Fantasio (opera)
Encyclopedia
Fantasio is an 1872 opéra comique
in 3 acts, 4 tableaux with music by Jacques Offenbach
. The French
libretto was by Paul de Musset closely based on the play of the same name by his brother Alfred de Musset
. The opera found little success in Offenbach's lifetime, was revived in the 1930s and performed in a critical edition in the 2000s.
in 1834 and first performed at the Comédie-Française
, Paris in 1866 where it was seen 30 times. Two "new" works were scheduled for the Salle Favart (Opéra-Comique
) in 1872 as it regained momentum after the Franco-Prussian War
and the Commune
; Fantasio by Offenbach and les Noces de Figaro
, Mozart's opera after Beaumarchais, which entered the Opéra Comique repertoire that February.
The choice of Fantasio as an operatic subject was considered a bold one, as Alfred de Musset
's comedy had not seen great success at the Comédie-Française as a play. Rehearsals for the opera had begun in early 1870, but the Franco-Prussian War and the aftermath of defeat had delayed production for two years. At first the distribution was intended to be Capoul
as a tenor Fantasio, Couderc as the Prince, Potel as Marinoni, Gailhard as Spark, Mlle Dalti as Elsbeth and Moisset as the page. However, at the premiere, two years on, only Moisset and Potel remained in their roles; Galli-Marié took over the title role, now a mezzo-soprano, Ismaël took over as the Prince, Melchissédec
Marinoni, and Marguérite Priola Elsbeth.
Since his early successes in Paris, Offenbach had been the target of many vicious attacks in the press, and these had intensified during the Franco-Prussian War. Even Bizet was reduced to attacking the "infernal Offenbach", who had Boule de neige and Le roi Carotte
premiered in the weeks prior to Fantasio. With Fantasio the criticism of wanting to conquer the Opéra-Comique was added to to previous attacks. Yon argues that Offenbach's sensitivity to criticism was also due to his identification with the title character of Fantasio – the bitter clown.
Offenbach was heartbroken when the opera was taken off and wrote a letter of complaint to the director of the Opéra-Comique, Camille du Locle
. He later re-used the chorus of students from the first act of Fantasio in The Tales of Hoffmann, where it becomes the student chorus at the end of that opera's first act, and the voice of Antonia's mother in act 3 of Hoffmann enters with a theme from the overture of Fantasio.
The work is dedicated to Eduard Hanslick
.
on 21 February 1872, and also seen in Graz and Prague in October 1872, and Berlin in 1873. A revival in a new version was mounted in Magdeburg in June 1927 as Der Narr der Prinzessin.
It was revived in October 2000 at the Opéra de Rennes in a version reassembled by Jean-Christophe Keck, conducted by Claude Schnitzler, in a production by Vincent Vittoz, and toured to Tours, Nantes and Angers.
Keck argues that one reason for the neglect of Fantasio was that it has been difficult to locate a performing edition; only a vocal score
was published at the time of the premiere, along with a corrupt and re-orchestrated
German version. Keck's researches assembled many difficult to access manuscripts for a projected critical edition (Offenbach Edtion Keck – OEK), leading to his claim that Fantasio is a rich and rounded masterpiece by the composer, an important step towards his opera The Tales of Hoffmann.
A Suite Orchestrale from the opera was performed at the Opéra-Comique in December 2009.
Townspeople sing joyfully of the peace that will follow the imminent wedding of the prince of Mantua and the princess of Bavaria. Young people look forward to songs and dancing, and a group of prisoners released by the King celebrate. A group of impoverished students, Spark, Hartmann, Facio enter hoping also to share in some fun while contemptuous of the townspeople. The King and his guards emerge from the palace. The King announces the arrival of the prince of Mantua to wed his daughter Elsbeth and encourages the celebration. A courtier explains that Elsbeth is grieving on the death of the court jester of whom she was fond. Marinoni, the prince of Mantua's aide-de-camp enquires about the festivities and the princess, but is mocked by the students. Fantasio enters and sings a ballad to the moon. The page of Elsbeth enters to tell the students to keep their voices down as they will disturb the princess; they enter the tavern. Elsbeth sings of her wonder at the change in her life, but Fantasio enters unseen and asks her if she is really in love – with a complete stranger. Elsbeth, startled, leaves repeating Fantasio's words. When Spark joins his friend Fantasio talks extravagantly of his feelings. Soon the funeral cortege of court jester St Jean passes by and Fantasio has the idea to take the appearance of the jester to gain access to the princess, and he and Spark enter the nearby tailor's shop to get the costume. This will also help him avoid being arrested for his debts by the police. The fatuous prince of Mantua and his aide Marinoni enter, and the prince, wanting to discover the real thoughts and feelings of his future wife determines to dress as a servant to find out; he and Marinoni exit to exchange their clothes. The students come in singing and Fantasio re-appears dressed as the old jester. Two sentries mistakenly let him into the palace grounds and he looks forward to his adventure and to meeting Elsbeth again.
Elsbeth, her page and the ladies of the court are walking in the palace grounds. She does not want to talk about her future marriage but of the poor jester whom she so admired. She sends the others away but then discovers Fantasio who amuses her with his banter about the flowers; she is intrigued by the unknown jester. The king, the prince and Marinoni (disguised as each other) enter. Elsbeth is not impressed by the aide-de-camp's song. When she and Fantasio are alone he casts more doubt in her mind about going ahead with the liaison with the prince, and she longs for a reason to delay the union. The court enter and while Marinoni (as the prince) sings her a pompous song in praise of beauty Fantasio climbs a tree and with a stick lifts the wig from the head of the false prince. The marriage of the Mantuan prince is immediately compromised but Fantasio is taken away.
Fantasio is delighted to have wrecked the wedding plans, but when Elsbeth visits him in his prison cell she says she must go ahead with the marriage to the prince of Mantua to avoid a diplomatic quarrel and help bring peace between the two kingdoms. Fantasio takes off all his disguise and sings his ballad from act 1. Hearing this romance she is moved, decides to help him elude the guards – who expect to see a hump-back jester, but not a young man – and gives him a key to the gardens.
2nd tableau – the courtyard in front of the king's palace
Back in his student clothes Fantasio calms his friends who were planning to get him out the palace prison and clamoring for revenge. Meanwhile the king and the prince are preparing to declare war. Fantasio challenges the prince of Mantua to a duel but the prince backs off, preferring to renounce marriage with Elsbeth and return to Mantua. Fantasio, whom the students have named "king of fools" pleads for peace, is pardoned by the king and Elsbeth names him prince for having avoided war. Fantasio offers her to return the key to the palace gardens she had given him, but she asks him to keep it.
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 3 acts, 4 tableaux with music 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 by Paul de Musset closely based on the play of the same name by his brother Alfred de Musset
Alfred de Musset
Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.Along with his poetry, he is known for writing La Confession d'un enfant du siècle from 1836.-Biography:Musset was born on 11 December 1810 in Paris...
. The opera found little success in Offenbach's lifetime, was revived in the 1930s and performed in a critical edition in the 2000s.
Background
The de Musset play was published in the Revue des deux MondesRevue des deux mondes
The Revue des deux Mondes is a French language monthly literary and cultural affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829....
in 1834 and first performed at the Comédie-Française
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française or Théâtre-Français is one of the few state theaters in France. It is the only state theater to have its own troupe of actors. It is located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris....
, Paris in 1866 where it was seen 30 times. Two "new" works were scheduled for the Salle Favart (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...
) in 1872 as it regained momentum after the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
and the Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
; Fantasio by Offenbach and les Noces de Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, Mozart's opera after Beaumarchais, which entered the Opéra Comique repertoire that February.
The choice of Fantasio as an operatic subject was considered a bold one, as Alfred de Musset
Alfred de Musset
Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.Along with his poetry, he is known for writing La Confession d'un enfant du siècle from 1836.-Biography:Musset was born on 11 December 1810 in Paris...
's comedy had not seen great success at the Comédie-Française as a play. Rehearsals for the opera had begun in early 1870, but the Franco-Prussian War and the aftermath of defeat had delayed production for two years. At first the distribution was intended to be Capoul
Victor Capoul
Joseph Victor Amédée Capoul, born in Toulouse on 27 February 1839 and died in Pujaudran on 18 February 1924, was a French operatic tenor with a lyric voice and a graceful singing style.-Career:Victor Capoul began his studies in Toulouse...
as a tenor Fantasio, Couderc as the Prince, Potel as Marinoni, Gailhard as Spark, Mlle Dalti as Elsbeth and Moisset as the page. However, at the premiere, two years on, only Moisset and Potel remained in their roles; Galli-Marié took over the title role, now a mezzo-soprano, Ismaël took over as the Prince, Melchissédec
Léon Melchissédec
Léon Melchissédec was a French baritone who enjoyed a long career in the French capital across a broad range of operatic genres, and later made some recordings and also taught at the Paris Conservatoire.-Life and Career:He played second violin in the Théâtre de Saint-Étienne before coming to Paris...
Marinoni, and Marguérite Priola Elsbeth.
Since his early successes in Paris, Offenbach had been the target of many vicious attacks in the press, and these had intensified during the Franco-Prussian War. Even Bizet was reduced to attacking the "infernal Offenbach", who had Boule de neige and Le roi Carotte
Le roi Carotte
Le roi Carotte is a 4-act opéra-bouffe-féerie with music by Jacques Offenbach and libretto by Victorien Sardou, after E. T. A. Hoffmann. It premiered at the Théâtre de la Gaîté on 15 January 1872...
premiered in the weeks prior to Fantasio. With Fantasio the criticism of wanting to conquer the Opéra-Comique was added to to previous attacks. Yon argues that Offenbach's sensitivity to criticism was also due to his identification with the title character of Fantasio – the bitter clown.
Offenbach was heartbroken when the opera was taken off and wrote a letter of complaint to the director of the Opéra-Comique, Camille du Locle
Camille du Locle
Camille du Locle was a French theatre director and a librettist. He was born in Orange, France. From 1862 he served as assistant to his father-in-law, Émile Perrin at the Paris Opéra, moving in 1870 to the Opéra-Comique....
. He later re-used the chorus of students from the first act of Fantasio in The Tales of Hoffmann, where it becomes the student chorus at the end of that opera's first act, and the voice of Antonia's mother in act 3 of Hoffmann enters with a theme from the overture of Fantasio.
The work is dedicated to Eduard Hanslick
Eduard Hanslick
Eduard Hanslick was a Bohemian-Austrian music critic.-Biography:Hanslick was born in Prague, the son of Joseph Adolph Hanslick, a bibliographer and music teacher from a German-speaking family, and one of his piano pupils, the daughter of a Jewish merchant from Vienna...
.
Performance history
After its premiere at the Opéra-Comique (where it was only performed ten times before being dropped from the repertoire), Fantasio was produced at the Theater an der WienTheater an der Wien
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...
on 21 February 1872, and also seen in Graz and Prague in October 1872, and Berlin in 1873. A revival in a new version was mounted in Magdeburg in June 1927 as Der Narr der Prinzessin.
It was revived in October 2000 at the Opéra de Rennes in a version reassembled by Jean-Christophe Keck, conducted by Claude Schnitzler, in a production by Vincent Vittoz, and toured to Tours, Nantes and Angers.
Keck argues that one reason for the neglect of Fantasio was that it has been difficult to locate a performing edition; only a vocal score
Vocal score
A vocal score or piano-vocal score is a music score of an opera, or a vocal or choral composition with orchestra such as an oratorio or cantata, in which the vocal parts are written out in full but the accompaniment is reduced and adapted for keyboard...
was published at the time of the premiere, along with a corrupt and re-orchestrated
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
German version. Keck's researches assembled many difficult to access manuscripts for a projected critical edition (Offenbach Edtion Keck – OEK), leading to his claim that Fantasio is a rich and rounded masterpiece by the composer, an important step towards his opera The Tales of Hoffmann.
A Suite Orchestrale from the opera was performed at the Opéra-Comique in December 2009.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 18 January 1872 (Conductor: ) |
|---|---|---|
| Fantasio, a student | 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... |
Galli-Marié |
| The King of Bavaria | 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... |
|
| The princess Elsbeth, his 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... |
Marguérite Priola |
| The Prince of Mantua | 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... |
Ismaël |
| Marinoni, the prince's aide-de-camp Aide-de-camp An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state... |
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... |
Potel |
| Flamel, page of Elsbeth | mezzo-soprano | Gabrielle Moisset |
| Spark, a student | bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
Léon Melchissédec Léon Melchissédec Léon Melchissédec was a French baritone who enjoyed a long career in the French capital across a broad range of operatic genres, and later made some recordings and also taught at the Paris Conservatoire.-Life and Career:He played second violin in the Théâtre de Saint-Étienne before coming to Paris... |
| Facio, a student | tenor | |
| Max, a student | tenor | |
| Hartmann, a student | bass | |
| Chorus: Ladies and gentlemen of the court, citizens, students | ||
Act 1
A public square at dusk; palace gates and a terrace on one side, on the other a tavern and a tailor's shopTownspeople sing joyfully of the peace that will follow the imminent wedding of the prince of Mantua and the princess of Bavaria. Young people look forward to songs and dancing, and a group of prisoners released by the King celebrate. A group of impoverished students, Spark, Hartmann, Facio enter hoping also to share in some fun while contemptuous of the townspeople. The King and his guards emerge from the palace. The King announces the arrival of the prince of Mantua to wed his daughter Elsbeth and encourages the celebration. A courtier explains that Elsbeth is grieving on the death of the court jester of whom she was fond. Marinoni, the prince of Mantua's aide-de-camp enquires about the festivities and the princess, but is mocked by the students. Fantasio enters and sings a ballad to the moon. The page of Elsbeth enters to tell the students to keep their voices down as they will disturb the princess; they enter the tavern. Elsbeth sings of her wonder at the change in her life, but Fantasio enters unseen and asks her if she is really in love – with a complete stranger. Elsbeth, startled, leaves repeating Fantasio's words. When Spark joins his friend Fantasio talks extravagantly of his feelings. Soon the funeral cortege of court jester St Jean passes by and Fantasio has the idea to take the appearance of the jester to gain access to the princess, and he and Spark enter the nearby tailor's shop to get the costume. This will also help him avoid being arrested for his debts by the police. The fatuous prince of Mantua and his aide Marinoni enter, and the prince, wanting to discover the real thoughts and feelings of his future wife determines to dress as a servant to find out; he and Marinoni exit to exchange their clothes. The students come in singing and Fantasio re-appears dressed as the old jester. Two sentries mistakenly let him into the palace grounds and he looks forward to his adventure and to meeting Elsbeth again.
Act 2
Palace gardensElsbeth, her page and the ladies of the court are walking in the palace grounds. She does not want to talk about her future marriage but of the poor jester whom she so admired. She sends the others away but then discovers Fantasio who amuses her with his banter about the flowers; she is intrigued by the unknown jester. The king, the prince and Marinoni (disguised as each other) enter. Elsbeth is not impressed by the aide-de-camp's song. When she and Fantasio are alone he casts more doubt in her mind about going ahead with the liaison with the prince, and she longs for a reason to delay the union. The court enter and while Marinoni (as the prince) sings her a pompous song in praise of beauty Fantasio climbs a tree and with a stick lifts the wig from the head of the false prince. The marriage of the Mantuan prince is immediately compromised but Fantasio is taken away.
Act 3
1st tableau – a prisonFantasio is delighted to have wrecked the wedding plans, but when Elsbeth visits him in his prison cell she says she must go ahead with the marriage to the prince of Mantua to avoid a diplomatic quarrel and help bring peace between the two kingdoms. Fantasio takes off all his disguise and sings his ballad from act 1. Hearing this romance she is moved, decides to help him elude the guards – who expect to see a hump-back jester, but not a young man – and gives him a key to the gardens.
2nd tableau – the courtyard in front of the king's palace
Back in his student clothes Fantasio calms his friends who were planning to get him out the palace prison and clamoring for revenge. Meanwhile the king and the prince are preparing to declare war. Fantasio challenges the prince of Mantua to a duel but the prince backs off, preferring to renounce marriage with Elsbeth and return to Mantua. Fantasio, whom the students have named "king of fools" pleads for peace, is pardoned by the king and Elsbeth names him prince for having avoided war. Fantasio offers her to return the key to the palace gardens she had given him, but she asks him to keep it.