Simon-Max Simon-Max Nicolas-Marie Simon Simon-Max, born Reims in 1852, died 1923, was a French tenor, mainly active in Paris in the field of opera-bouffe.After musical studies in Reims he made his debut in 1875 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance as Janio in La reine Indigo then on 9 September that year at the Théâtre... |
| Pierre Aubertin | 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... |
Jourdan |
| Ben Ahmed | bass | Chauvereau |
| Trécourt | bass | Riga |
| Gransac | Duhamel | |
| Bou Maleck | Valdor | |
| Sélim | Van de Gend | |
| Thérèse | soprano | Juliette Simon-Girard Juliette Simon-Girard Juliette-Joséphine Simon-Girard was a French soprano, principally in operetta. Her father was Philippe Lockroy, an actor at the Comédie Française, and her mother was Caroline Girard, of the Opéra-Comique.-Career:... |
| Zélie | soprano | Vialda |
| Ali | Savary | |
| Tarata | Hicks | |
| Rosette | Weil | |
| Conscripts, zouaves, Arabs, grisettes, and workers. | ||
Act 1
Act 1 takes place in Paris in 1840 near the Rotunda of the TempleTemple (Paris)
The Temple was a medieval fortress in Paris, located in what is now the IIIe arrondissement. It was built by the Knights Templar from the 12th century, as their European headquarters. In the 13th century it replaced earlier works of the Vieille Temple in Le Marais...
, with the flower-shop and a wine-shop in view.
Pierre Aubertin is the fiancé of Thérèse – the pretty flower-girl, called the 'la fauvette du temple' – and Joseph Abrial, is betrothed to his love Zélie. Thérèse is overheard singing by the former star singer turned teacher Saint-Angénor, who is determined to make her his pupil – he says to make her fortune, but also so that he can prove the value of his singing method. Pierre and Joseph are called up and obliged to depart as soldiers for seven years. Saint-Angénor agrees to a demand from Thérèse, that, in return for becoming his pupil, he will give 2,000 francs to buy out Pierre from his military service. But Pierre, suspicious of the professor, refuses to take the money and leaves for Africa, while Saint-Angénor plans to go to Italy with his new pupil and her 'maid' Zélie.
Act 2
Act 2 is set near an oasis in Algeria, two years later.After a scene in which Joseph expresses his boredom with army life and Lieutenant Pierre leads off the zouaves, an attachment of Arabs led by Bou Maleck emerge from the rocks. Ben-Ahmed and his men prepare a massive bomb of gunpowder for the Frenchmen when they return, and leave. Now Ali ushers in Angénor with Thérèse and Zélie. Thérèse has come to north Africa with her friend and Saint-Angénor in search of Pierre, with whom she is still in love. Ben-Ahmed, enamoured of Thérèse, returns and despatches Saint-Angénor to teach singing to his harem. Now Pierre and Joseph return and demand to know the whereabouts of a singer, 'Frasquita' (Thérèse’s stage name), who gave a concert the previous day and was arrested along with her manager. Ben-Ahmed refuses and condemns the two Frenchmen to death.
Joseph takes the disguise of a mute guard, sabotages the Arabs' arms and sounds the alarm to his comrades. The fauvette, Angénor and Zélie have been taken away by Ali, so the Frenchmen head off for Mascara.