Le petit duc 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 three acts by Charles Lecocq. 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 Henri Meilhac

Henri Meilhac

Henri Meilhac , was a French dramatist and opera librettist.-Biography:Meilhac was born in Paris in 1831. As a young man, he began writing fanciful articles for Parisian newspapers and vaudevilles, in a vivacious boulevardier spirit which brought him to the forefront...

 and Ludovic Halévy

Ludovic Halévy

Ludovic Halévy was a French author and playwright. He was half Jewish : his Jewish father had converted to Christianity prior to his birth, to marry his mother, née Alexandrine Lebas.-Biography:Ludovic Halévy was born in Paris...

.

Performance history

The opera was first presented at the Théâtre de la Renaissance

Théâtre de la Renaissance

The name Théâtre de la Renaissance has been used successively for three distinct Parisian theatre companies. The first two companies, which were short-lived enterprises in the 19th century, used the Salle Ventadour, now an office building on the Rue Méhul in the 2nd arrondissement.The current...

, Paris, on 25 January 1878 and revived there in the 1879, 1881 and 1883 seasons with Granier. The first run confirmed the stardom of Granier and was a major financial success for the theatre, which took 6,000 francs a night.

It was staged again in Paris at the Théâtre Eden in 1888 (with Granier and Dupuis), the Bouffes-Parisiens in 1897 and the Théâtre des Variétés

Théâtre des Variétés

The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1975.-History:...

 in 1904. It continued to be seen regularly in France up to the Second World War.

It was first performed in London on 27 April 1878, and then in 1881 Granier, Mily-Meyer, Alexandre, Jolly and Desclauzas appeared in a production. Its popularity was such that 1878 also saw premieres in Vienna, Berlin, Prague, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Madrid, Turin and Budapest. New York (and Mexico) first saw the piece in March 1879, with other productions in America showing up to 1896.

Roles and role creators

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 25 January 1878 (Conductor: Raoul Madier de Montjau)
Duke of Parthenay	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...	Jeanne Granier Jeanne Granier Jeanne Granier was a French soprano, born 31 March 1852 in Paris, and died there on 18 or 19 December 1939.Granier was a pupil of Barthe-Banderali, studying both opéra-comique and Italian music....
Duchess Blanche of Parthenay	soprano	Mily-Meyer Mily-Meyer Émilie Mily Meyer, stage name 'Mily-Meyer' was a French soprano, born 1852 in Paris, died there in 1927, who for a quarter of a century became a major star of the Parisian operetta stage, and is described by Gänzl as "impishly boyish yet obviously feminine soubrette".-Career:Her professional début...
Diane de Château-Lansac	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...	Marie Desclauzas
Frimousse	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...	Jean-François Berthelier
Montlandry	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...	Eugène Vauthier
De la Roche-Tonnerre	soprano	Léa d’Asco
De Navaille	tenor	Urbain
Bernard		Caliste
De Monchevrier		Elim
De Tanneville		Bovet
De Champvallier		Hervier
De Mérignac		Deberg
De Nancey		Desclos
De Pontgrivard		Duchosal
De Champlâtre	soprano	Piccolo
Julien		Panseron
Henri		Ribe
Helene		Lasselin
Gontran		Dianie
Gaston		Davenay
Saint Anémoine	mezzo-soprano
Courtiers, soldiers, pupils

Synopsis

The first act of the opera is set in the Oeil-de-Boeuf at Versailles

Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....

. The very young Duke of Parthenay has been married by his family to Blanche de Cambry, the young daughter of a rich family. Two tutors, Frimousse and Montlandry are arguing. Although the adolescent couple would like to spend some time together, the families decide that as they are both very young, the wife should go to a private school for aristocratic ladies for two years, while the furious young husband is sent off to be the colonel of a regiment. He wants to get back to his wife, and leads the regiment to the convent school.


The second act opens at the ladies college in Lunéville

Lunéville

Lunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...

 run by Diane de Château-Lansac, and where Frimousse is teaching the girls. The principal learns that the regiment of Parthenay has surrounded her school. The little duke has meanwhile taken the disguise of a peasant girl while his men lay siege, and manages to gain entry to the school and meet his wife. However, the principal discovers them and tells him that war has broken out at the frontier. He and his men are forced to leave, along with Frimousse, who is dragged from his hiding place to go with them.


The setting for the third act, a camp by a battlefield, sees the duke's regiment arrive in time to help win victory for the French troops. Returning to his tent, the little duke discovers there his Blanche, who has run away from the school. As a recompense he is allowed to be fully reunited with his wife and they set off for Versailles to bring news of the French victory to the king.

Recordings

A recording of thirteen excerpts was made at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....

 in Paris in 1953 with Nadine Renaux, Liliane Berton

Liliane Berton

Liliane Berton was a French soprano, known principally on the opera stage, but also active in radio recordings and as a teacher.-Career:...

, Willy Clément

Willy Clément

Willy Clément was a French baritone , who was noted in light baritone roles and operetta. -Life and career:...

, René Hérent

René Hérent

René Hérent was a French tenor whose career was centred on the Opéra-Comique in Paris, where he played supporting roles for many years, and left several recordings.-Life and career:...

and Freda Betti, conducted by Jules Gressier.