Madame Favart
Encyclopedia
Madame Favart is an opéra comique
, or operetta
, in three acts by Jacques Offenbach
. The French
libretto was written by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot.
(1870) ended Napoleon II's reign, Offenbach's popularity declined in Paris, and he toured Britain and the United States. He continued producing new operettas in Paris, but most of the decade would pass before he enjoyed another hit.
Madame Favart was first staged at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
in Paris
on 28 December 1878, starring Juliette Simon-Girard in the title role and Simon-Max as Hector de Boispréau. It played for about 200 performances, which was very successful. The work was very popular in the 19th century, not only in France
.
in London
on 12 April 1879 starring Florence St. John
in the title role, Claude Marius (1850–1896) as Favart, and Walter H. Fisher
, then Henry Bracy
(1846–1917) as Hector. The production famously ran for 502 performances, which was extraordinarily successful for the time. The work was frequently revived, including a production at the Theatre Apollo in 1911.
It is a fantasy plot built around the real-life celebrated French actress Marie Justine Benoîte Duronceray
(1727–1775), her playwright-manager husband Charles-Simon Favart (1710–1792) and the actress-admiring general Maurice de Saxe (1696–1750), who also appears in the verismo
opera Adriana Lecouvreur
.
Hector, a clerk, loves Suzanne, but her father, Major Cotignac, wishes her to marry a cousin. However, he agrees that if Hector can obtain the position of police lieutenant, he may marry Suzanne. Mme. Favart had been imprisoned in a convent by the old Marshal de Saxe, whose advances she has refused. Biscotin, an innkeeper, is hiding Favart, who fled to escape imprisonment himself. Mme. Favart succeeds in escaping from the convent in disguise. She comes to the inn and meets her old friend Hector. Hector is unable to obtain the police appointment, but Mme. Favart goes to the Governor, pretending to be Hector's wife, and secures the position for Hector. Hector, Suzanne and the Favarts go to Douai, where the Favarts wait for an opportunity to escape into Belgium.
At a party thrown by Hector as the new police lieutenant, the Governor arrives and flirts with Mme. Favart, thinking her to be Hector's wife. He arrests Suzanne, believing her to be Mme. Favart and sends her to the Camp of Marshal de Saxe. Mme. Favart arrives at the Camp and gives a performance. She receives a bouquet from the King with a note attached requesting the resignation of the Governor. Favart is appointed the as manager of the Opéra-Comique
, and Mme. Favart becomes the prima donna
there.
Act 2
Act 3
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...
, 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:...
, in three acts 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 written by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot.
Performance history
After defeat in the Franco-Prussian WarFranco-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...
(1870) ended Napoleon II's reign, Offenbach's popularity declined in Paris, and he toured Britain and the United States. He continued producing new operettas in Paris, but most of the decade would pass before he enjoyed another hit.
Madame Favart was first staged at the Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques
The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue for the genre of mélodrame.In 1862, the theatre moved to the...
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...
on 28 December 1878, starring Juliette Simon-Girard in the title role and Simon-Max as Hector de Boispréau. It played for about 200 performances, which was very successful. The work was very popular in the 19th century, not only in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
English adaptation
An English version, adapted by H. B. Farnie, opened at the Strand TheatreRoyal Strand Theatre
The Royal Strand Theatre was located in Strand in the City of Westminster. The theatre was built on the site of a panorama in 1832, and in 1882 was rebuilt by the prolific theatre architect Charles J. Phipps...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 12 April 1879 starring Florence St. John
Florence St. John
Florence St. John , was an English singer and actress of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras famous for her roles in operetta, musical burlesque, music hall, opera and, later, comic plays.-Life and career:...
in the title role, Claude Marius (1850–1896) as Favart, and Walter H. Fisher
Walter H. Fisher
Walter Henry Fisher was an English singer and actor of the Victorian era best known as a member of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and the creator of the role of the Defendant in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1875 opera Trial by Jury...
, then Henry Bracy
Henry Bracy
Henry Bracy was a Welsh tenor who is notable as the creator of the role of Prince Hilarion in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera Princess Ida. Bracy was often a lead tenor within the operettas in which he appeared. He was married to actress Clara T. Bracy, the sister of Lydia Thompson...
(1846–1917) as Hector. The production famously ran for 502 performances, which was extraordinarily successful for the time. The work was frequently revived, including a production at the Theatre Apollo in 1911.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, December 28, 1878, (Conductor: Jacques Offenbach) |
|---|---|---|
| Madame Favart, an actress | 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... |
Juliette Simon-Girard Juliette Simon-Girard Juliette-Joséphine Simon-Girard was a French soprano, principally in operetta. Her father was Philippe Lockroy, an actor at the Comédie Française, and her mother was Caroline Girard, of the Opéra-Comique.-Career:... |
| Charles-Simon Favart, her husband, a playwright | 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... |
Lepers |
| Hector de Boispréau | 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... |
Simon-Max Simon-Max Nicolas-Marie Simon Simon-Max, born Reims in 1852, died 1923, was a French tenor, mainly active in Paris in the field of opera-bouffe.After musical studies in Reims he made his debut in 1875 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance as Janio in La reine Indigo then on 9 September that year at the Théâtre... |
| Major Cotignac | bass | François-Louis Luco |
| Suzanne, his daughter | soprano | Marie Gélabert |
| Marquis de Pontsablé | tenor | Édouard Maugé |
| Biscotin, an inkeeper | bass | Jean-Baptiste Octave |
| Sergent Larose | tenor | Jules Speck |
Synopsis
- Place: France
- Time: 18th century
It is a fantasy plot built around the real-life celebrated French actress Marie Justine Benoîte Duronceray
Marie Favart
Marie-Justine-Benoîte Favart was an opera singer, actress, and dancer, the wife of the dramatist, Charles Simon Favart....
(1727–1775), her playwright-manager husband Charles-Simon Favart (1710–1792) and the actress-admiring general Maurice de Saxe (1696–1750), who also appears in the verismo
Verismo
Verismo was an Italian literary movement which peaked between approximately 1875 and the early 1900s....
opera Adriana Lecouvreur
Adriana Lecouvreur
Adriana Lecouvreur is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the play by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé...
.
Hector, a clerk, loves Suzanne, but her father, Major Cotignac, wishes her to marry a cousin. However, he agrees that if Hector can obtain the position of police lieutenant, he may marry Suzanne. Mme. Favart had been imprisoned in a convent by the old Marshal de Saxe, whose advances she has refused. Biscotin, an innkeeper, is hiding Favart, who fled to escape imprisonment himself. Mme. Favart succeeds in escaping from the convent in disguise. She comes to the inn and meets her old friend Hector. Hector is unable to obtain the police appointment, but Mme. Favart goes to the Governor, pretending to be Hector's wife, and secures the position for Hector. Hector, Suzanne and the Favarts go to Douai, where the Favarts wait for an opportunity to escape into Belgium.
At a party thrown by Hector as the new police lieutenant, the Governor arrives and flirts with Mme. Favart, thinking her to be Hector's wife. He arrests Suzanne, believing her to be Mme. Favart and sends her to the Camp of Marshal de Saxe. Mme. Favart arrives at the Camp and gives a performance. She receives a bouquet from the King with a note attached requesting the resignation of the Governor. Favart is appointed the as manager of the 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...
, and Mme. Favart becomes the 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...
there.
List of musical numbers
Act 1- Overture
- Trio and couplets (Suzanne, Hector, Favart)
- Couplets, "Dans une cave obscure" (Favart)
- Chorus and scena (Mme Favart)
- Couplets (Mme Favart)
- Couplets, "Ma mere aux vignes m'envoyit" (Mme Favart)
- Escape trio (Favart, Hector, Suzanne)
- Finale (Couplets and stretta)
Act 2
- Entracte
- Romance, "Suzanne est aujourd'hui ma femme" (Hector)
- Chanson de l'échaudé, "Quand du four on le retire" (Favart)
- Couplets (Pontsablé)
- Quartet (Suzanne, Hector, Mme Favart, Favart)
- Minuet and rondo, "Je passe sur mon enfance" (Mme Favart)
- Finale
Act 3
- Entracte
- Romance, "Quand il cherche dans sa cervelle" (Favart)
- Chorus and Tyrolienne (Mme Favart, Hector)
- Couplets (Suzanne, Hector)
- Air (Mme Favart)
- Chorus and duet (Mme Favart, Favart)