Le maître de chapelle, ou Le souper imprévu (The Chapelmaster, or The Unexpected Supper) is an opéra comique

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 two acts by the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 composer Ferdinando Paer

Ferdinando Paer

-Biography:Paer was born at Parma. His father was a trumpeter with the Ducal Bodyguards and also performed at church and court events. His name, Ferdinando, was after Duke Ferdinand of Parma and was given to him by Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Duke Ferdinand's wife...

. 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

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...

, by Sophie Gay, is based on Le souper imprévu, ou Le chanoine de Milan by Alexandre Duval (1796).

Le maître de chapelle was premiered by the Opéra-Comique

Opéra-Comique

The Opéra-Comique is a Parisian opera company, which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with, and for a time took the name of its chief rival the Comédie-Italienne at the Hôtel de Bourgogne, and was also called the...

 at the Théâtre Feydeau

Théâtre Feydeau

The Théâtre Feydeau, , a former Parisian theatre company, was founded in 1789 with the patronage of Monsieur, Comte de Provence , and was therefore initially named the Théâtre de Monsieur...

 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 29 March 1821 with the famous 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-Blaise Martin

Jean-Blaise Martin

Jean-Blaise Martin, full name Nicolas Jean-Blaise Martin was a French operasinger whose tessitura lay between tenor and baritone, which became later known as "baryton-martin"....

 as Barnabé. It was given at the Royal Opera

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 13 June 1845, and at the Théâtre d'Orléans

Théâtre d'Orléans

The Théâtre d'Orléans was a theater in New Orleans, first opened in November, 1809. This marked the beginning of continuous French opera anddrama throughout the nineteenth century. The plans for the Theater were drawn up by Louis Tabary, a refugee from the French colony of Saint-Domingue. After a...

, New Orleans on 21 November 1848.

It became Paer's most popular work, albeit usually performed in an abridged version of only the first act.

Roles

Cast	Voice type	Premiere cast, 29 March 1821
Barnabé	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-Blaise Martin Jean-Blaise Martin Jean-Blaise Martin, full name Nicolas Jean-Blaise Martin was a French operasinger whose tessitura lay between tenor and baritone, which became later known as "baryton-martin"....
Gertrude, Barnabé's French chef	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...	Marie-Julie Halligner ('Mme Boulanger')
Benetto, Barnabé's nephew	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...	Louis Féréol
Coelénie, Barnabé's pupil	soprano	Antoinette-Eugénie Rigaut
Firmin, Captain of Hussars	tenor
Sans Quartier, a hussar	bass

Synopsis

1797, near Milan. The chapelmaster Barnabé has composed an opera entitled Cléopâtre which he hopes will be staged in Milan, however he is worried that someone in the invading French army will take it away from him.

Recordings

Paer: Le maître de chapelle - ORTF Chamber Orchestra

• Conductor: Jean Paul Kreder
• Principal singers: Jean-Christophe Benoit (Barnabé), 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:...
  
   (Coelénie), Isabel Garcisanz (Gertrude), Michel Sénéchal
  Michel Sénéchal
  Michel Sénéchal is a French tenor, particularly associated with French and Italian character roles in a repertory ranging from Baroque to contemporary works.- Life and career :...
  
   (Benetto), Pierre Pégaud (Firmin), Yves Bisson (Sans Quartier)
• Recording date: 1970
• Label: Black Disc - Inedits ORTF - 995 004 (LP)

Sources

• Amadeus Almanac for 29 March 1821, accessed 26 October 2009
• Balthazar, Scott L (1992), 'Maître de chapelle, Le' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
  New Grove Dictionary of Opera
  The New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
  
  , ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5