La fille du tambour-major
Encyclopedia
La fille du tambour-major (The Drum-Major's Daughter) is an opéra comique
, or operetta
, in three acts by Jacques Offenbach
. The French
libretto was written by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot (who often wrote libretti for Charles Lecocq).
The title is an allusion to Gaetano Donizetti
's La fille du régiment
.
in Paris
on 13 December 1879. This late Offenbach piece followed Madame Favart
(1878) and would soon be followed by Offenbach's masterpiece, Tales of Hoffman. This was the last of his operas that Offenbach lived to see produced. The piece was very successful, running for over 240 performances in its initial production and enjoying many foreign productions into the 1880s, although it did not retain the popularity outside of France of some of some Offenbach pieces.
Offenbach's score is more adventurous and grander in scope than his previous works and adopts an unusually complex style for some of the melody lines. A few of the vocal numbers are also more challenging for the singers than earlier Offenbach works.
in 1806, is similar in its military flavour to that of Donizetti's La fille du régiment
.
A company of French soldiers, led by Lieutenant Robert, crosses the Alps to join the army of the first consul who commands the Italian troops. The French invade the convent - the nuns have fled, and the only remaining occupant is a young student at the convent school who was in penitence, Stella, daughter of the Duke della Volta.
Stella falls in love with Robert, but her father has promised her hand to a feeble-minded old marquis, Bambini. However, Lieutenant Robert receives the news that Stella is the daughter, not of the duke, but of a French drum-major.
The war is not over, but Stella searches for Lieutenant Robert. The Austrians seize Stella. However Napoleon's victory changes everything. The French troops arrive, and Milan greets the liberators and Stella can marry Lieutenant Robert.
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...
, or operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
, in three acts by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
. The 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 was written by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot (who often wrote libretti for Charles Lecocq).
The title is an allusion to Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
.
Performance history
It was first staged at the Théâtre des Folies-DramatiquesThéâtre 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...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 13 December 1879. This late Offenbach piece followed Madame Favart
Madame Favart
Madame Favart is an opéra comique, or operetta, in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot.-Performance history:...
(1878) and would soon be followed by Offenbach's masterpiece, Tales of Hoffman. This was the last of his operas that Offenbach lived to see produced. The piece was very successful, running for over 240 performances in its initial production and enjoying many foreign productions into the 1880s, although it did not retain the popularity outside of France of some of some Offenbach pieces.
Offenbach's score is more adventurous and grander in scope than his previous works and adopts an unusually complex style for some of the melody lines. A few of the vocal numbers are also more challenging for the singers than earlier Offenbach works.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, December 13, 1879 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Stella, putative daughter of the Della Voltas | 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... |
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:... |
| Duc Della Volta | 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... |
Édouard Maugé |
| Duchesse Della Volta | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Caroline Girard Caroline Girard Caroline Girard was a French operatic soprano. She was the mother of Juliette Simon-Girard.-Career:Girard was a principal singer at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris from 1853, creating many roles including Margot in Le diable à quatre by Solié/Adam in 1853, Columbine in Le tableau parlant by Grétry in... |
| Robert, a lieutenant | 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... |
Lepers |
| Monthabor, a drum-major | bass | François-Louis Luco |
| Griolet, a drummer | tenor | 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... |
| Claudine, regimental vivandière | soprano | Noémie Vernon |
| Mother Superior | soprano | Réval |
| Marquis Bambini | tenor | Bartel |
| Clampas | baritone | Henriot |
| Francesca | soprano | Listrelle |
Synopsis
The patriotic plot, set during the Austrian occupation of Italy as Napoleon invades LombardyLombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
in 1806, is similar in its military flavour to that of Donizetti's La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
.
Act 1
The convent of Biella in Northern ItalyA company of French soldiers, led by Lieutenant Robert, crosses the Alps to join the army of the first consul who commands the Italian troops. The French invade the convent - the nuns have fled, and the only remaining occupant is a young student at the convent school who was in penitence, Stella, daughter of the Duke della Volta.
Act 2
A room of the palace of the Duke della Volta in NovareStella falls in love with Robert, but her father has promised her hand to a feeble-minded old marquis, Bambini. However, Lieutenant Robert receives the news that Stella is the daughter, not of the duke, but of a French drum-major.
Act 3
The hotel trade of the Gold Lion in Milan; A street in MilanThe war is not over, but Stella searches for Lieutenant Robert. The Austrians seize Stella. However Napoleon's victory changes everything. The French troops arrive, and Milan greets the liberators and Stella can marry Lieutenant Robert.