Lisuart und Dariolette, oder Die Frage und die Antwort (Lisuart and Dariolette, or The Question and the Answer) is a 'romantisch-comische Oper' by the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 composer Johann Adam Hiller.

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...

 was by Daniel Schiebeler based on La fée Urgèle ou Ce qui plaît aux dames by Charles Simon Favart

Charles Simon Favart

Charles Simon Favart was a French dramatist.Born in Paris, the son of a pastry-cook, he was educated at the college of Louis-le-Grand, and after his father's death he carried on the business for a time...

, itself derived from The Wife of Bath's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...

.

Performance history

The opera was first performed in a two-act version at the Rannstädtertor Theater, Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 on 25 November 1766. A revised version in three acts was produced on 7 January 1767.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 25 November 1766 Conductor: Johann Adam Hiller
Queen Ginevra of England	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...
Dariolette, her daughter	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...
Lisuart, a knight	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...
Derwin, his squire	bass

Synopsis

Queen Ginevra of England sends the knight Lisuart to find her lost daughter Dariolette. In the course of his mission, Lisuart has to answer the riddle: "What gives women the most pleasure?"