Madeleine is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in one act by Victor Herbert

Victor Herbert

Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...

 set to a 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 Grant Stewart, after the French play Je dîne chez ma mère (I'm dining at my mother's house) by Adrien Decourcelle and Lambert Thiboust. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

 in New York on 24 January 1914 with Frances Alda

Frances Alda

Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the...

 in the title role.

Reception and performance history

For its world premiere on 24 January 1914, Madeleine was presented at the Metropolitan Opera as a double-bill with Pagliacci

Pagliacci

Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...

 (with Caruso as Canio). It had a total of six performances at the Met, three times paired with Pagliacci, twice with Don Pasquale

Don Pasquale

Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....

, and once (for its final performance) with the United States premiere of Wolf-Ferrari

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as Il segreto di Susanna...

's L'amore medico

L'amore medico

L'amore medico is an opera in two acts by composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. Based on Moliere's comedy L'Amour médecin, the work uses an Italian language libretto by Enrico Golisciani...

.

Madeleine was Herbert's second opera, but in contrast to many of his 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:...

s and musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

s, it did not prove popular and dropped from sight after its premiere run. Although it received a warm reception from the first night audience, particularly Madeleine's aria, "A Perfect Day", the New York Times critic dismissed it as "not a notable landmark in the progress of native art."

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast 24 January 1914
Madeleine Fleury	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...	Frances Alda Frances Alda Frances Alda was a New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic soprano. She achieved fame during the first three decades of the 20th century due to her outstanding singing voice, fine technique and colourful personality—and frequent onstage partnerships at the New York Metropolitan Opera with the...
Francois, Duc d'Esterre	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...	Paul Althouse Paul Althouse Paul Shearer Althouse was an American opera singer. He began his career as a lyric tenor with a robust Italianate sound, excelling in roles like Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, and Turiddu. He later branched out into the dramatic tenor repertoire, finding particular success in portraying Wagnerian heroes...
Nichette, Madeleine's maid	soprano	Lenora Sparkes
Chevalier de Mauprat	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...	Antonio Pini-Corsi Antonio Pini-Corsi Antonio Pini-Corsi was an Italian operatic baritone of international renown. He possessed a ripe-toned voice of great flexibility and displayed tremendous skill at patter singing...
Didier, a painter	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...	Andrés De Segurola Andrés de Segurola Andrés Perelló de Segurola was a Spanish operatic bass who performed as Andrés de Segurola.-Biography:...
Coachman	bass	Marcel Reiner
Servant	bass	Armin Laufer
Servant	bass	Stefen Buckreus
Servant	tenor	Alfred Sappio

Synopsis

The story is set in Paris around 1760. It recounts the chagrin of Madeleine Fleury, a brilliant prima donna

Prima donna

Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...

 with the Paris Opéra

Paris Opera

The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...

, who cannot persuade any of her admirers and lovers to dine with her on New Year's Day

New Year's Day

New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...

. All of them have promised to dine with their mothers instead. Even her maid refuses for the same reason. Her childhood friend, Didier, a modest artist, invites her to dine with him and his parents, but in the end, she refuses and dines alone before a portrait of her mother painted by Didier.

Sources

• Herbert, Victor and Stewart, Grant, Madeleine, vocal score published by G. Schirmer
  G. Schirmer
  G. Schirmer Inc. is an American classical music publishing company based in New York City, founded in 1861. It publishes sheet music for sale and rental, and represents some well-known European music publishers in North America, such as the Italian Ricordi, Music Sales Affiliates ChesterNovello,...
  
  , 1914.
• Ledbetter, Steven, "Herbert, Victor ", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 31 October, 2009), (subscription access)
• Metropolitan Opera
  Metropolitan Opera
  The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
  
   Madeleine on the MetOpera Database
• New York Times, "Herbert's Opera 'Madeleine' Sung", 25 January 1914, p. 22.