Les bavards
Encyclopedia
Les bavards is an opéra bouffe
, or operetta
, by Jacques Offenbach
, with a French
libretto by Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter
based on a story originally by Cervantes
, ‘Los dos habladores’.
in June 1862. It became Die Schwätzerin von Saragossa for Vienna in November of that year, and was produced in its final two-act form at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens
, Paris
(Salle Choiseul) on 20 February 1863, with Delphine Ugalde
as Roland, Thompson as Inès, Tostée as Béatrix and Étienne Pradeau as Sarmiento, conducted by Offenbach. It entered the repertoire of the Paris Opéra Comique
on 3 May 1924 conducted by Maurice Frigara
, produced by Albert Carré
, with Germaine Gallois as Roland and Marguerite Roger as Béatrix. A critical edition has been published as part of the Offenbach Edition Keck (OEK), and the work is still occasionally performed.
He has fallen in love with Inès, the niece of Sarmiento, a wealthy man kept busy counting his money, who is wearied by his talkative wife Béatrix. Going out, Sarmiento meets his wife coming home, talking continuously, who launches into a song about her good character, then leaves again, still talking. Next the alcade Cristobal, also a chatterbox, passes by, sympathizing with Sarmiento’s lot.
As Sarmiento returns to go back into his house, Roland comes out from his hiding place and decides to take advantage of the situation. He begins a long recitation of his woes and in the ensuing duet agrees to get Béatrix to stay quiet (hoping also to be in close proximity to his beloved Inès). Sarmiento asks him to come to dinner once he has found better clothes; as Roland’s creditors appear again he rushes off dragging Sarmiento with him. The creditors go off to find Roland while Cristobal and Torribo doze off guarding the front door. Sarmiento and Roland, now finely dressed, return and enter the house.
Under the guise of finally settling Sarmiento’s dispute, Cristobal and Torribio are admitted and, after being given false information by Roland on ‘his’ whereabouts, depart with Sarmiento. To get Béatrix’s approval for him to wed Inès, Roland reveals to Béatrix what he had agreed with her husband. To revenge herself on Sarmiento, she pretends in dumb-show that she has exchanged billets-doux with Roland. Sarmiento, bewildered by everyone behaving as if they are struck dumb and jealous because of the supposed love letters, is happy to learn that the real object of the exchange of letters is Inès.
The alcade and creditors arrive with a message from Roland promising that Sarmiento will pay off his debts. Sarmiento is forced to agree and gives his approval to the marriage. All celebrate the settlement of all their problems.
Opéra bouffe
Opéra bouffe is a genre of late 19th-century French operetta, closely associated with Jacques Offenbach, who produced many of them at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens that gave its name to the form....
, 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:...
, 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....
, with 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 Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter
Charles-Louis-Etienne Nuitter
Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter was a French librettist, translator, writer and librarian born in Paris, France on 24 April 1828. He died there on 23 February 1899 after suffering a stroke a few days before.-Librettist and translator:...
based on a story originally by Cervantes
Cervantes
-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
, ‘Los dos habladores’.
Performance history
Les bavards was originally created as Bavard et bavarde in one-act form and performed at the Kurtheater, Bad EmsBad Ems
Bad Ems is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the county seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a bathing resort on the river Lahn...
in June 1862. It became Die Schwätzerin von Saragossa for Vienna in November of that year, and was produced in its final two-act form at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens
Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens
The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens is a Parisian theatre which was founded in 1855 by the composer Jacques Offenbach for the performance of opéra bouffe and operetta. The current theatre is located in the 2nd arrondissement at 4 rue Monsigny with an entrance at the back at 65 Passage Choiseul. 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...
(Salle Choiseul) on 20 February 1863, with Delphine Ugalde
Delphine Ugalde
Delphine Ugalde, née Beaucé, was a French soprano. She was the mother of Marguerite Ugalde....
as Roland, Thompson as Inès, Tostée as Béatrix and Étienne Pradeau as Sarmiento, conducted by Offenbach. It entered the repertoire of the Paris Opéra Comique
Opera Comique
The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street and Holywell Street with entrances on the East Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway...
on 3 May 1924 conducted by Maurice Frigara
Maurice Frigara
Maurice Frigara was a French conductor of Corsican descent, mainly active in the opera house.-Career:Frigara studied under Charles Dancla, Lambert Massart and Benjamin Godard at the Paris Conservatoire....
, produced by Albert Carré
Albert Carré
Albert Carré was a French theatre director, opera director, actor and librettist. He was the nephew of librettist Michel Carré and cousin of cinema director Michel Antoine Carré...
, with Germaine Gallois as Roland and Marguerite Roger as Béatrix. A critical edition has been published as part of the Offenbach Edition Keck (OEK), and the work is still occasionally performed.
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, Bad Ems, 11 June 1862 (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... :) |
Revised version cast, Paris, 20 February 1863 (Conductor: Alphonse Varney Alphonse Varney Alphonse Varney was a French conductor, mainly of opera. His son was the composer Louis Varney who studied music with his father.-Education:He studied at the Paris Conservatoire including counterpoint with Reicha.... ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roland | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Delphine Ugalde Delphine Ugalde Delphine Ugalde, née Beaucé, was a French soprano. She was the mother of Marguerite Ugalde.... |
Delphine Ugalde |
| Sarmiento | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Étienne Pradeau | Étienne Pradeau |
| Béatrix, Sarmiento's wife | 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... |
Lucille Tostée Lucille Tostée Lucille Tostée , was a French soprano, associated with opéra-bouffe in Paris and the USA in the mid-19th century, particularly in the works of Offenbach.-Life and career:... |
Lucille Tostée |
| Inès, their niece | soprano | Thompson | |
| Pedro, servant of Sarmiento | spoken role | Luigi Walter | |
| Cristobal, the alcade | bass | Désiré Désiré (baritone) Désiré was a French baritone, who is particularly remembered for creating many comic roles in the works of the French operetta composer Jacques Offenbach... |
Désiré |
| Torribo, his scrivener | tenor | Édouard | |
| Catalinon, a cigar merchant, creditor | soprano | ||
| Torbisco, a barber, creditor | soprano | ||
| Bernadillo, a muleteer, creditor | soprano | ||
| Barocal, a shoemaker, creditor | soprano | ||
| Chorus: creditors and neighbours | |||
Synopsis
- Time: 17th century
- Place: ZaragozaZaragozaZaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
- in front of, and in the courtyard of Sarmiento’s house
Act 1
Roland, a penniless young poet, is trying to escape from his various creditors and succeeds in hiding from them; he finds himself outside Sarmiento’s house.He has fallen in love with Inès, the niece of Sarmiento, a wealthy man kept busy counting his money, who is wearied by his talkative wife Béatrix. Going out, Sarmiento meets his wife coming home, talking continuously, who launches into a song about her good character, then leaves again, still talking. Next the alcade Cristobal, also a chatterbox, passes by, sympathizing with Sarmiento’s lot.
As Sarmiento returns to go back into his house, Roland comes out from his hiding place and decides to take advantage of the situation. He begins a long recitation of his woes and in the ensuing duet agrees to get Béatrix to stay quiet (hoping also to be in close proximity to his beloved Inès). Sarmiento asks him to come to dinner once he has found better clothes; as Roland’s creditors appear again he rushes off dragging Sarmiento with him. The creditors go off to find Roland while Cristobal and Torribo doze off guarding the front door. Sarmiento and Roland, now finely dressed, return and enter the house.
Act 2
The scene opens with Béatrix bemoaning her lot. As she and Inès prepare to set the table Sarmiento enters with Roland and the young man is introduced to the women. Roland immediately starts talking non-stop and Béatrix is taken aback. Even when they sit down to eat Roland’s babbling continues without a break. Sarmiento tells Béatrix, overcome by their guest's volubility, that Roland is to stay for seven years.Under the guise of finally settling Sarmiento’s dispute, Cristobal and Torribio are admitted and, after being given false information by Roland on ‘his’ whereabouts, depart with Sarmiento. To get Béatrix’s approval for him to wed Inès, Roland reveals to Béatrix what he had agreed with her husband. To revenge herself on Sarmiento, she pretends in dumb-show that she has exchanged billets-doux with Roland. Sarmiento, bewildered by everyone behaving as if they are struck dumb and jealous because of the supposed love letters, is happy to learn that the real object of the exchange of letters is Inès.
The alcade and creditors arrive with a message from Roland promising that Sarmiento will pay off his debts. Sarmiento is forced to agree and gives his approval to the marriage. All celebrate the settlement of all their problems.